If you were making a semi-autobiographical film, chances are you'd populate it with unknowns because they're not going to drag in baggage from their past work (good or bad). But when you're attempting something this intensely personal with an eye toward major studio distribution, familiar faces are a must. So casting becomes a question of "How do I find the right recognizable actors while still appeasing my financiers?"
Very rarely do directors get their first choices on movies like this, but Greg Mottola somehow pulled this feat off when he landed Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart as the leads in his mid-1980s memory piece, ADVENTURELAND - and they are perfection. Though there are plenty of capable young actors out there, it is impossible to imagine any other "up-and-coming" types generating their winningly offbeat chemistry. As James, the college graduate whose dream summer in Europe has abruptly turned into a three-month stay in amusement park hell, Eisenberg hits all of the right social misfit notes without coming off as an undesirable, self-pitying dork. He's a good-hearted late bloomer chasing a romantic ideal; you get why girls would be attracted to him - at least as a less-thretening alternative to the typical, sex-obsessed twentysomething male. And as Em, Stewart is that romantic ideal: a mysterious, wounded, sharply articulate young woman who digs The Velvet Underground, smokes a little pot and loathes the conformity of suburbia. Stewart doesn't have to work hard to be alluring in a Lou Reed t-shirt, but, thanks to Mottola's perspective-shifting script, she gets to find the sadness and self-loathing in Em's life that compels James to fall madly in love with her.
If Eisenberg and Stewart are the misfits of ADVENTURELAND, Martin Starr's Joel is very close to a pariah: a pipe-smoking, Gogol-reading intellectual who has the additional misfortune of hailing from a lower-middle-class Jewish family. Joel shares some of James's romantic yearnings, but he's far too timid to act on them; he expects rejection, and, therefore, buries himself in the works of the Russian masters so as not to invite it - and the pipe affectation seems to be an extra, entirely voluntary "Stay away, ladies!" gesture. This is wheelhouse material for Starr; it's also the most nuanced performance he's given since awkwardly lumbering into our hearts as FREAKS AND GEEKS' Bill Haverchuck. And it's all the more heartbreaking because you can see where Bill might've grown into Joel after a particularly rough go of it in high school.
These are three of the best performances I've seen in any movie this year, so I was thrilled to spend some time with Eisenberg, Stewart and Starr a few weeks ago at the ADVENTURELAND junket in Los Angeles. I got the first two paired, and the last solo - which felt entirely appropriate. Mostly, I tried to stick to the topic of ADVENTURELAND rather than go fishing for "exclusives" on their upcoming, buzz-worthy projects (of which Stewart has several). I'd like to think they appreciated this.
Let's start with Eisenberg and Stewart, both of whom seemed relaxed and, given my outlet, ready to talk nothing but TWILIGHT...
Mr. Beaks: You guys are such a great, believable couple in this. (Nervous laughter from both.) You know, for a thirty-two-day shoot, having to create something that intense...
Kristen Stewart: Right. And the decompression. And mourning the loss of the relationship.
Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah, it was really tragic. But then we did reshoots.
Stewart: We got to kiss again.
(Laughter)
Beaks: How much rehearsal did you have going in?
Eisenberg: I think there was a week of rehearsal, but not much. The movie had very little in the preproduction phase because it took place during the summer. They had a very short window to shoot in October or November, where it could still look like summer in Pittsburgh. So it was a very condensed preproduction. But that's not going to be interesting to Ain't It Cool News!
(Laughter)
Beaks: No, but what I find interesting is that you had such a condensed window to create something that will hopefully last... forever.
Eisenberg: Most movies are pretty tedious things to do. You do two pages of dialogue a day. So if you don't have that much time, it's not the worst thing in the world. You spend so much time on each individual scene.
Beaks: I'm sure it helped that there was music being played on the set to get you in the mood.
Stewart: Yeah. A lot of times, if there were no lines in the scene, he would play the music while we shot it. And if there were lines, he would play it beforehand so we got the feel.
