Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I was very lucky to recently sit in a room with damn near the entire cast of FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. We conducted this interview about an hour before their panel at WonderCon and I was quickly informed this was one of the first interviews done for the film, including a rather suggestive soundbite from the beautiful Kristen Bell. Le sigh…
Below you have me, director Nick Stoller, producer (and longtime Apatow compadre) Shauna Robertson and stars Jason Segel, Jack McBrayer, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Russell Brand. I was a lucky guy. All the women were beautiful and funny and the guys laid back and cool. It was a great group and I’m very glad they put us all together instead of breaking us up into smaller interviews.
All but McBrayer are below and you can see him a little bit into the interview… From Left to Right are Mila Kunis, Jason Segel, Russell Brand and Kristen Bell.
Considering I haven’t seen this movie yet, I’m quite happy with this grouping. They kept it lively despite me not being able to ask any detailed questions. I hope you enjoy it. I think it’s a blast.
Be warned that there might be a little spoilerage throughout. Fair warning!
Quint: So have you guys been doing a lot of press today?
Shauna Robertson: Nope, we just got off the plane. We just got here. Kristen Bell: You’re going to pop the cherry. Shauna Robertson: Whatever we say now will not be redundant. It will be fresh and new.
Quint: Oh perfect, so I can ask all of the boring questions now and then everybody else can ask the original ones.
Shauna Robertson: We will ask you a question: What else is really cool at WonderCon? Obviously besides us…
Quint: IRON MAN probably.
Jason Segel: Oh, IRON MAN! Mila Kunis: Are they showing it? Are they showing what it looks like or no?
Quint: They’re showing something.
Mila Kunis: Are they? Shauna Robertson: Are they here? Jason Segel: What are they showing?
Quint: Favreau’s here, but I don’t know if anybody else is. At Comic Con Downey was there and that was the coolest thing ever.
Kristen Bell: The trailer is cool!
Quint: It looks great. Do you see the SUPER BOWL spot?
Kristen Bell: It was good. It was so good. Mila Kunis: You watched the SUPER BOWL? Kristen Bell: Yeah. Mila Kunis: I’m in love with you. Jack McBrayer: (In a Kristen Bell voice) “To see if I was in any commercials.” Shauna Robertson: Don’t pretend to be nice to her just because we are talking press-wise. They really hate each other.
[Mila and Kristen slowly lean in like they’re going to kiss each other]
Quint: You know we don’t have any video cameras or anything, so…
Kristen Bell: That we know of! Mila Kunis: It’s somewhere in here. Shauna Robertson: We put everything we do on the DVD, so all hidden cameras…
Quint: Well then the next one’s got to be what, seventeen discs?
Shauna Robertson: You kid, but yes.
[Everyone Laughs]
Nick Stoller: Nineteen discs. It comes in a suitcase. Shauna Robertson: In an accordion case. Nick Stoller: Yeah, the movie’s not even included in it.
Quint: I just talked to Jon Poll.
Shauna Robertson: Oh yeah?
Quint: Yeah and he was talking about how crazy that stuff is. He was like “I’m just putting one version of my movie on the DVD!” I know Judd’s the complete opposite and that he worked with him on 40 YEAR OLD, but…
Shauna Robertson: Yeah, we worked with Jon a lot and he’s great.
Quint: He’s a cool guy. Have you seen CHARLIE BARLETT?
Shauna Roberston: I have not, but I want to see it with a real audience at some point. Jack McBrayer: As opposed to cardboard cut-outs? (laughs) Shauna Robertson: Instead of on a TV by yourself.
Quint: It’s good. Alright, I guess first things first, we’ve got to talk about you [Jason Segel]…
[Everyone “oooohhhhh”s]
Quint: What’s your story, mister? When did you start putting all of this stuff together? Since I’m given the freedom to be completely unoriginal, I’ll ask the boring questions and I haven’t seen the movie, so I have only so much to pull from.
