Clear History preem tonight on HBO

MANILA, Philippines - Larry David brings his brand of humor to HBO Films in the feature-length presentation Clear History. David leads an ensemble cast in the film, which also includes Jon Hamm, Bill Hader, Philip Baker Hall, Kate Hudson, Michael Keaton, Danny McBride, Eva Mendes, Amy Ryan and J.B. Smoove. The film is directed by Greg Mottola (Paul; Superbad) and written by David and his longtime writing colleagues Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer, the creative team behind HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Clear History premieres in Asia tonight at 8:20 on HBO and HBO HD.

Clear History is almost entirely improvised and stars Larry as Nathan Flomm, a marketing executive at a start-up electric car company, who, after a petty argument with his boss, gives up his 10 percent of the shares. The company then goes on to make billions of dollars, leaving Flomm publicly humiliated, his life destroyed. Ten years later, he has changed his name to Rolly DaVore and moved to Martha’s Vineyard. All is well until something from his past threatens to disrupt his new life.

Larry recalls, “I heard about a guy who owned 10 percent of Apple and sold his shares before the company took off. I thought that was funny, or, as my mother used to say, I happened to think that was funny.”

Jon, who plays Will Haney, Flomm’s boss and the founder of Electron Motors, observes, “There was a blueprint and a framework, and it was fun to be able to fill in the blanks. Part of that fun is that anybody can riff a little or go off on a tangent, which can become a whole different thing.”

Bill portrays Rags, the friend and henchman of Joe Stumpo, who operates the local quarry. He notes, “There’s a lot of discovery within the scene. Larry’s mind is constantly going, and you don’t want to disrupt the flow. It’s a lot of fun and I consider it a huge medal of honor having Larry David scream at me in a scene and getting in an argument with him about banal stuff.”

Philip, who portrays McKenzie, the foreman of a local construction company overseeing the Haney estate, previously worked with David in Curb Your Enthusiasm. He says, “There is the Stanislavski approach to scene work, the Stella Adler approach, the Lee Strasberg approach, etc., but I’ll take the Larry David system every time.”

Kate plays Rhonda, Will Haney’s glamorous wife. She says, “I loved the idea of coming to work. It became a truly collaborative effort and was really fun.”

Having worked in comedy early in his career, Michael enjoyed getting back to his roots as Joe Stumpo, the erratic and eccentric operator of the quarry. “Working with Larry, Bill and Danny, there was always the chance of going off the road a little bit,” says Michael.

Danny, who plays Frank, Rolly’s best friend, observes, “Anything can happen from take to take. It’s not like you’ve read the script a million times and you already know what the scene’s gonna be. It’s like you’re watching the story and the movie comes alive right in front of you.”

Eva portrays Jennifer, who takes an offhand suggestion from Rolly (a.k.a. Nathan) a bit too seriously. “I’ve always wanted to work with Peter Sellers, Gene Wilder and Larry David,” she says. “Since Mr. Sellers is no longer with us and Mr. Wilder would not return my calls or texts, Mr. David was the logical choice. He really is the best; he taught me so much. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work with him on this project and I love working this way. I never want to go back to scripted material.”

Amy, who plays Wendy, an ex-girlfriend of Rolly’s with a secret, explains, “You have that moment where you don’t know what is going to happen and that’s both thrilling and terrifying, but you just kind of go with it, and it’s a good time and very freeing.”

J.B., who is familiar with performing opposite David from Curb Your Enthusiasm, plays Jaspar, Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend. Says J.B., “Larry knows how to set me up. It’s kind of like playing tee-ball. All you gotta do is hit the damn ball. You get a certain high off of working in that element.