Paul Feig is easy to pick out of a crowd. The director of Bridesmaids and the 2016 Ghostbusters remake, and creator of the endlessly quotable Freaks and Geeks, Feig is equally celebrated for his wardrobe. Three-piece suits, wide chalk stripes, and triangle-folded handkerchiefs are all part of the daily routine. The writer, producer, director, and sometimes actor is also equally comfortable with a martini in hand—Feig collects vintage drink sets, and is preparing to release a charming hardback, Cocktail Time! The Ultimate Guide to Grown-up Fun (William Morrow). He has recently launched his own spirits brand, Artingstall’s Brilliant London Dry Gin. And a varied group of television shows—Love Life (HBO Max), Minx (HBO Max), and Welcome to Flatch (Hulu)—are all the product of his company Feigco Entertainment. He has spent much of the past two years working on a Netflix adaptation of Soman Chainani’s best-selling fantasy series, The School for Good and Evil. Here, he shares his key components to the good life. —Bridget Arsenault
Airline: Emirates.
Airport: Any that doesn’t make you take a bus to the plane.
Album: It’s Alive, by the Ramones.
Alibi: “Traffic was terrible.”
App: Instagram.
Bag: A Goyard briefcase.
Bedtime: 11 p.m.
Beer: Guinness.
Bike: A beach cruiser.
Birthday: Dinner and drinks with close friends.
Breakfast, weekday: Egg-white burrito with salsa.
Breakfast, weekend: Bagel and lox with cream cheese and raw onions.
Car: Mercedes-Benz 250C.
Child: Old soul.
Cocktail: Martini.
Cocktail appetizer: Fried olives at the Polo Bar.
Couple: Opposites who understand each other.
Date: A fancy restaurant.
Diet: Gluten-free.
Dinner, weekday: Roast chicken.
Dinner, weekend: Tasting menu.
Disguise: Fake mustache.
Dress: Three-piece suit and tie.
Drive: From Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
Enemy: Gluttony.
Escape: Building Lego sets.
Excuse: “I’m sorry, I’ve just got too much going on.”
Family: Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt.
First Lady: Michelle Obama.
Fit: Slim.
Flaw: Chronic empathy.
Foil: One that respects you.
Friend:
Whoever drinks and likes spicy food.
Game: Backgammon.
Good-bye: A hug.
Gin: Artingstall’s Brilliant London Dry Gin.
Hideaway: Bed.
Homemade meal: Turkey chili.
Hotel: Claridge’s.
Insult: “Oh, you wore that, did you?”
Jacket: Double-breasted.
Kiss-off: “It’s not you, it’s me.”
Last Meal: An entire spicy meat-and-cheese pizza.
Last words: “I just wanted everyone to have fun.”
Lunch, weekday: Thai food.
Lunch, weekend: Oysters and french fries.
Match: Someone who sees your flaws and loves you anyway.
Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life.
Name: Skylar.
Neighbor: Quiet.
Nonfiction book: The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins.
Notebook: Dunhill.
Novel: The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger.
Pants: Slim black trousers.
Pet: Scottish terrier.
Piece of advice: “Listen to the problem, not the solution.”
Podcast: Disaster Girls: A Podcast About Disaster Movies.
President: Abraham Lincoln.
Restaurant: Il Tinello in New York.
Reward: Recognition.
Ride: Chauffeured sedan.
Saying: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
SHOES: George Cleverley Churchill.
Singer: James Brown.
Song: The live version of “Do You Feel Like We Do?,” by Peter Frampton.
Spouse: Laurie Feig.
Storm: Thundersnow.
Television series: All in the Family.
Theme song to your life: “Make ’Em Laugh,” from Singin’ in the Rain.
Time of day: Early evening.
Toast: “Here’s to looking up your old address.”
Vacation: Two weeks in Capri.
Victim: Someone who had it coming.
View: From a table on the pond at the Loeb Boathouse, in Central Park.
Wake-up time: Seven a.m.
Weekend bag: Rimowa rolling carry-on.
Work of art: Anything with a lemon in it.
WRITING IMPLEMENT: Graf von Faber-Castell mechanical pencil.
Paul’s Essentials