CLICK IT HERE TO READ ALONG WITH THE NEXT BIT IN AMAZING SOUND-O-TEXT!
Jason Segel: I started on… Shauna Robertson: It’s good! Jason Segel: Yeah, it’s pretty good. Nick Stoller: Much better than we thought it would be. Jason Segel: I started writing it like three years ago or something like that, but I had just written up until I arrived in Hawaii and then I was sitting with Judd at a Lakers game and it was right after VIRGIN had just come out and he turned to me and he said “I can get…” [He stops and looks at Shauna] What are you doing?
[Note: this was going on behind me. I have no idea what was happening]
Shauna Robertson: Nothing! We’re just getting business done on the side. We’ve heard the story and we’re like just signing you a next deal. Jason Segel: So Judd asked if I had any movie ideas and I told him the beginning and then we riffed the rest and he bought it like the next day or something like that, Universal did, and then I went to Hawaii for a month and wrote the rest of the script and then Nick [Stoller] read it and that’s when it all starting rolling.
Quint: Sounds tough.
Jason Segel: Yeah.
Quint: Some people like to lock themselves away… Richard Kelly says that every time he goes out to write, he goes to a hotel and doesn’t allow himself to go back home until after he finishes and it’s always a dingy hotel, but I think…
Jason Segel: I did the same thing, but in Hawaii.
Quint: Yeah, you did it in Hawaii so that kind of defeats the purpose…
[Everyone Laughs]
Jason Segel: Yeah, it was pretty ridiculous.
Quint: Now I’ve also noticed that it seems when people who write a story tend to star in the movie, they for some reason surround themselves with extremely beautiful women...
Jason Segel: Yeah, I got very lucky... Mila Kunis: And Jack McBrayer… Jason Segel: (laughs) And Jack and Russell (Brand) as well. There was a little something for everyone, but yeah I got really lucky and I got to be naked with both of them at one point or another. It was pretty spectacular. Kristen Bell: There is so much kissing that he wrote in for himself. It’s such a blatant… Jason Segel: There’s a montage of me having sex with fifteen different girls at one point, which we did over the course of two days. It was the best two days of my life. Nick Stoller: The last two days of the shoot where just you in a fake bedroom with naked girls. Jason Segel: And it was spectacular!
[Everyone Laughs]
Quint: So that’s going to be the next one. It’ll just be all that.
Jason Segel: Yeah, I’ll play a porn star.
Nick Stoller: It was very, very similar to the Richard Kelly process. Sounds the same to me…
Quint: Well I guess we should go around the circle and…
Shauna Roberston: Do know that Jack McBrayer was in a Mariah Carey music video? Mila Kunis: Do you want to see it? Do you want to see it? Kristen Bell: We’ll have to show you the preview!
Quint: I would love to!
Shauna Robertson: Do you guys know how to turn it on? Mila Kunis: Press play? Shauna Robertson: Is it in there still? Mila Kunis: I think so. Kristen Bell: Get ready to wet your pants! Jack McBrayer: If it’s not, the video comes out on Wednesday! Nick Stoller: It’s so fucking awesome, Jack.
Quint: I love 30 ROCK by the way.
Jack McBrayer: Thank you! Shauna Robertson: So does Mariah Carey.
[The Video starts and everyone busts out laughing.]
Mila Kunis: That’s one of my favorite parts!
[The video ends.]
Shauna Robertson: I wonder what this song is called. Mila Kunis: “Touch My Body?”
[The video starts up again.]
Nick Stoller: We should just leave this on with a very low volume… (laughs) Jack McBrayer: Oh, my God. Alright, turn it off… We get the picture… Mila Kunis: Look at your Guitar Hero… fuckin’ Rock Band guitar, by the way. Kristen Bell: I could watch that all day. Jack McBrayer: I had never played that before, so my roommate was coaching me. He said you get some extra points if you yank it up. Kristen Bell: You don’t play Guitar Hero? Mila Kunis: You just have to lift it.
Quint: When there’s a star power.
Mila Kunis: And you can whammy it.
