Winding down our week of enthusiastic SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD coverage, I've got interviews with Scott Pilgrim's female nemesis and the high-schooler whose heart he callously breaks. Let's start with Aubrey Plaza, who co-stars as the acerbic party-thrower/barista Julie Powers. Julie essentially reacts to Scott the way most of us would in the real world; she holds him in contempt for his layabout lifestyle and self-centered approach to dating. She's actively pulling for him to fail - and, in Bryan Lee O'Malley's books, actually does her part to make sure Scott falls flat on his smug face. In the movie, she's mostly there to remind us that Scott is an appalling narcissist who deserves much of what's coming to him. Plaza's a natural to convey Julie's curdled mix of apathy and resentfulness; she's basically a more aggressively spiteful version of April Ludgate, the bored-to-hell-and-back receptionist Plaza plays on PARKS AND RECREATION. Unsurprisingly, Plaza's nothing like these characters in real life; what registers as bitchiness onscreen comes across as self-deprecating in one-on-one conversation. Plaza, like many comics, seems utterly baffled as to how she's achieved any level of success. You can tell her she's brilliant on PARKS AND RECREATION (and she is) or that her YouTube videos are inspired (which they are), but she'll just say "Thank you" and wonder aloud when it's all going to come to a crashing halt. After talking for a few minutes about her experience at Comic Con, I started asking actual quesitons...

Beaks: You landed a series of roles in rapid succession with this, FUNNY PEOPLE and PARKS AND RECREATION. It seems to be happening all at once for you.

Plaza: It's weird that this is coming out now. I'm really thinking about that stuff. Those three things happened all at once; almost in the same week, I got cast in all three projects. It changed my life entirely. The week before, I was waiting tables and wondering what I was going to do for the fall. This was, like, two summers ago. And one phone call changed everything; that was when I got cast in FUNNY PEOPLE. After that, it was [SCOTT PILGRIM] and then the show. I just got really lucky. I don't know if that's going to happen again.

Beaks: You'd been doing improv at Upright Citizens Brigade prior to this, and had also interned at SATURDAY NIGHT There's a progression for people with your skill set, and it seems like you're heading in the right direction.

Plaza: I think so. I think I made all the right choices. Looking back on it, I'm just thankful that I did so much. I remember feeling crazy in New York, running around shooting random videos for College Humor or whatever comedy website was happening, and doing sketch shows, live shows, improv shows... I just did as much as I could, not really knowing where anything would lead. I'm thankful I did that. And the internet played a big part in where I am right now, for sure. But there was definite luck involved. You can't ask Judd Apatow to write a role that's perfect for you. That just happens. And Julie Powers... I just weirdly look like Julie Powers. I auditioned for Edgar once, and I got it. For some reason, it just made sense. I think that was true of a lot of the casting in SCOTT PILGRIM; we were all our characters in some way. So I don't know how you can control that aspect of it.

Beaks: Does doubt ever creep in?

Plaza: Um, every day of my life. I still go on YouTube and look at some of my old videos, and I still have the conversation I had then: "Should I take this down? This isn't funny. This isn't good. I don't want people to see this." I have so much doubt all the time. But back then I had nothing to lose; I just wanted feedback from anyone. I did internet stuff because that's just what you do: you do stand-up or you do a video; you just want to get your stuff out there. Now, people have this certain expectation of me, so I almost have more doubt.

Beaks: Because you do have something to lose?

Plaza: I don't know. I guess I don't have anything to lose, but it's like... the Sarah Silverman video I did, I just did that randomly for my SNL audition. And I put it online without even thinking about getting a response or anything; I didn't really care. I didn't realize that video would be seen by as many people as it has been. And now I'm responding to it in a weird way. Before it was just a comedy video I did, now... I don't know. I'm rambling.

Beaks: No, I get it. When you did those videos, you were beginning to discover your voice and whatever it is your stage persona is going to be. And then, after you get in a couple of movies and on a TV show, people begin to see you a certain way. Do you feel like you have any control over that?

Plaza: I don't know. The persona?

Beaks: And the kinds of characters you play.

Plaza: I definitely have control over myself on stage when I'm doing live shows. But I can see now how easy it is to get typecast in the same roles over and over again. Once people see you do a certain thing successfully, they assume that's all you can do - or that it's all you should do. I definitely feel like I've played a lot of similar roles, but that's true of... well, Michael Cera's a good example. People are always giving him shit about playing the same character, but he doesn't have control over that. We're just auditioning for movies; these are the parts that we're being asked to play. I wish that wasn't the case, but that's the way it is.

Beaks: I'm glad that you said that about Michael. Our readers - or, at least, our talkbackers - tend to get on Cera for doing the same thing. I mean, they loved him years ago when he was doing ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and SUPERBAD, but now they're done with him. I just wonder how someone like Bill Murray would've fared had the internet been around in his heyday. For the most part, Bill was doing Bill. There wasn't an open, widely-read forum for people to complain that he was cashing in on the same kinds of characters. Personally, I still like Cera.

