Versatile actor Romain Duris and director Cedric Klapisch have been working together for most of their careers. Originating from France, the duo recently traveled to the US to promote their latest endeavor and even before our interview begins they remain awestruck by their surroundings.

The film they are here to discuss is Chinese Puzzle, the continuation of 2002’s very popular L’Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) and 2005’s Russian Dolls. Both of the previous entries were ensemble pieces focused on a group of mismatched students navigating life in a strange environment. Chinese Puzzle brings back all of the principals from before but is more centered on Duris’ character of Xavier, who in this chapter must travel to New York to reconnect with his family.

Romain Duris may be best known to American audiences from his fun romantic comedies Populaire and Heartbreaker but he has also done a lot of dense dramatic work worth seeking out. That delicate balance between comedy and drama is at the heart of Chinese Puzzle and he pulls it off with ease.

We discuss that with Duris and director Klapisch as well as some of their filmmaking techniques in the following conversation.

Q: Since you’ve been traveling a lot with this film, have you seen any major differences with the way “Chinese Puzzle” has been received here as opposed to France where it premiered originally?

Cedric Klapisch: In France it was very successful and was the fourth biggest hit of the year but here I feel the film has gotten a bigger response. This is probably because a lot of the film was shot in New York and people feel it’s their world. For French audiences it’s more exotic. Here, audiences laugh at little things and that makes it more interesting for me to watch.

Q: How easy or difficult was it to bring back the principal cast for this third entry?

Klapisch: It was not difficult because they all wanted to continue the story. In the first film, no one was well known and they were all student actors but by this one they’ve all become stars so it’s a different approach.

Q: What processes changed this time around as opposed to working on the first film with the same cast?

Klapisch: You have to deal more with agents and realizing that the actors are more expensive. It’s also a different age. We are all older and have different lives.

Q: You work very well with ensembles, even going back to one of your first films When the Cat’s Away. What is it about ensemble pieces that makes you comfortable behind the camera?

Klapisch: Well, I like people so if I had to only work with two actors for two months I’d feel like there should be more people on set. I like the diversity of people whether they are older people, hipsters or something else.

Q: Romain, what was your preparation process like for this film as opposed to the first one? Especially since this one is more your story and less of an ensemble.

Romain Duris: Most of my preparation was to re-watch The Spanish Apartment and Russian Dolls to bring back the base of my character. I had a lot of fun because my character in the first film is very different than my character in this new one so I had to reconstruct a lot of things and make a new character in a way. This time he had to be more serious and responsible about his life.

Q: Your filmography is all over the map. You’ve made some broad comedies like Populaire and Heartbreaker but you’ve also made very serious dramas like The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Are these genre-hopping decisions a conscious effort on your part to keep things fresh?

Duris: Not really. I read scripts the way you would read a book and let the character inspire me. For an actor the work is the same whether you’re in a comedy or drama but when you’re in a comedy the worst thing you can do is try to be funny.

Q: That’s interesting. How do you restrain yourself from trying to be funny in a comedy so that the laughs are more subtle and don’t come from you being obvious?

Duris: It’s all about rhythm. Once you find a comfortable rhythm with the character you can relax and be more subtle.

Q: Does that also depend on your co-stars? For example, if they aren’t pulling their weight on set does that affect your performance or can you find a good rhythm with the character on your own?

Duris: It can affect the performance sometimes. You can meet someone who is very different than you and the dynamic on set changes.

Chinese Puzzle is now playing in limited release.