Quint: For the starpower, yeah.
Jack McBrayer: I don’t believe in technology. I’m not a fan. (laughs)
Quint: Was that your Viking helmet?
[Everybody Laughs] Jack McBrayer: Yes. All my own wardrobe (laughs). It was kind of a last minute thing, but it was real fun.
Quint: It looked like it.
Jack McBrayer: We did a whole 9 ½ WEEKS thing, where we are sitting in front of an open refrigerator. Jason Segel: Oh my god… Jack McBrayer: She’s feeding me like marshmallows with peanut butter. It’s so dumb! It was amazing! Shauna Roberston: It’s kind of like that J. Lo video with Ben Affleck in it, remember? Where he’s like shining her shoes and slapping her ass. Mila Kunis: Wait, what? Shauna Robertson: That J. Lo video where Ben Affleck was like her love slave. It was pretty funny. Mila Kunis: Do you remember this? Kristen Bell: No. Mila Kunis: Oh thank god. Shauna Robertson: Yeah, they were on a yacht together and… it’s really good. Mila Kunis: Oh I need to watch this! I mean I don’t think it’s going to beat my Jack McBrayer video, but yeah… Kristen Bell: Nothing can beat that. Shauna Robertson: Jack is like Mariah’s Ben Affleck. Mila Kunis: I love it. Jack McBrayer: Yeah… So that’s my deal, yeah…
[Everyone Laughs]
Shauna Robertson: Tell them a little bit about how much time you spent in Hawaii, considering how little days were where you were working. Jack McBrayer: I actually have a fairly small part in the movie… Shauna Robertson: But not in our hearts. Jack McBrayer: But I strategically placed myself in such a way that schedule-wise was spread over a month. Nick Stoller: And how many days did you shoot? Jack McBrayer: I was there for a month and I worked eight days! So for twenty two days I was finding my character, researching the culture… Shauna Robertson: Getting a tan… Jack McBrayer: …getting my tan… Kristen Bell: Snorkeling… Jack McBrayer: I had never been to Hawaii, so that was a huge deal for me. It was beautiful and just a fun thing to work on, but that was kind of been my dream job.
Quint: What part of Hawaii was it?
Jack McBrayer: Oahu.
Quint: I was in Maui for my mom and my step dad’s wedding on the beach, but I was ten and I didn’t quite get to… I was going to say I didn’t get to enjoy it, but… At that age, when you go snorkeling or something, that’s the top of the world. So how did you get involved in the movie?
Jack McBrayer: I had been in a couple of Apatow things already and I didn’t know… Had y’all seen 30 ROCK at all or did you know my work from anything else or… Shauna Robertson: I did not like it. Jack McBrayer: Did Judd put in a good word? Nick Stoller: I had seen you first in the TALLADEGA NIGHTS table read and you were amazing in that. Jason Segel: You know he has a picture of you up on his refrigerator. Nick Stoller: Oh yeah, I don’t think he knew that. Jason Segel: Oh, was I not supposed to tell him? Nick Stoller: I have your headshot on my fridge… Jason Segel: He has Jack McBrayer’s headshot taped to his fridge. Nick Stoller: I was going to leave it there until at some point you were at my house and just saw it there… Mila Kunis: But now you blew it, Segel! Jason Segel: Yeah, I blew it.
Quint: Now he’ll want to take it down.
Nick Stoller: No, I don’t want to take it down… Shauna Robertson: Had I known that, I would not have allowed him to cast you for fear of potential lawsuits…
[Everyone Laughs]
Jack McBrayer: So I think I just got lucky with it… It’s good to have friends.
Quint: And he almost got lucky too!
Nick Stoller: Oh yeah. Jack McBrayer: Oh right, right. Strike that from the records! Jason Segel: That’s why he was there for a month!
[Everyone Laughs]
Jack McBrayer: I have found it is just very good to have friends who are in good positions. Shauna Robertson: It’s very beneficial. Jack McBrayer: Yeah, you would know! So that’s my story. Mila? Mila Kunis: Don’t look at me!
