LOS ANGELES _ Jim Hosking, the director and co-writer of "An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn," wasn't thinking in linear terms when he started putting the feature film together.
"There is no structure at all," he says. "All I really care about is that when I'm writing something, it feels like that it's some kind of genuine expression that comes of me or from me. It sounds like I'm receiving messages from somewhere, but that's what it really is."
What is most important to Hosking, who first gained attention for his film "The Greasy Strangler," is whatever he creates feels distinctive. Otherwise, he doesn't know why he would bother making it.
What Hosking's freeform way of creating his latest produced film is the story of an unhappy coffee shop worker, Lulu Danger (Aubrey Plaza), who convinces a stranger (Jemaine Clement) to take her on a road trip. Lulu wants to see a man from her past, Beverly Luff Linn (Craig Robinson), who is performing at a hotel. Beverly is a man of few words who speaks in grunts and moans translated by his manager, Rodney Von Donkensteiger (Matt Berry).
Not every actor could handle the offbeat characters Hosking creates. His casting of Plaza, Clement, Robinson and the other players was a matter of them just feeling right to him to be able to handle the roles.
"It's a very instinctive process for me," Hosking says. "I can tell straight away whether I am interested in working with somebody or not. It's just about trying to create a world that is very different to our world but within the sense of that world, everything fits. Everybody has to be quite unorthodox or unconventional to fit into that world."
His instincts told him Plaza was right to play the central figure in this comedy/drama about love, loss and lunacy. Her credits before "An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn" include "Addicted to Fresno," "Parks and Recreation," "The To Do List," "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and "Legion."
Plaza was drawn to "An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn" because it was so different.
"I loved how strange it was but was still a love story, which is my favorite kind of movies," Plaza says.
She realized her instincts were correct once filming started. Plaza and Hosking had very few discussions before filming started as to how the character should be played. After she read the script, Plaza had a version of how Lulu should be played in her mind, which got mixed with Hosking's vision.
The process was slightly different for Robinson, as his character communicates without dialogue. It's a unique role, but Robinson also has played different characters throughout his career. His past work has included "The Office," "Ghosted," "The End," "Hot Tub Time Machine" and "Pineapple Express."
Robinson found playing the sparingly speaking Beverly Luff Linn to be both a challenge and a relief.
"The challenge was to convey what Luff Linn was thinking or feeling ... It was such a challenge that there were times when I would ask Jim for a line reading," Robinson says. "As soon as I read the script, I knew this was a departure from anything I had done before.
"So I said, 'Let's do it.'"
Robinson was willing to be part of Hosking's unorthodox approach because he trusted the director immediately. He knew even with the offbeat role that this was a case of an actor and director being on the same page.
The film is loaded with the kind of distinct characters Hosking likes to create. But, he shoots down the idea that the film is full of very weird characters. The British director suggests you would find similar people on any bus in London.