Plaza: Did you see YOUTH IN REVOLT?

Beaks: I did, and I thought the alter-ego was something new from him.

Plaza: I've only done three movies, and I feel like I've already had people say, "Is she going to do something different? She's just doing the same thing!" And I'm like, "I've only done three things! Let me at least do the same thing five times before you give me shit about it." You know what I mean? You do it twice, and they're like, "Come on! Something new!" Whatever.

Beaks: Well, are you looking to write new roles for yourself? Maybe even direct?

Plaza: Yeah. I don't know about any time soon, but I went to film school, and that's something that I really want to do eventually. And I am writing right now. I'm trying to write a movie for myself... or someone else. I'm most happy when I'm generating my own material. That's why I gravitate towards stand-up; creating things is where it's at. I've only been out in L.A. for two years, and I can already feel how hard it is waiting around for things to be written for you. A part like in FUNNY PEOPLE doesn't come around a lot. That's crazy. And I don't want to spend my life waiting for the next really good part.

Beaks: With stand-up, what's more fun for you: creating material or refining it?

Plaza: That's a good question. I think both. Polishing is definitely more fun, but it takes a lot of discipline. I'm really impulsive and impatient, so I feel like I get sick of the material really fast; I do it a couple of times, and I don't want to do it anymore. I get sick of the jokes. True stand-ups don't have that. Seinfeld doesn't. Aziz [Ansari] is a good example; he's not afraid to do the same joke every night for three weeks until he gets it perfect. That's why he's so good, I think. I need to get better at that.

Beaks: It's tough. And then how long do you hold onto that routine? I know Louis C.K. is challenging himself to do a new hour every year. It's what Carlin used to do. Perfect it throughout the course of a year, then burn it down and never do it again. But doing the same material, even for a year, that's theater; it's repetition. And it seems like most people are drawn to stand-up for the spontaneity.

Plaza: Yeah, I love improv. That was kind of my training, and that's where I'm most comfortable: when there's no script, and we're all just making it up. I think that's why I got FUNNY PEOPLE; that whole audition process was improvised.

Beaks: Do you get to do much improvisation with the PARKS AND RECREATION crew?

Plaza: Yeah, we get to play around a lot. The scripts are really funny, so it's never coming from a place of "We've got to find a better joke." It's more of an exercise to keep each other on our toes, and keep it fresh. We usually do it scripted a couple of times, and then we'll do what we call a "fun run" where we go all out and try to make each other laugh. And a lot of times that actually gets on the show, which is kind of cool. Everyone has such a great attitude. No one on the show sticks out. Except for Rob Lowe. And even he likes to laugh all day long, too. He just comes from a different place.

Beaks: How has that changed the dynamic on the show?

Plaza: It's kind of funny. It's working really well. I wasn't sure what that was going to be like. He seems like not a real person to me because he's been around for so long; he's such a movie star. But he's great. He has so much fun. The first or second day on set with him, we were just standing around and I had to leave, so I was like, "See you later, RoLo!" And he was like, "That's fantastic! I like that nickname! No one's ever given me a nickname on set before!" He was really jazzed about it, to the point where he went and told Amy, "You know, my nickname is RoLo." He was really into it. He's funny. He's kind of like his character in a way.

Beaks: I know Amy has been a mentor to you.

Plaza: Definitely.

Beaks: Are there any other comedians you look at and say, "I'd love to have that career."

Plaza: Honestly, when I was in high school, I was like, "I want to have Adam Sandler's career. I want to be on SNL when I'm twenty-two... twenty-three at the latest." (Laughs) I had pretty specific goals. "I want to do that for a couple of years, then make whatever silly movies I want to make. Then I'll make some serious movies. And then I'll wear sweatpants and do whatever I want!" That was my dream. And Amy and Tina Fey were really big influences, too. Tina writing MEAN GIRLS was really big. I wanted to write something like that, and I didn't care if I was in it. That was all really big. But who knows. This will probably be it. And then I'll be dead. But it was fun while it lasted.

An eternal optimist, that one. Now for the young and brimming-with-confidence Ellen Wong, who makes her indelible feature debut in SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD as the unsinkable Knives Chau. In many ways, Knives is the yearning, indefatigable heart of the film: when Scott shatters her world by dumping her for Ramona Flowers, she doesn't mope; she comes brawling back for her self-respect. Wong is absolutely perfect in this role, and - unless the market plummets for cute and exuberantly talented actresses - I guarantee we'll be seeing much more of her in the immediate future. Of everyone I talked to at the SCOTT PILGRIM junket, no one was enjoying themselves as much as Ms. Wong. That's cool. She'll learn soon enough to despise these things.

