DTF St. Louis

Bateman says the characters had to seem odd enough that viewers would suspect them of being the killer.

“there had to be just odd enough where you would buy them as the possible killer”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 52:00

Bateman explains that while actors usually supply their own pauses and rhythm, Conrad writes them into the script through punctuation and structure.

“usually we as actors are just looking at a block of dialogue and it's up to us to put in the ellipses”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 34:58

Cardellini attributes the rhythm of Steve Conrad's writing to his being a musician.

“I think because he's a musician, it almost feels like music in a way”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 36:06

Cardellini notes that the seemingly natural, digressive dialogue in DTF St. Louis was entirely scripted.

“and going to an idea and then jumping to another idea. But that's all written. None of that is improvised”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 34:44

Hayes praises DTF St. Louis for presenting a concept unlike anything he had seen before.

“It's coming up with a concept that people haven't seen before. And when I watched it, it was so different”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 8:16