Rash, Faxon ride ‘The Descendants’ Oscar win all the way to ‘The Way, Way Back’

TORONTO – Jim Rash and Nat Faxon are arguably best known for aping Angelina Jolie — and her outstretched leg — at the 2012 Oscars.

Upon winning best adapted screenplay for “The Descendants” with director Alexander Payne, Rash settled into a proud pose, right leg extended for all to see, while Faxon adopted a less pronounced stance.

It was a pivotal moment that catapulted the duo into a new sphere of celebrity and Internet infamy.

Now they’re hoping to become even better known for their directorial debut, the coming-of-age dramedy “The Way, Way Back.”

“It’s this weird circle of life with this movie,” Rash says of the film’s long road to the big screen during a recent visit to Toronto.

He notes their script for “The Way, Way Back” bounced around Hollywood for years, eventually catching the attention of Payne.

The “Sideways” writer/director wasn’t interested in making the film, but he was interested in hiring its writers for his own project, “The Descendants.”

Of course, that collaboration led to the Oscar, which in turn revitalized efforts to actually make “The Way, Way Back.”

“This movie did get us in the door, at least to have a meeting with ‘The Descendants,’ and ultimately to get the job. And then from that journey to the Oscar it has allowed us to open this back up, which has been an eight-year journey,” the slim, bespectacled Rash says while seated alongside a tanned Faxon.

“When it gets too long in the foot, I think sometimes scripts sort of get forgotten about, you know, unless you really persevere and keep pushing.”

To a certain degree, Rash and Faxon are used to being underdogs.

Their day jobs involve starring in low-rated but celebrated comedies — Rash on the little-seen but critically adored sitcom “Community,” and Faxon on the shortlived but warmly received sibling comedy “Ben and Kate.”

Before that, the longtime collaborators — alumni of L.A.’s famed Groundlings improv company — developed TV projects for years but were never able to get something for themselves on the air.

Rash notes that “The Way, Way Back” is rooted in his own childhood sense of inadequacy, taking its opening scene directly from an actual exchange he had with his step-father at age 14.

“He asked me what I was on a scale from 1 to 10. I said 6 at the time, thinking that was very humble and a nice place to aim for. And he said I was a 3,” he recalls.

“And then he went on to say that it was about me not taking advantage of our summer vacations in the sense that there were families with kids that I could meet and (I could) open up more in my life,” continues Rash, who appears in the film as an eternally dissatisfied water park employee.

“(I like) the idea of something that seems harsh and dramatic and hurts us at one moment becomes enlightening and funny and a you-needed-it-to-happen moment much later.”

Faxon, meanwhile, distances himself from any suggestion he went through an awkward phase, declaring with a smirk: “I was very popular.”

“Oh, wow,” Rash sighs in mock exasperation.

Vancouver actor Liam James (“The Killing”) stars in “The Way, Way Back” as the introverted Duncan. He is blindsided by the jab from his mother’s boyfriend as the family drives to a beachside retreat for the summer.

Toni Collette plays Duncan’s oblivious mother Pam, Steve Carell is boorish boyfriend Trent, AnnaSophia Robb plays the older-girl-next-door Susanna while Sam Rockwell portrays an unexpected ally for Duncan, the dishevelled townie Owen.

“I’m sort of Jim’s Owen now,” Faxon jokes of his relationship with Rash. “I take him under my wing, allow him to flourish.”

“He’s given me so many wisdoms,” Rash offers with obvious sarcasm.

The film offers another dark turn for funnyman Carell, who follows up his pompous character in “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” with a jerk role here.

“I think this offered an opportunity to play someone against type for what he had done previously,” says Faxon, who plays Owen’s buddy Roddy.

“I think he recognized that there was an allure to playing a very likable guy, (likable) enough so that Toni would be attracted to him but also a guy who says he wants to change but never really does. That takes courage as an actor to play someone like that because often people want to have somebody that starts at point A and ends at point B having learned a lesson. And Trent doesn’t really learn much.”

Faxon says the pair would still love to mount a TV project for themselves, even as they each prepare to star in other people’s ventures.

Rash will be back for a new season of “Community” as the flamboyant Dean Pelton while Faxon is attached to a comedy pilot for FX.

Rash says ongoing momentum from their Academy Award will not dampen their drive to pursue ever challenging, rewarding projects.

He dismisses the suggestion that Oscar acclaim and recent film festival buzz over “The Way, Way Back” is making them hot properties in Hollywood.

As far as he is concerned, he will always have something to prove.

“Nat and I have always been about … being ourselves as actors and writers and directors. And obviously as directors this is our first effort and I think the important thing for us is to stay focused on the idea that we’re always learning and we’re always growing in all those departments,” says Rash.

“So it’s hard when people say, ‘Now you can do this or do that’ because I don’t totally accept that. In the sense that: No, I still have lots of things that I want to do and prove to myself and whether we fail or not (I want to know) we got to do something that we’re passionate about.”

“The Way, Way Back” opens in Toronto on Friday, in Vancouver on July 12, and in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Victoria and Winnipeg on July 26.