The next generation of Griswolds is at it again. “Vacation,” starring Ed Helms (“The Hangover” films) and Christina Applegate (the “Anchorman” films), takes the family on the road for another ill-fated adventure. Following in his father’s footsteps and hoping for some much-needed family bonding, a grown-up Rusty Griswold (Helms) surprises his wife, Debbie (Applegate), and their two sons with a cross-country trip back to America’s “favorite family fun park,” Walley World.

During roundtable press interviews in Los Angeles, co-stars Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins were joined by writer/directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley to talk about the film.

The actors playing the Griswolds all became super close on the film and developed a real family dynamic. The first time Ed Helms and Christina Applegate got together for the film was the first time that they met, and they weren’t sure if it would work until that moment. Helms said, “I met Christina at a table read for the movie, a few months before we started. I’d never met her before, but we’re both a little sarcastic and we both started making fun of each other, right away. I think that our comfort just clicked, instantly.” Applegate added, “The four of us spent a great deal of time together in that car, so if the personalities didn’t jive, it would have been a tedious process, but it wasn’t. We were a little family and we all had our place. We had so much fun. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be any other people than the ones that I got.”

In talking about their process as directors, John Francis Daley said, “We pretty much do it all together, in the same way that we write. It’s always in the same room. We don’t go off and do separate scenes. We find that the advantage of that is being able to test the comedy and seeing if both of us like it, which is generally a good sign.” Jonathan Goldstein added, “When it actually came to directing, it was just that much more preparation to make sure that we were on the same page, and we were telling the crew and the actors everything that we’d want.” They would make their decision at the monitors, before they would go to the actors to give them notes.

When asked if he went back and watched previous performances of Rusty Griswold, Helms said, “I didn’t do that. I watched the old films just for fun and to get into the spirit of the Griswold mythology, but I didn’t look for acting cues in those performances. I just felt like adult Rusty is a different character, and each of those iterations of Rusty were pretty different from each other, as well. They just reflect the actor portraying Rusty. So, I looked at this as a pretty blank slate and an opportunity to just bring Ed Helms to Rusty Griswold, and had a hell of a good time doing it.”

Applegate let it be known that she incorporated some of her own personal views when developing the character of Debbie. “The thing [that you find out about Debbie’s past] was not in the original script. We had a pow-wow and sat down and I said, ‘I really need Debbie to have a life. I need her to have a skeleton because we all have one. Most of the moms I know have had a past, and they’re great parents because they’ve had a past.’ So, I really, really wanted to have that. It was collaborative to get Debbie to where she ended up being.” As far as the stunt work she said, “Hanging upside down is not something I need to do again.”

Steele Stebbins was asked whether he felt bad about all of the horrible things that his character did to Skyler Gisondo’s character, including trying to suffocate him with a plastic bag over his head, he said, “I felt so bad doing that. After every take, I was like, ‘Are you okay?’ With the punching and the slapping, and everything, he took it so well, which was nice. I did some pretty crazy stuff to him.” Gisondo added, “I heard it was a plastic breathable safety bag. I was like, ‘That makes sense. Why would you put a real plastic bag over somebody’s head? That couldn’t possibly be real.’ And then, when we were on set, I was like, ‘That looks so real. You’d never know it was a breathable plastic safety bag.’ John [Francis Daley] and Jonathan [Goldstein] said, ‘What are you talking about? What do you think this is? It’s just a plastic bag.’ But, we had fun with it.”

It was very important for Goldstein to get the entire family involved in the action, he said, “Because a road trip movie is inherently episodic, we wanted to make sure that the audience is keying into other things that are happening. It wasn’t just going to be Rusty’s story. We wanted to make sure that Debbie had her story.” Daley added, “And we wanted there to be a pay-off to the conflict that the two boys are having.”

Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo are back for this installment in the franchise, and they had a three-day shoot with them. “We knew we had to have them in the movie, just to pay our respects to the foundation that they set with the original and because of how talented and funny they both were. We also knew that to establish this movie on its own, we couldn’t spend too much time with them,” Daley said. 

Because the original Vacation is one of a handful of movies that are the reason he does what he does, Helm said being on set with Chase and D’Angelo was a dream come true for him. “I just love those movies and that world so much, and Chevy and Beverly are a huge part of that. Meeting them was a huge thrill. And then, being able to work with them and be collaborative and funny, and find humor with them, was incredible.” The actors playing the Griswold family are signed on for possible sequels.

Vacation is in theaters July 29th.