Leslie Mann: Prefer comedy that is dramatic

Applauded for infusing as much emotion into her nuanced act in Blockers as she could humor, Leslie Mann says there was a lot in common in her life, on and off screen, when playing a mother to a teenage daughter in the film.

"I was going through the same experience that I did with my daughter while shooting the movie," says the actor, who is a mother to girls Maude and Iris. She has an array of comic capers on her résumé, but Mann insists that comedies that are grounded in reality are the kind that moves her.

"My favorite movie is a comedy that is kind of dramatic, and one that lets me [grow] as an actor. My favorite film, Broadcast News, defines me as a person. I also love Harold And Kumar. I watched it constantly, and it has [established] my [taste]."

For Mann though, a journey in comedy was more of a chance encounter than a choice. "When I first started auditioning, I was a dramatic actor and took everything seriously. At auditions, I saw people giggling when I pretended to be super serious. I decided to step into the comedy world then," she says, adding that she uses the fact of being part of a male-dominated industry to her favor by employing it for jabs. 

"I don't really think about things in a way [that's decided by one's gender]. Blockers were originally created for three men. They switched it to [include] women because girls are better," she says of the film that premières on Sony Pix, this weekend.