Oscar-nominated actor David Paymer stars as the family patriarch Richard in Bad Shabbos, now expanding into more theaters following a late 2024 release.

In addition to his work as an actor, Paymer has a history of directing TV episodes. He opens up on whether he has to stop himself from offering notes to directors when he puts his acting hat on. With May also being Jewish American Heritage Month, Paymer also opens up on something that makes him proud of his Jewish heritage.

Bad Shabbos has been a hit since it first premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June 2024, winning the first of many audience awards. Menemsha Films first released the film in South Florida in late 2024 and the film has continued winning awards while playing the Jewish film festival circuit. Memorial Day weekend sees the film open in New York while the L0s Angeles opening will take place on June 6. Check the Menemsha Films site for additional playdates.

It’s so nice to meet you today. How are you doing?
David Paymer: I’m good. Hi, Danielle!

I watched Bad Shabbos last year and found it so funny and hysterical and couldn’t stop laughing. I’ve since seen it two more times.
David Paymer: Oh, my G-d, thank you so much. Thank you. It is a very funny film.

What was it about the script that drew you to the role?
David Paymer: Well, Daniel Robbins, our director, called me and asked if I wanted to play the patriarch of this Upper West Side Jewish family. When I was starting as an actor, I lived on the Upper West Side, which was pretty different than it is now than 40 years ago. But I do have an affinity for that part of New York.

When he told me that Kyra Sedgwick would be playing my wife, that was something that I could not turn down. Kyra and I worked together over 30 years ago in a film called Heart and Souls with Robert Downey Jr. We knew each other but had not worked together since then, and she is so wonderful.

The cast that fills out and plays our family is just great. I don’t know—there was something about this cast. We shot most of it in this Upper West Side apartment. It’s kind of a forced intimacy, because you’re there for 14 hours. Aside from Kyra, I didn’t know most of them very well, but we were sharing a dressing room, sharing bathrooms. It was like we became a family very quickly.

What do you typically look for in a script?
David Paymer: Well, I count the lines first. No, to be able to either make someone laugh, cry, or have an emotional effect on them is important to me. I try not to repeat myself in terms of playing the same role again and again. In this case it was different for me to be the patriarch, to be the guy, even though he has his flaws, but to be the guy in charge.

Have you ever attended a Shabbos dinner that went off the walls in this manner?
David Paymer: Not in this manner. I have attended Shabbos dinners, for sure. But no, never had this kind of conflict.

Yeah. I was just telling John and Catherine that I’ve been to dinners where there have been wine spills, but none of them have been intentional.
David Paymer: (Laughs) The wine hasn’t been thrown, basically.

Danielle Solzman: Right. It’s usually one of those accidents happening during Passover Seders. At least, that’s been my experience.
David Paymer: Yeah, exactly. Definitely spilled wine at Passover usually happens.

Yeah. They said they would be on board to make a sequel. What about you?
David Paymer: I’m in. I’m totally in.

You’ve directed TV in addition to having an acting career. When you’re wearing an acting hat, are there times where you have to restrain yourself from offering notes to the director?
David Paymer: Generally, yes. I would say with Daniel, no, because Daniel knew what he wanted and knew how he wanted to get it. But there have been times as an actor—yes, I’ve directed a lot—and then I go and do an acting job, and the director will say something, and I’ll say, but you don’t want—and then I’ll stop myself. Why do you want it? Oh, I’m not directing, I forgot. So you do have to bite your tongue sometimes, but not in the case of this film for me.

May is Jewish American Heritage Month. What is something that makes you proud of your Jewish heritage?
David Paymer: Well, my mom was born in Belgium in 1930 and she’s no longer with us. But in 1940, Germany bombed Antwerp, where my mom lived. In the middle of the night—she was 10—they had to just leave and run the hell out of there.

I remember she told me she had a cat, and she had to dump the cat in the street. Which, as a child for me that was like the cat?!? But that’s my personal background.

It took my mom two and a half years to get out of Europe and to escape to make it to New York. I wouldn’t be here if she didn’t. So yeah, that’s all important to me.

When it’s a film like this, which is explaining some things about Jewish culture, although, of course, in a comic way, I just wanted to be a part of it.

Yeah. Having previously been nominated for an Oscar for your brilliant work in Mr. Saturday Night, how do you manage to stay grounded?
David Paymer: This business will ground you. Really. You don’t have to work too much at it, because there are ups, and there are downs.

Thank you for saying that about the Oscar nomination. That was truly a thrill, and my mother was sitting next to me at that ceremony.

But then, there are times when you don’t work or when people don’t seem that interested in you, I mean, I’m a character actor so I can play big parts or small parts, or then I can go and direct something. In a way, that’s a luxury, because I don’t feel the constant pressure of having to put fannies in the seat myself.

But yeah, it can be a very—as you probably know, it can be a business of highs and lows. I would say the business doesn’t allow you to have a swelled head for very long. At least, not for me. Some people out there do.

You got to work on a few films with Billy Crystal. What was that experience like?
David Paymer: Well, Billy gave me my big break, obviously, with Mr. Saturday Night. He directed it as well and wrote it and played my brother or I played his brother. I never had a better one on one experience that I can recall than working with Billy on that. He was so generous to me and even as director in the editing room, he was generous to me, so I’ll never forget that. We got to do Mr. Saturday Night on Broadway. We turned it into a musical and did it in 2022, which was 30 years after the release of the movie. We didn’t need any old age makeup, we joked.

Yeah. But Broadway makes it impossible to do the de-aging CGI that would probably cost a few 1 million dollars in a feature film.
David Paymer: That’s true. But we used yeah. We played ourselves young as well on Broadway and still worked because the audience is too far away to see the wrinkles.

It’s been a pleasure getting to chat with you and if there’s a sequel, I am definitely on board with being one of the first to watch.
David Paymer: Alright. Well, thank you so much, and I really appreciate it.

Menemsha Films released Bad Shabbos in theaters on November 29, 2004.

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