He stood out for hilariously awkward and offbeat SNL characters like the eccentric Bruce Chandling and the painfully relatable Chris Fitzpatrick. Whether parodying cringeworthy YouTube personalities or channeling the overly sincere energy of ’80s public access TV, Kyle Mooney’s knack for finding humor in the bizarre and uncomfortable has always set him apart. Beyond SNL, Mooney captivated audiences in projects like Brigsby Bear, where he brought his unique brand of earnest comedy to a warmhearted indie.
Now he’s taking his singular comedic perspective behind the camera for his directorial debut, Y2K. The horror-comedy follows two hapless friends crashing a New Year’s Eve party on December 31, 1999, imagining their lives—and the world—might change as the clock strikes midnight. But when the infamous Y2K bug becomes a horrifying reality, bringing technology to life with a vengeance, the night spirals into chaos.
Mooney’s film taps into the chaos and nostalgia of the late ’90s, crafting a wild, genre-bending horror comedy that promises to entertain audiences and keep them laughing in equal measure.
The Watercooler’s Felipe Patterson was able to chat with the filmmaker about making his directorial debut with his A24 feature.
Felipe Patterson: Congratulations on your directorial debut. It’s a horror-comedy about two teenagers and a Y2K nightmare come to life. But it’s also a comedy for our times. What inspired this Y2K nightmare?
Kyle Mooney: I wrote it with my friend Evan, who I went to college with, and he was by my side the whole time. If you experienced Y2K, it was just this weird, anticlimactic thing. There was this feeling of, ‘Oh, something big is going to happen,’ and then… nothing. It was bizarre. I always carried that in the back of my head as this odd moment of minor hysteria over something we thought was going to be a big deal — but wasn’t.
Then, on New Year’s Day 2019, I was hungover after a party, and the idea kind of hit me: ‘What if we made a movie about teenagers going to a party, and at midnight, Y2K actually happens?’ I texted Evan, and we started pitching ideas. Within a week, we had the building blocks of the movie.
Both of us were really excited to put this era on screen because it hasn’t been explored much. I was in ninth grade during Y2K, and he was in eighth, so it was a time that stuck with us. But yeah, this era hasn’t been done like this before—not in this way.
Patterson: You took on some big talent for your first feature – Rachel Zegler, Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone, Jaeden Martell, Julianne Dennison and Daniel Zolghardi. What was it like directing them in your very first feature?
Mooney: Yeah, it was awesome. Working with some of the younger actors like Lachlan Watson, who plays Ash, and Daniel Zolghadri was really exciting. I wasn’t super familiar with their work going into the process, but during casting and auditions, it was one of those moments where you’re like, ‘Oh wow, this person is perfect for the role.’
Getting Rachel was such a blessing—she came in pretty late in the game, and honestly, without her, I don’t think we would have had a movie. She’s such a star and has done so many cool things. I like to think—though I don’t want to speak for her—that she was excited to do something different, like a comedy, instead of another massive movie.
Jaden and Julian were truly a pleasure to work with, and Alicia and Fred are just iconic. Working with them was a whole different zone, honestly intimidating. But it was fun, and this was my first time working with actors in that capacity.
I’ve made a ton of videos and worked on SNL, so I’ve been around stars before and given notes when I needed to. But directing is a different challenge—it’s about learning how to talk to actors and get what you need from them. In the end, though, there wasn’t much work for me to do because they were all pros. I was mostly in awe of how great they were.
Patterson: Did you refer to any directors for inspiration to direct this film?
Mooney: You know, I’ve certainly watched a ton of movies, and having Evan by my side was a huge help. He’s a cinephile and a filmmaker himself. Plus, we had Bill Pope shooting it, so I was surrounded by some incredibly smart movie people.