Eisenberg: It was a really nice environment.
Beaks: Were you guys familiar with those songs? Like Lou Reed and -- I mean, obviously, you knew who Lou Reed was.
Eisenberg: I knew Lou Reed, but all the songs the characters don't like in the movie, I hadn't heard of - which makes sense because they were of that year and that was it.
Beaks: It must be nice to work with a director who's got an esoteric taste in music. So often, movies set in this era recycle the same cues.
Stewart: Right. And that's sort of the movie, too. It's this group of people who feel like they're...
Eisenberg: Outcasts?
Stewart: Yeah. And they appreciate that. They don't want to be on the inside. So "esoteric" means "we're smarter than them. We're cooler. We don't have to look cool. We think cool."
Beaks: I like that the film splits perspective. We get a sense early on of the pain Em is going through, and what's motivating her behavior. In most movies like this, it would be strictly from a guy's perspective. We'd be wondering why she's such a pain in the ass.
Stewart: Because she is. Absolutely. If you didn't know what exactly was going on with her, she would just be a selfish sort of... bitch. But her disengaged quietness is what interests him. There's obviously something going on inside of her - and the fact that she can drop it for moments when she's with him, he can see where he can pull her out of it. He's very idealistic. He sees the light and potential in her - and she doesn't at all. She's totally dismal.
Eisenberg: He likes that even more. She's a person with substance.
Beaks: And then Ryan being a predatory older guy. I get the sense that he worked her for a while, and she finally said, "Fuck it. I'll just do this to myself." It's totally self-inflicted.
Stewart: Yep. It's masochistic.
Beaks: Jesse, you were something of a surrogate for Greg in this movie. And you were previously a surrogate for Noah Baumbach in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. But I told Greg that I also noticed some Woody Allen-ish tics in your performance as well. Was that conscious, or was that just in the writing?
Eisenberg: It's impossible to do that [consciously]. But he's a little like Woody Allen's characters in that he's self-deprecating and self-aware and ironic. I think this character is very earnest and sincere - and that comes more from Greg. He's constantly explaining himself. He begins every sentence like "I should explain to you..."
Stewart: And "How is this going to make you feel..."
Eisenberg: Exactly. He's very concerned with the other person's feelings in whatever he's doing - even if it's not relevant to their lives at all. (Laughs) That comes more from Greg. That's less Woody Allen. It's this very sweet trait.
Beaks: The movie is very sincere. We get so many movies nowadays that are either snarky or laden with artifice. This, however, is totally straightforward.
Eisenberg: There are a lot of small movies that have sincerity, but chances are they don't have that other thing, which this movie has, which is that it's appealing. And that's rare for a theatrical or...
Stewart: Commercial movie.
Eisenberg: Yeah. It's really hard to create something that is authentic and honest and doesn't condescend to the audience, that's not being weird just to be weird. That's rare to do - and to also have it appeal to a large group of people.
Beaks: But I wonder if it might be hard for a movie like this to appeal to the age group it's depicting. The pop cultural touchstones are different. Everything is not of their era. But, you know, I was in college when DAZED AND CONFUSED came out. I didn't have that experience in the 1970s, and, yet, it was still so real to me. It appealed to me because it was so obviously from the heart.
Stewart: If not more so. It's out of reach. And it's presented cool: the music's cool, the style is... well, I guess some people like it. (Laughs) It's nostalgia for something you never had. "How cool that must've been!" And then they're going through all the same things [kids] are going through now; it's just different music and the style is different. And they don't have cell phones. It's sort of easier to have a private life, too. Now, you can get tracked down by everybody at any time - unless you reject the Facebook thing and have no cell phone. It's harder for a young person to have their own private life.
