Its hard to believe, but Julia Louis-Drefyus and Will Ferrell met for the first time in October 2017, more than two decades into their respective reigns atop the comedy pecking order. Both are Saturday Night Live alumni, but somehow their paths hadnt crossed until Ferrell took a meeting with Louis-Dreyfus about a project she was developing: Downhill , an American remake of the immaculate 2014 Swedish dark comedy Force Majeure.

Their newfound friendship will pay off this weekend when Downhill hits theaters. Louis-Dreyfus and Ferrell play Billie and Pete Staunton, a married couple attempting a little relationship rehab by vacationing with their two young sons in the Austrian Alps. While eating lunch outdoors, an avalanche comes hurling toward them. Billie shields the kids, but Pete grabs his cellphone and flees. Upon returning, he refuses to admit his lapse. From there, Billie and Petes domestic dilemmas slowly seep out in a war of words and emotions.

Directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, who also made The Way, Way Back together and won an Oscar for co-writing The Descendants, Downhill is a profile of a marriage in semi-crisis. The supporting cast includes Miranda Otto, Zach Woods, Zo Chao and Game of Thrones actor Kristofer Hivju, who also appeared in Force Majeure.

At the Sundance Film Festival , where Downhill premiered last month, I sat down with Louis-Dreyfus and Ferrell to talk about the snowy shoot, how the movie tackles gender conventions and their shared SNL history.

When did you first become fond of each others work?

Louis-Dreyfus: I was a huge fan of Will from SNL.

Ferrell: I remember watching you on SNL. And I remember thinking, They dont use her a lot.

Louis-Dreyfus: Oh god. Yeah! They didnt.

Ferrell: And then I remember seeing Seinfeld and thinking, Thats the girl they never use, and shes funny.