But for me personally, the most helpful thing has probably been the experience of making videos. I grew up making internet videos with my friend Dave McCary, who worked with me at SNL. He also directed Brigsby Bear, a movie we co-wrote together. Those kinds of experiences—being on the ground with someone, watching how they work, and picking up on what works well in the process—were invaluable.
As an actor, I’ve been directed by a lot of talented people, and through that, I’ve learned to pick and choose what I like, what feels good, and what makes the process the best. It’s really been a combination of those experiences that have shaped me.
Patterson: Were there any filmmakers you admired growing up?
Mooney: Albert Brooks is definitely one of my favorite filmmakers. There are so many others I admire. I hate to sound cliché, but I’ve always been drawn to the more art-house side of things, like (Luis) Buñuel and (John) Cassavetes. At the same time, I love really broad, imaginative work like Jim Henson and Walt Disney.
Honestly, I’ll consume just about anything. I have a deep love for those 1970s filmmakers from the New Hollywood movement—people like Robert Altman and Hal Ashby. I don’t know if I have a single North Star, but I just genuinely love the art.
Patterson: Which of the characters did you personally connect with in Y2K?
Mooney: Well, I feel like Danny and Eli definitely have some pieces of me, and I think Evan [Winter], who wrote it with me, would probably say the same.
Mooney: I was in an underground hip-hop group in high school, so the CJ character isn’t far off from someone I probably tried to be back then. So, I’d say those three characters are the ones that share the most DNA with me.
Patterson: Do you have any freestyle raps from your past in mind?
Mooney: I do. Yeah. I was in a group called ‘Instruments of Intelligence’ with my friends Robert and Dave. And we were so into all of our songs that were essentially about how underground we were and how we weren’t mainstream.
Looking back on it, it’s incredibly corny, but it was all about break dancing, graffiti, DJing, and really trying to kind of be progressively hip hop forward. We have my favorite song ‘Stand and Deliver’. Which is funny to me now because the start of it, it goes “It’s 2002 the 21st-century Instruments of Intelligence do it intelligently…” But it’s just such a funny brag to say the year 2002 to me. There’s nothing notable about it.
Patterson: What inspired the creation of the Garrett, the weed-smoking, video rental clerk with mutton chops and dreads?
Mooney: Evan, who’s from Eugene [Oregon], would say he grew up around a lot of guys like that. I definitely knew people like that too. I wanted to put myself in the movie, but I knew I couldn’t play a teenager, so I was like, ‘Where can we fit me in?’ The video store felt like such an iconic set piece—really evocative of the era—so it just made sense.
I ended up watching a ton of videos of guys going to Phish concerts in 1999 and thought about people I knew who were like that. It was cool because, since I was co-writing the movie, I got to riff on that character throughout the writing process. By the time we started shooting, I already had a pretty good idea of what his vibe would be.
Patterson: What do you miss most about the Y2k era?
Mooney: Well, it’s funny—it’s interesting because I’m not the first person to say this, but one thing I really miss is the experience of the video store or the CD store, you know? Back then, you had to actively search for things. Everything was word of mouth, and nothing was as easily accessible as it is today.
It made it feel more special when you found a unique movie or album that really spoke to you. You had to put in some effort and do a little research, and I miss that. That said, I also love that now I can YouTube or Google almost anything and find it immediately.
In 1997, for example, it wasn’t so easy to track down an episode of an old TV show, a music video you used to love, or even a random commercial from 1989 that stuck in your head. Today, you can search for it and likely find it within seconds.
So, while I miss the sense of discovery that came with the hunt, I also appreciate how much is now at our fingertips.
Patterson: AOL instant messenger was big during the early 2000s. Do you remember your AOL Messenger screen name?
Mooney: Yeah, my screen name was tquest4now because I was really into A Tribe Called Quest at the time.
You can see Y2K in theaters everywhere in Friday, December 6th. It’s a must-see for fans of Mooney’s quirky, left-field humor—and for anyone curious to see what happens when the Y2K bug becomes terrifyingly real.
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