Because the director was intent upon keeping A Guy Thing a character-driven story, the contribution of the actors to the development of their screen characters was of paramount importance. Chris Koch was very open to input from his cast, and the actors were encouraged to fine-tune their characters and get to know them inside and out. In the end, each character underwent a subtle metamorphosis, expanding upon what was written and giving them a realistic, dimensional quality.

Paul

In discussing his character, Jason Lee agrees with the filmmakers that Paul is a young man not living up to his own innermost expectations. "Paul is actually more of a creative person than he realizes," says Lee. "He has things he'd like to do that he won't even admit to himself, things that represent who he really is at heart."

It's the same with his love life. Paul is getting married because it's the next logical step in his relationship with Karen -- but is Karen really the one he should be with? "Karen is very much the epitome of the upper middle class," says Lee. "Everything has to be perfect. The wedding has to be perfect. So Karen must be perfect, right?" The movie has a lot of fun trying to answer that question.

This was Lee's first time as the lead in a major feature film, but everyone was impressed with how he handled the pressure. "Working with Jason just blew me away," says Koch. "He was so into the process. He was always there. Since he wants to direct one day, he's very fascinated with the whole filmmaking procedure. There was a real enthusiasm, which also came through in his performance.

"Everyone kept thinking of him as sort of a young Jimmy Stewart," Koch continues. "He's affable, he's likable, and he has great physical comedy ability and great facial expressions. Emotionally, he would nail every beat in a scene. It made my job very easy to work with someone like Jason."

"Jason is in nearly every scene, and he really had quite a load to carry," says Nicksay. "He had to be somebody the audience could identify with, but he also had to be funny. As an actor, Jason is extremely accessible, but he's also slightly off center, so laugh at him and with him at the same time. Not many people have that quality."

Selma Blair was pretty impressed with Lee's stamina. "He had to hang from a tree in the freezing weather in his socks," she says. "Then he had to wear a wire and explain to me why he couldn't sleep with me while I crawled all over him. He's been in almost every scene, but he always seems fresh. He's a complete trooper."

Lee really enjoyed working with Blair, and really felt an easy sense of camaraderie with her. "Selma is not ultra-serious," says Lee, "and that's the best way to do it. In a comedy, once you get too serious, you just drag everything down."

He had a great time acting opposite Julia Stiles as well. "She has a very natural, dry kind of wit," says Lee, "and I loved that. She takes the character in quite a different direction than what the script might lead you to expect."

Becky

Julia Stiles plays Becky, Karen's cousin and the unexpected object of Paul's growing affection. In describing Stiles' character, producer Ladd says, "I love Becky. At first she comes across as this scattered, unfocused ditz, then you find out she's probably the most grounded and intuitive of the bunch. Becky is the catalyst for the awakening Paul goes through, and she helps him really look at his life for perhaps the first time. As an actress, Julia has a natural wisdom and groundedness that really helped bring all that to the surface."

Stiles found her character really interesting. "Becky's good at judging other people," Stiles says, "but she's not really good at making decisions about her own life. Still, she keeps trying new things. That's one of the things I love most about Becky. She determined to live every day to the fullest. She tries different jobs, different things. She sees Jason's character getting worked up about everything, and she's like 'Relax! Life is good.' As a result, Becky becomes the only one Paul can really relax around."

"Becky is an amazing influence on Paul," agrees Lee. "She pushes him and says things to intentionally make him think about himself."

Karen

And while Paul and Becky are busy trying to keep themselves out of trouble, Blair's Karen has only one thing on her mind: getting married. Blair had fun exploring her character and her pursuit of the perfect wedding day. Although it might appear that Karen is missing some rather obvious signs that something is up with Paul, Blair says Karen's oversight is due to her preoccupation with the impending nuptials. "I don't think Karen is dim," Blair says. "She's the kind of girl that always dreamed about her wedding. This is her fairy tale and she's making it happen. This is a lovely man she's about to marry, and she's just completely blinded by all the plans, making sure she has the right flowers on the table and everything."

"Karen knows something's wrong," continues Koch. "She just doesn't know what. Paul walks around with bits of tree bark hanging off his sweater, has a cut over his eye, he misses the entire rehearsal dinner -- she gets angry about these things but can't quite put it together until the end. Karen is definitely oblivious to a lot, but Selma portrayed that in a way that was really likable. She's an amazing comedienne."

Blair had met Lee a few times before they even knew they'd be doing a film together, and she says she liked him the minute they were introduced. "We have the same sense of humor," she says, "joking around and doing impressions of people. As early as the camera test, we were hitting each other, doing pratfalls and all that goofy stuff. We had a lot of fun."

Atmosphere on set

Speaking of fun, over and over people involved with the film give credit to director Koch for building a very happy and creative atmosphere on set. Producer Ladd recalls how impressed he was with Koch during the filming process. "I was absolutely wowed by him," says Ladd. "He's one of the most prepared directors I've ever worked with. He knew exactly what he was going to do over the course of the day. But he also allowed his performers the freedom to create stuff on their own as well. It's a juggling act to make sure it doesn't get out of hand, but he did a great job."

Julia Stiles gives Koch a great deal of credit for his innate comedic instincts. "Chris has a really great sense of comedy. If you come into work and you're tired, he's so funny that he gets the energy going. That's important when you're shooting for days on end. I had a lot of fun with him."

Blair says, "Chris was such a blessing. He's the most encouraging director I've ever worked with. He never lost control, yet never seemed to lead us too strongly. He was so trusting of us, and we trusted him in return."

Ensemble cast

In addition to the three leads, the ensemble cast was composed of some of the industry's leading comic and dramatic actors. In addition to David Koechner and Julie Hagerty as Paul's parents, James Brolin and Diana Scarwid play the harried father and mother of the bride, and Thomas Lennon plays Paul's brother Pete, none-too-secretly smitten with the bride himself. Shawn Hatosy plays Paul's amiable buddy Jim, while elderly Aunt Budge was played by veteran Canadian actress Jackie Burroughs.

Nicksay found the ensemble-at-large a crucial part of making the filming process so highly enjoyable. "It can be a lot of fun when great comedy minds get together and apply themselves to a project," says Nicksay. "There's a lot of chemistry that happens. It was absolutely a ball to be on the set."

These combined talents are perhaps seen to their best advantage during the rehearsal dinner scene at Buck and Dorothy's condo where the diners succumb to a suspiciously potent gravy. Filming that scene brought to light some spectacular improvisational skills, and both the filmmakers and crew found it very difficult to keep from laughing out loud during the takes.

James Brolin's unexpected flair for wackiness proved a particular delight for both participants and observers. Throwing himself completely into the role of a reserved man suddenly becoming very uninhibited, he helped set the tone for the general gravy-inspired mayhem.

David Ladd recalls his reaction to Brolin's performance with considerable pleasure. "My God, was he funny!" he says. "It's not the James Brolin we're used to seeing. He's just a riot."

Nicksay says, "I've admired Brolin's work for many years, but never imagined he could be as outrageously funny as he is in some of these scenes."