Quint: It’s your turn. We’re going clockwise
Mila Kunis: What am I supposed to say? What’s the question?
[Everyone tells her “What’s your story?” all at once.]
Mila Kunis: I got lucky? I don’t know how I got involved. I read for it! Jason Segel: You did the table read. Mila Kunis: I did the table read. Shauna Roberston: Yeah, but even before that you read for KNOCKED UP and we were such humongous fans, like “that girl is just hilarious!” Mila Kunis: And then they were wrong and then they… Nick Stoller: I fought against it tooth and nail… We did a table read and fought against it… Shauna Robertson: We all fought against it. Mila Kunis: Ahh fuck… Jason Segel: She held the position to beat from the table read and nobody was even close with the auditions. Mila Kunis: Go on… Jason Segel: It was pretty great. Mila Kunis: I think that’s it, so yeah I did the table read and then like six months later I went back in and then I went to Hawaii for two months and worked like ten days and yeah, it’s great. It’s the greatest job ever. Bell, your turn. Nick Stoller: I’ve just got one quick question… What was it like having pretend sex with Jason?
CLICK IT HERE TO READ ALONG WITH THE NEXT BIT IN AMAZING SOUND-O-TEXT! This is a long one, but a really funny one to read along with!
Mila Kunis: Ug… It was sweaty? Kristen Bell: Did you just say sweaty?
[Everyone Laughs]
Nick Stoller: Like hot! Mila Kunis: Yeah, it was super sexy! But it was nice. It was very gentle. (laughs) It was… it was hot in there, so it was really… Jack McBrayer: It’s like kissing your brother? Mila Kunis: Yes! Jason Segel: Well, she was. Mila Kunis: I mean, it was great. It was like being swallowed, I felt like. It was awesome.
[Everyone Laughs]
Jason Segel: Wait a minute, wait a minute! It was like being swallowed?!? Oh, right! When I had the whiskey… I had to do… Mila Kunis: Well I wasn’t going to go into detail, but I was hoping you would get the joke… Jason Segel: I had to be naked with her at the end… Shauna Robertson: “Had to be… I wrote it”… Mila Kunis: He wrote it in after the movie was over! Shauna Robertson: “I was talking about it every single day and then I got naked and there was a big smile on my face…” Nick Stoller: And then we were done for a long time and you wrote more of you being naked… Jason Segel: Making out with the other one! So I drank a little too much whiskey, for one of the scenes to work up my courage, and… Mila Kunis: Did you ever see this? Nick Stoller: What he was doing behind the set…? Mila Kunis: No no, go ahead and finish your story. Jason Segel: Oh I wasn’t going to tell “that” part…
[Everyone Laughs]
Mila Kunis: Segel!! Go on! Shauna Robertson: Talking about the fluffer we hired. Jason Segel: I had to make out with Mila and Nick just kept telling me “Just stay still and don’t do all of this kissy motion” and apparently I [to Mila] nearly swallowed your face. Mila Kunis: I’ve never seen it, but yeah I think it was the whiskey and the heat of the stage… Nick Stoller: And the anxiety… Mila Kunis: …and you were naked and I kept laughing… that’s just all bad things. Jack McBrayer: Was that in Hawaii or…? Mila Kunis: This is when we did the reshoots…. Jack McBrayer: Ohhhh…. Mila Kunis: Yeah, he added nudity! Jason Segel: Yeah, I added nudity. Mila Kunis: He added this naked make-out session. Jack McBrayer: Don’t do that. (laughs) Mila Kunis: He added this naked make out session. Nick Stoller: It’s a romantic comedy and you want it to have a romantic end and a naked drunk guy swallowing someone’s face… it falls on the wrong side of creepy. Mila Kunis: It was like Nick would come in and be like “OK, so maybe like just not as much… Maybe just a little kiss, like slower…” but Segel couldn’t figure out what that meant… Jack McBrayer: [To Segel] Where you drunk? Mila Kunis: It didn’t connect to him. That means don’t go like *makes a loud throatal noise*
[Everyone Laughs]
Mila Kunis: But I couldn’t say anything, because I felt bad, because he was naked, so it was too funny. Nick Stoller: I wanted to be polite, because he was naked and in a vulnerable state and he kept swallowing her head and I couldn’t… Mila Kunis: And then his hand came up at one point… (laughs and can’t finish the sentence) Jack McBrayer: What happened?