Mr. Beaks: Knives Chau was always the most difficult character for me to envision live-action. You seem perfect to me for the role. Was it readily apparent to Edgar and the casting folks, or did it take some auditioning on your part?

Wong: It was a grueling process, but at the same time it was very rewarding. I learned a lot about myself through the auditioning process and shooting process. It started out as a standard thing: my agent called me and said, "I've got this great role." She sent me a little paragraph on Knives, and then I had some lines to put on tape. It's interesting because the lines I put on tape were the beginning part for Knives, where she's just fun and free and happy. I had a good time with that. But what stuck out for me at that time was just how uninhibited she was. She was genuinely happy. That was cool. I really got into it. And then I found out that Michael [Cera] and Mary [Elizabeth Winstead] were working on, so I went out and got the comic books. And then I was like, "Shoot, I want this role even more! She's a secret ninja!?!? I need, need, need to play this role!" She just kept getting cooler. So a month goes by, and then I get this call that Edgar's in town and he wants to see me. So I went and did the callback in front of him. Then he wanted to see me again. Then I did a fight test, which I'd never done before in the history of auditioning; I met with a really cool stunt team, and got to do some fight choreography. From there, I flew out to L.A. and did a screen test with Michael. That was all over about six months. Then I got the part, and that's how I ended up here!

Beaks: How was it being thrown into the combat stuff like that? Was it tough or, like, play time?

Wong: Are you kidding? Definitely play time. I've trained in Tae Kwon Do, and still train, so in a way it was helpful stamina-wise to take on the feat of the fight-training part of it. My martial arts background definitely helped, but we were put in a situation where we were training all day, every day. We'd wake up and do push-ups and sit-ups, and doing toning and cardio - all of that together. Then in the afternoon, we'd do choreography and wire-work. It was like Ninja Camp! For me, it was challenging because I was used to really kicking or really punching people. And in film, you don't actually kick or punch people.

Beaks: Unless it's an accident.

Wong: Unless it's an accident, exactly. So that was hard, learning the control. But it was also a fun time for us as a cast to get together and hang out and get to know each other and really develop that friendship.

Beaks: Did you find that your understanding of Knives was the same as Edgar's?

Wong: First of all, I was shocked that he even saw that in me. But at the same time, I think there's a thing deep down inside that made me feel I really had a connection with Knives; I understood why she was the way she was. I remember being that girl in high school, where you're obsessed with the band, and you'll do anything and everything; you'll marry them because they're so cool! I know that phase, and I get it. So it was cool to kind of go through it with Edgar. We talked more about her badass side, and brought that out. He gave me a slew of films to watch. That was fun. I felt like I was in a little one-on-one film school. He was like, "Here, watch these movies." And then I'd write back blurbs on what I thought about them; it was like doing an essay or an analysis of each film. "This movie is badass because..." or "She's really badass because..." Just being able to watch all of these martial arts movies and talk to him about that, that's where it really hit me about the direction he wanted to go with Knives. She's got that duality in her. The end-Knives and beginning-Knives are so different. So it's how do you show that growth?

Beaks: For me, she has the most impressive arc of any character in the film. She goes from this naive high-schooler fawning over Scott to being assertive and standing up for herself. She gains her self-resepct much sooner than Scott does.

Wong: Definitely. And I think that's what she's fighting for. It's cool, because despite her flaws... no matter how many times she falls down, she always manages to pick herself back up. I think that's what's at the core of being a superhero: they might be fighting for the greater good or to better themselves, but what they all have in common is that they don't give up. And Knives doesn't. She keeps going despite all of the crap that's thrown her way.

Beaks: You said Edgar had you watch all of these kung fu films. Did he have you watch any Michelle Yeoh? Because I see her in your performance.

Wong: She's actually one of my favorite actresses. It's funny. When Edgar started to recommend things, I was like, "Oh, my god, I love that movie!" Like SUPERCOP. I love that scene where she's on the motorcycle. She's so badass riding on this train! She's so cool! I mean, they let you do that in Hong Kong; they'd never let us do something like that here. There are so many rules and regulations...

Beaks: Which is disappointing.

Wong: Yeah! But she's definitely one of my role models. So it was cool to find that common ground with Edgar, and be like, "Yeah, that's a really badass girl!" Zhang Ziyi is another person we talked about. And I don't know if you've see the film CHOCOLATE?

Beaks: Sure.

Wong: JeeJa Yanin. I didn't know about that movie until Edgar told me, and it wasn't until after I watched it that I was like, "Oh, my god, I want to be just like her!" That's the thing. It's finding the badass in yourself - and I think it's in everyone.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD opens August 13th in every theater known to man. See it. Then see it again. Then pen a hymn of praise in the talkbacks. Faithfully submitted, Mr. Beaks