Alessandro and Sam Nivola Tease What Project They Want to Film Together (Exclusive)

Alessandro Nivola and Sam Nivola are open to working together.

The pair, who are both massive tennis fans, caught up with PEOPLE exclusively while attending the US Open on Tuesday, Sept. 2. During the conversation, PEOPLE asked whether the father and son would ever be interested in an on-screen collaboration.

“Definitely. I think so. We’ll need to get my mom to write something that we can both be in,” Sam, 21, says, referring to his mother, actress and screenwriter Emily Mortimer, 53.

And as to what type of project they’d ideally like to work on together?

“Definitely nothing involving incest,” Alessandro, 53, jokes, seemingly referring to Sam’s character’s incestuous plot line in The White Lotus season 3.

Instead, Alessandro said that he and friend Ethan Hawke, 54, have an idea that would involve working with both of their sons.

“Ethan Hawke and I have been cooking up this movie called Satan Is Real about a pair of brothers called the Louvin Brothers. And then we were thinking that now that Sam and [Ethan’s] son, Levon Hawke, are becoming stars, that the best way for us to greenlight the movie will be to write in a section that has us as younger versions,” he explains.

“Sign me up,” Sam chimes in, joking, “I’ll do anything for a job, man.”

PEOPLE also asked Alessandro about the secret to his 22-year marriage with Mortimer.

“I don’t know,’ The Brutalist actor admits. “I think you need to both love and like each other, and we do.”

Sam then revealed what he’s learned by observing his parents over the years.

“I’ve learned that it’s really hard to be an actor and be in a committed long-term relationship,” he reflects. “And I know that too from my girlfriend, Iris [Apatow]. [She’s] an actor, and spending time apart is just really difficult.”

However, Sam said he also thinks dating an actress can have advantages.

“I think [it’s] kind of a good way of weeding out a bad relationship,” he continues. “Because if at the end of the day you spend distance apart and you find that it’s worth it, then you know you’re really in love with the person. And if not, you’ll know right away, like, ‘It was actually kind of nice spending three months apart.’ And then you’re like, ‘F—. Something’s wrong.’ ”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“But I’ve really admired the way that they have navigated it,” he adds, referring back to his parents. “Because it’s just not a natural human thing to be apart from your partner for that much time. And everyone has to find their own way to make it work, and they do a pretty good job of it.”

Sam can be seen in the upcoming comedy Driver’s Ed, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12. Alessandro will next appear in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, which hits theaters nationwide on Sept. 12.