[Everyone Laughs]
Mila Kunis: It was funny, because he would go in and at first it would be on my waste and then he kept getting higher and higher for some reason, so towards the end my head was in his arms and I was like “I’m in his armpit!” Jason Segel: It turned out great! Nick Poll: When you see the end, just keep in mind that that was the least of him swallowing her head! When you see what that is, you will be like… Shauna Robertson: We feared for her life. Jason Segel: Oh my God… Mila Kunis: It was great though. It was really good. It was nice and his tongue is very soft.
[Everyone Laughs]
Quint: Well I would hope so.
Mila Kunis: [Laughing] I’m trying to end this on a positive note, see? Nick Stoller: (laughing) His tongue’s very soft?!? Shauna Robertson: That should be our romantic tagline for our movie “His tongue is very soft.” Jason Segel: Oh lord… Mila Kunis: Bell?
Quint: How soft was his tongue?
Kristen Bell: It was very soft. I completely agree.
Quint: Was it a little like the Cuddles teddy bear fabric softener thing…
Kristen Bell: Little, no. Soft, yes. Jason Segel: This has taken a strange turn… Shauna Robertson Don’t ask Russell this next, because they also made out, too. Russell Brand: Yeah… Nick Stoller: Whose tongue was softer? Jack McBrayer: That’s right, y’all have made out. Jason Segel: Yeah, we’ve made out several times. Kristen Bell: I don’t remember. Mila Kunis: Ohhhh... Jason Segel: That means me!
[Everyone Laughs]
Jack McBrayer: Very diplomatic, Kristen. Kristen Bell: Probably Jack’s (tongue). Jack McBrayer: Oh grow up. Kristen Bell: What was the question again?
Quint: I don’t know, just how you got involved and that’s turned into this crazy awesome tangent…
[Bell makes her mouth into an O and wipes around her lips… and yes, it was as sexy as you’d imagine it’d be…]
Shauna Roberston: Not how your tongue got involved.
Quint: Yeah, how you personally.
Kristen Bell: OK, well I did not do a table read. I just auditioned like every other Joe Schmo I think. Shauna Robertson: Yeah, but we did a special audition, remember? We all came down to San Diego… Mila Kunis: Shirts off. Kristen Bell: Oh, you did. Nick Stoller: You were one of the first people who auditioned and you came in… it was like you came in right away. Kristen Bell: The early bird gets the worm. Nick Stoller: Exactly. Shauna Robertson: But we took Russell down to San Diego to see you and we wanted to do something special for Russell, so we took him to McDonalds on the way in the van. It was so glamorous. Jack McBrayer: It was your first time to McDonalds? Mila Kunis: Seriously? Shauna Roberston: We just used Russell as an excuse to go there. Russell Brand: It was extraordinary.
Quint: What did you have?
Russell Brand: Well I couldn’t have anything, because I’m vegetarian…
[Everyone Laughs]
Russell Brand: I just sat there awkwardly. Jason Segel: It really was so rude of us, because you were hungry too. Russell Brand: I was the most hungry. I was the one who asked to stop. Shauna Robertson: There’s nothing on the way down to your place. We were looking for hours and were all so hungry. Kristen Bell: Yeah, there’s not. There’s two In & Outs on the way back and forth, but other than that, there’s nothing, because I did that drive so often and it’s only In & Out… Shauna Robertson: Luckily Russell still came out with us. I thought we had lost him for sure… Jack McBrayer: Wait, so you were still shooting VERONICA MARS then? Kristen Bell: When I first auditioned, the auditions were like on a Saturday and then I think the call back was as well or something like that and then yeah, they wanted to… Nick Stoller: Do the chemistry audition. Shauna Robertson: Remember when we got there and she had all of that nice food laid out for us? Mila Kunis: Did you? Shauna Robertson: She was such a nice host. She had drinks and food and everything laid out for us. Mila Kunis: I would never do that. Shauna Roberston: It was charming. Russell Brand: We know… Mila Kunis: I’d be like “open the fridge…” Nick Stoller: Kristen what was it like acting against someone who was naked?
