The Duplass Brothers Have a Memoir on the Way

Producers, writers, directors and actors Mark and Jay Duplass have quietly become some of the most sought-after storytellers in modern film and television, but now, the brothers are telling a story that is uniquely their own. Ballantine Books will publish Like Brothers on May 8, a memoir-in-essays described in a press release as “a tour of their lifelong personal and professional partnership … that share the secrets of their success, the joys and frustrations of intimate collaboration, and the lessons they’ve learned the hard way.”

The memoir will recount everything from Mark and Jay’s childhood years, spent brandishing a clunky home video camera in the New Orleans suburbs, to their college years at the University of Texas in ‘90s Austin; from their breakthrough short film (made on a literal shoestring budget: $3) to the Sundance bidding war in which their 2008 feature Baghead was embroiled. Like Brothers also promises brutal honesty as Mark and Jay pull back the curtain on their sibling rivalry and its evolution from wrecking their youthful love lives to creating jealousy when either brother hogged the spotlight as an actor (e.g., Mark in FX’s The League and Jay in Amazon’s Transparent). And Like Brothers also addresses the challenges the Duplass Brothers dealt with while making their beloved HBO show Togetherness, which they discussed with Paste in 2015.

Mindy Kaling, with whom the Duplass Brothers worked on The Mindy Project, penned the foreword to Like Brothers. “Wright. Ringling. Jonas,” Kaling writes. “I’m sure you could name a bunch of famous brother teams. They’re all garbage compared to Mark and Jay. I can’t wait for you to read this book.” The memoir has received advance praise from creative partners including Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, and John and Hank Green, while Judd Apatow calls the book “hilarious” and “insightful.”

Like Brothers is available for preorder now and hits shelves on May 8. See the memoir’s cover below, and revisit our 2010 interview with the Duplass Brothers here.