ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to The Family McMullen’s Edward Burns and Connie Britton about the new ensemble comedy sequel movie. Burns and Britton discussed their experiences making The Brothers McMullen 30 years ago, why they felt now was a good time to make a sequel, and more.
“30 years after Edward Burns’ The Brothers McMullen wowed critics and audiences – winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival – with its exploration of the lives and struggles of three Irish American brothers from Long Island, New York, the family returns in the long-awaited follow-up The Family McMullen,” the official synopsis reads. “The new film tracks the romantic entanglements of a now 50-something Barry McMullen (Burns) and his 20-something kids, as well as his brother Patrick (Michael McGlone) and widowed sister-in-law Molly (Connie Britton), each facing unexpected romantic hurdles of their own.”
The Family McMullen will be released on HBO Max on December 5, 2025.
Brandon Schreur: Ed, I’d love to start with you because it’s been 30 years since this first movie, The Brothers McMullen. I wanted to ask about the process of bringing this sequel to life and why you felt like now was the time to release it. Was the idea for this movie something that you always had in the back of your mind, or did it come together recently?
Edward Burns: So, ten years ago, I saw Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight. That’s his second sequel to Before Sunrise, which was at Sundance the same year that me and Connie were there with The Brothers McMullen. I had not, quite honestly, given any thought to a sequel, but it was seeing that movie that kind of inspired the idea.
I tried to write a script to get ready in time for the 20th anniversary and, quite honestly, I couldn’t crack it. I didn’t know what the story was that I wanted to tell with these characters again. I kind of put it on the back burner. Then, five years later, I read an article about kids in their 20s who are kind of being forced to move back in with their parents because of the lack of affordable housing, they’re saving up to buy their first places. I thought, ‘Okay. That’s the way in. Barry will have two kids in their 20s who will move back in, in the way that me and Mike McGlone move back in with Jack and Molly in the first film.
Then I also thought, ‘Well, what do I do with Connie?’ Connie and I have remained great friends. We’ve worked together a bunch of times. Connie has become a big star now. And I was like, ‘I have to give her a bigger role.’ So I was like, ‘I’ll make her a widow, and she’ll be kind of the third sibling in this story.’ So I called up Connie, told her my idea, and she was like, ‘Love it. Get to work on the script.’ Fortunately, Warner Bros. and HBO Max said they love it, and here we are, 30 years later.
What a journey, it sounds like, but I’m so glad that it all happened and it turned out so good. That’s awesome. Connie, I’m curious how you reacted to all of this when you first heard there was going to be a sequel. 30 years ago, did you ever think there’d be a time in your life when you’d be reprising this role? And what was your reaction when you read the script and learned what was in store for your character this time around?
Connie Britton: 30 years ago, I couldn’t imagine that anyone would even see the first movie. Literally, we made that movie for no money. I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’ll get a film reel from it or something.’ Maybe. But probably not, even. And, then, it won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance. Couldn’t have expected that. Couldn’t have expected that would open up the opportunities to have the kind of great, fortunate career that I’ve been able to have. So, no. None of this was anticipated.
But what a brilliant opportunity. Ed, for me, set the bar from the very beginning in terms of how I love to work and the kinds of stories that I love to tell. To be able to revisit these characters 30 years later, it feels like such an amazing opportunity. And so much fun. It really feels — particularly with my character in the movie — she really has a very interesting, modern woman’s journey. Like, when do you ever get to see a character go through 30 years time and see how they change? It all feels, again, really authentic. I think watching the transformation of Molly’s character will be very resonate with a lot of women, I think, in a really fun way.
Definitely. I had a lot of fun watching the movie, and I just kept thinking, ‘This was probably so much fun to make. It looks like everyone is having a great time.’ It totally comes across.
Connie Britton: So much fun.
Ed, I really want to ask about the holiday setting and theme for this movie, because that’s new. You’ve obviously directed other movies that have been set around Christmastime in the past, but what was the inspiration to take the sequel to this time of year? What did you think tapping into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season added to the movie?
Edward Burns: When I came up with the title — I told you a little bit about where the story started, and I didn’t want to call it The Brothers McMullen 2 because of killing off one of the brothers. So when I fell on The Family McMullen title, that gave me the idea of starting the movie on Thanksgiving. That is when families typically come together. Then I came up with the idea of bookending, where these folks, when we meet them, nobody is in a good relationship or in a relationship. I liked the idea that, when they came together, we jump forward to a year later and they’re all back together. A new McMullen family has been formed, if you will.
It’s nice when you write a script, and you have your beginning and your end. Then the fun is, ‘What’s the journey that I’m going to put them on?’ That’s kind of where the whole holiday theme came from.
Totally, I loved it. Put me right in the Christmas spirit, so I’m a big fan of that. Connie, please correct me if I’m wrong, here, but The Brothers McMullen was your first big, leading role in a Hollywood movie, right?
Connie Britton: Yeah.
And, since then, you’ve been in all kinds of projects that I’ve absolutely loved. I’m a big White Lotus fan and a big American Horror Story fan. But I’m curious if there was any specific lesson you learned on the set of The Brothers McMullen that you carried with you the rest of your career. Was there something that happened that influenced how you approach the rest of your projects?
Connie Britton: So many things. I mean, honestly, as I was saying before, Ed really set the bar for me in terms of my favorite ways to work. Ed is incredibly collaborative. I love working with writer/directors. It’s such an exciting experience because you’re working with somebody who has the complete vision of what the film is. You feel like you’re just helping them to complete this vision.
I love it, too, and Ed sort of showed me how you can do this — be super collaborative. He’s the writer. He would say to us, ‘What do you think your character would say, here?’ He wants to deepen it and understand who his characters are, too. We really worked together to build that. That, to this day, is still my favorite way of working.
And, also, the other thing that I still hold true and is still one of my favorite things, is working with friends and with people that you love. Working with people who really get so much joy from storytelling. That’s what it was when we made this movie in the very beginning, when we didn’t think anybody would even see it. We were just doing it for the joy of it and for how fun it is to tell stories and create something together.
Totally. That makes total sense. Ed, bouncing off that, The Brothers McMullen was the first movie you ever directed. I’m curious how the experience of directing The Family McMullen compares to that. I mean, 30 years have gone by, and a lot has changed in Hollywood in general. Was it easier this time around, now that you have some more movies under your belt, or was it still a big learning experience?
Edward Burns: Oh, it’s definitely easier. If you haven’t learned anything in 30 years, you’ve got an issue. But I’d say really the big difference was, you’ve got to understand, when we made [Brothers] McMullen, we were all kids. Nobody had ever been on a film set before, and we had a three-man crew. There were scenes that Connie had, and I had, where we’re literally holding our own bounce card, and we’re acting with a reflector in our hands. We shot it in the house I grew up in. Every location in the city, we stole. We shot 12 days, over the course of eight months. I raised a little money, I’d call Connie and say, ‘Okay, I’ve got the camera on Saturday afternoon, can you meet us on the corner of Central Park West and 86th Street? We’re going to shoot a scene.’ And that’s how we put it together.
This, obviously, was a very different experience. With that, there’s a scene at the very beginning of the film where me, Connie, and Mike are together in the kitchen, it’s the first scene of the movie. Even though there was a giant crew there that day, when you’re doing the scene, you’re only in the room with the two other actors. There were moments where we were back in my childhood home, making the first film. That’s what it felt like.
Thanks to Connie Britton and Edward Burns for taking the time to discuss The Family McMullen.
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