CLICK IT HERE TO READ ALONG WITH THE NEXT BIT IN AMAZING SOUND-O-TEXT!
Kristen Bell: I tried to keep my eyes up. Nick Stoller: Is that what you would tell someone who needs to act against a naked person in a movie? Kristen Bell: Absolutely, “Eyes up! Eyes on the prize!” Nick Stoller: Eyes on the prize? Which prize? Kristen Bell: Yeah, exactly! Jason Segel: There’s a really funny out take, because we had to frame that scene a bunch of different ways if we decided not to show my penis, you know, so there’s one take where it’s just belly up and at some point we are doing the scene and Kristen just goes “Wait, what’s the framing right now?” and they’re like “Just belly up” and she goes “Why the fuck are you still naked?”
[Everybody laughs]
Kristen Bell: Because there was a sock option! I mean I was trying to be as supportive as possible, like “if you want to do it, do it,” but then it got to a point where it was getting awkward for everyone, because we knew we were doing coverage and it was very clear we were at close ups and I was just kinda like “Real quick… can we just check what it is…” Nick Stoller: I should also point out that very quickly in the movie you see his entire Johnson and for some inexplicable reason when we weren’t seeing it, he really wanted a sock to cover it when we weren’t seeing it, even though he had shown it… You only need a sock if you’re not going to show it… Jason Segel: Yeah, except here’s the thing… You are strategically… Shauna Robertson: It was a complex stance. Jason Segel: You’re strategically prepping the penis… Jack McBrayer: Oh no… I don’t want to hear this… Jason Segel: …for a very short period of exposure. Shauna Robertson: There were magazines involved… Jack McBrayer: Are you serious? Kristen Bell: But that drew more attention to it, because it was flesh colored, A), really awkward… I feel like the sock drew a lot more attention than just the penis itself. Nick Stoller: It was like he had a puppet penis. Kristen Bell: Right!
[Everyone Laughs]
Quint: By Jim Henson… and well now you know what you can do it you go down to SESAME STREET.
Jason Segel: Totally. Nick Stoller: Russell, did you enjoy Hawaii? Russell Brand: Yeah. It was a very pleasant place other than Jason’s abrasive cat-like tongue lashing endlessly at everyone’s faces and necks!
Quint: It’s honest. Everybody else, because he’s here… you’re being honest about the tongue.
Russell Brand: I think that this one facet of his anatomy that you can bare criticism of. I liked it there.
CLICK IT HERE TO READ ALONG WITH THE NEXT BIT IN AMAZING SOUND-O-TEXT!
Russell Brand: It was nice and as for the audition process, I understand that it was relatively standardized other than the needless three hour journey to Santa Barbara punctuated with trips to horrific fast food restaurants that couldn’t cater for my specific needs, but that we went to regardless!
[Everyone Laughs]
Jason Segel: Well Russell’s audition was unique actually. The part was originally written for a British author, like a GREAT GATSBY kind of type guy, all proper and all and so Russell walked in and initially right when he walked in I thought “This is going to be kind of strange…” Shauna Robertson: We all did. We looked at the casting director like “What are you doing?” Jason Segel: “What is going on here?” The first thing Russell said when he walked in and looked at me is he said “You’ll have to forgive me, I’ve only had a chance to take a cursory glance of your script. Perhaps you should tell me what it is you require.” We were like “alright.” Nick Stoller: We literally thought the casting director was playing a practical joke. Jason Segel: I think you were playing a joke on us, because Nick said “You know, you can just be loose with the material or whatever you want!” and you said “Oh right, like im… im… improvisation?” like you had never heard of it before and then gave the best audition ever. Shauna Robertson: He improvised for sixty-five minutes straight and then we all went home and watched it all and then we invited all of our friends over to watch it, also. Nick Stoller: We thought we had all had like a collective dream. It was kind of amazing… Jason Segel: I think when Russell walked out of the room, no exaggeration, Nick and I stood up and hugged each other and did a happy dance. Shauna Robertson: With tongue. Jason Segel: Yeah, totally. Nick Stoller: With soft tongue. Jason Segel: We knew we had found him and so then it just came about me rewriting it to fit Russell perfectly. Russell Brand: Sounds nice, their version of it. Nick Poll: What was your side of it? Click it here for the continuing Sound-O-Text of Russell Brand's hilarity! Russell Brand: I had to go off to a place that seemed so suburban and terrifying and drab and wait in a room and I saw someone from a TV program, like DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and I thought “Well that’s nice” I went off to the toilet for a little bit anxious and nervous and I over dressed… Then I went into that room and everyone in there was American without exception, not a single English face… I began speaking and just thought “Just come across polite, so just say things that a polite person would say,” so I said those sort of things, polite things, and now in retrospect it came across as fierce sarcasm.
[Everyone Erupts Laughing]
Russell Brand: It was me trying my hardest to be nice and then it’s alright since I’m pretending and then later I learned they had no option but to give me that part, because all of the other actors that they had auditioned had done things like attacked the actress that was with them. They said some of the audition tapes had to be handed over as evidence. Nick Stoller: We turned in some tapes. We had one unnamed actor attack the person he was reading with. Mila Kunis: What? Kristen Bell: You know him. Jason Segel: Yeah…
[Bell leans over and whispers a name into Kunis’ ear]
Mila Kunis: Oh my God! Nick Stoller: Yeah and it was a friend of mine who was doing the reading and this unnamed actor… Jason Segel: Famous actor, very well known. Nick Stoller: Yeah, this very famous actor… Shauna Robertson: It was Paul Rudd…
[Everyone Laughs]
Nick Stoller: It was like the improv was like “You want to go horseback riding and she doesn’t” That was like the whole improv and everyone had to do that… Jason Segel: And let me preface it by also saying that when he came in, he said “I have only one way I would want to do this part… This is kind of strange but,” he was a total American guy, but “I have a picture of how I want to do it” and he starts the thing and it’s in this really weird like Latino accent and he was like [In a Latin accent] “Oh, you are so beautiful…” but it was a horrible accent… Nick Stoller: And I said to him “Oh, do you speak Spanish?” and he was like, “No.” Jason Segel: (In the accent) “No-no-no…” Shauna Robertson: He made a character name, didn’t he? Jason Segel: Yeah he did. Do you remember his character name? Shauna Robertson: Maybe we shouldn’t say it, because it’s going to show up in one of his movies… Jason Segel: You’re right… Nick Stoller: It was the Spanish version of “William.” Jason Segel: Guillermo? Nick Stoller: Yeah, I think it was Guillermo. I was like “OK, you want to go horseback riding and she doesn’t, but you’re going to get her to go horseback riding… You don’t actually need her to go horseback riding, because this is more of a relationship conversation.” He goes “Oh, I’m going to get her to go horseback riding!” and it turned into this thing where he started to massage her and then grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up and tried to pull her out of the room to go pretend horseback riding. Jason Segel: And she literally says on the tape “Somebody help me,” honest to God!
[Everyone Laughs]
Nick Stoller: And I have this horrible feeling… You know that famous psychology experiment where they like electrocute the person over and over again, but the psych experiment is actually on the person… Russell Brand: Standford, I think. Nick Stoller: I realized it felt like an experiment on me, because I just watched this thing… I just watched him attack my friend and I forgot that I wasn’t watching TV, but my friend was in serious danger, so anyways. Shauna Robertson: She’s dead now. Mila Kunis: I hope this gets printed and this person reads it, I really do. Kristen Bell: He’s going to think “They didn’t get me…” Jason Segel: It was also funny, because he said it wasn’t for this specific role that he wanted to do this character, but it’s a character that he’s been wanting to do. I’m pretty sure he’s been taking that into other auditions and now “Guillermo” has got this reputation around LA…
Quint: There’s probably a lot of homeless women missing from his neighborhood. Well, I think that’s all I have. I really can’t think of anything else to talk about…
Shauna Robertson: Just say it in a Brazilian accent.
Quint: And then I’ll drag somebody out by their hair, but no it’s always awkward when you haven’t been able to see the movie beforehand.
Kristen Bell: Go see the movie, you’ll like it! It’s pretty good.
Quint: I would, but you guys didn’t bring it to Austin. You showed it to all the LA and New York people!
Shauna Robertson: Are you based out of Austin? We’re showing it there March 10th.
Quint: I know. I’ll be there!
Nick Stoller: I think we will, too. Shauna Robertson: Plus Bill Hader can make it.
Quint: I think Harry was talking about having a party, but only like an intimate thing for people who have a good bad breakup story…
Jason Segel: That’s great! Shauna Robertson: Jason will get to prey on all the single women. Jason Segel: That’s fantastic!
Quint: … and he said I automatically get to go in, because I just went through one for the record books.
Shauna Robertson: Just now?
Quint: No not now, not in this room, but yeah in December…
Jason Segel: Make a movie about it, man.
Quint: I don’t need to, there’s a movie called THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH. I saw it at Sundance.
Kristen Bell: Was it good?
Quint: Yeah, I liked it a lot! Mena Suvari’s character in that movie is almost to a point my ex and the crazy shit that she does and as mean and as crazy as she got… My friend who was at Sundance with me literally turned over and was laughing in my face…
Mila Kunis: Awww… that’s not funny!
Quint: Well, he was front row to the whole break up, so when he saw the stuff that Mena Suvari was doing after she gets broken up with in that movie… He was like “That’s her!”
Mila Kunis: Do you want a hug?
Quint: No, well yes I do...
Mila Kunis: Well do you want me to kick her ass? Give me her address! Where does she live?
[If this was a TV show this part would be bleeped]
Mila Kunis: It’s cool. I’ll be there one day. What’s the address, I can TP her place. Nick Stoller: Do you want Jason to kiss you? Shauna Robertson: With his soft tongue?
Quint: With the soft tongue??
Kristen Bell: Give it a try. Russell Brand: I can recommend the cat tongue. You’ll feel clean afterwards, not spiritually…
Quint: I’ll pass on the kiss.
Jason Segel: Alright. The offer’s still on the table… Shauna Robertson: You guys will always have Austin.
Quint: Yeah, this isn’t special enough. Austin’s my home, it’ll mean more.
Jason Segel: Fair enough.
[Lindsey, the lovely Universal rep, comes in now to call an end to the interview]
Quint: Well, thank you guys.
Shauna Robertson: Whoa! Abrupt end! It was nice to finally meet you. I’m excited for you to see the movie in Austin.
Quint: I can’t wait. Good meeting you.
Mila Kunis: It was so nice meeting you. Jason Segel: Thank you Eric, thanks man. Kristen Bell: We’ll see you in Austin?
Quint: I will be there.
I hope you enjoyed the interview. I had a blast. I don’t know what it is with these Apatow guys, but damn do they make good interviews. You readers with a good memory will recall the absolutely hilarious interview I did with the Superbad trio of Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and McLovin’… if not, click here to give it a read!. I'm going to try to get an extra sound-o-text made up of Russell Brand's audition description... it's just too funny to let it live in regular text. Got more goodies for you coming soon! -Quint quint@aintitcool.com