And that's what this movie is about for Em: it's about having her life at home, her life at the park with James, and then the stuff she deals with by herself, like the stuff with Ryan. It's appealing. You should have the opportunity to be more than one person with different people - because you have that within you. It's not like you're faking it. If everyone knows you so well and can always get ahold of you, then you're stuck to this thing that people think you are. You should have the opportunity to reinvent yourself. Because you do. Naturally.
Eisenberg: I guess you're right. I don't know if these relationships could happen the same way today. The intensity of the relationships--
Stewart: Because there's no privacy.
Beaks: I wonder about that, too. I don't want to sound like the old guy who growls, "Well, back in my day we didn't have cell phones!", but there was space for reflection. There was a way to go off on your own, or retreat into your cocoon and brood or feel sorry for yourself or whatever.
Stewart: Exactly.
Beaks: No one is out of reach.
Eisenberg: And you're the same thing to everybody because you're constantly in touch. Whereas Em can find comfort in one world when she's fed up with one of the others.
Beaks: I miss that.
So how appropriate to receive my introduction to Martin Starr as he was face down in his Blackberry, texting! He wasn't rude about it. In fact, he went out of his way to apologize as we were ushered into a nearly furniture-less suite at the Four Seasons. Starr, having concluded his electronic conversation, took a seat on a couch that was wedged into a corner against a cabinet. I plopped down on something not very comfortable across from him, and commenced with the interrogation. I decided to carry over the privacy topic from the previous interview.
Martin Starr: I'm looking forward to Earth Hour. They're attempting to get the whole world to shut off their electricity at a certain time - or at least shut off something you're using, like your lights. It would be amazing if cell phones were out for that hour, and you were just free. I would be okay with that.
Beaks: I was telling Jesse and Kristen that this movie made me nostalgic for those days when you could wall yourself off and not be connected to the outside world. It's so much harder to do that now.
Starr: I remember when you had to remember the phone numbers you cared to know.
Beaks: (Laughing) Yeah. We all carried around these mental rolodexes. Rolodex! There's another antiquated reference.
Starr: My mom's old phone number was 933-9121. The rest are all gone.
Beaks: I really loved your work in this movie. It's so nice to see you get a full character arc!
Starr: Thank you. It's reminiscent of my life for sure. And I think parts of that character are from Greg's life as well. A lot of the story is self-reflective of him and his life. I think a lot of the characters tap into his past and who he is now.
Beaks: When you say it's reminiscent of your life, is that emotionally or on the surface or both? What I mean to say is, do you read a lot of Russian literature?
Starr: Um, that was trained. That was not familiar to me.
Beaks: But it sounded so real!
Starr: Yeah, I wish I was more familiar with a lot of literature, but I'm not generally a reader. I do enjoy reading occasionally, but I tend to read poetry and things like that.
Beaks: Not the Russian masters?
Starr: (Laughing) No. I really liked CATCHER IN THE RYE. I should get back into reading books. I have more books than I've read.
Beaks: Everyone does.
Starr: I bought the original TREASURE ISLAND, the first run of it. That's cool. I started reading that. But I'm so afraid I'm going to rip out a page by accident. It's really old.
Beaks: Very often when I see you in a movie, it seems like the role has been written for you. I think people really love writing for you.
Starr: Really?
Beaks: Absolutely. I can't imagine anyone else playing Joel [in ADVENTURELAND]. And obviously the stuff for Judd is written for you.
Starr: FREAKS & GEEKS wasn't. But after the first episode it became written for everyone.
Beaks: But KNOCKED UP...
Starr: Yeah, Seth wanted to have his real group of friends to make it feel real - and also be able to hang out. That's one of the luxuries of this business. You get to spend time working with all of your friends. It's an amazing thing you don't get in many other professions.
Beaks: So you knew Greg from UNDECLARED.
Starr: From UNDECLARED and then SUPERBAD. And then this. And I apologized profusely when I auditioned for this because I thought I'd destroyed it in a bad way. But somehow he cast me.
Beaks: But like I said, I imagine there were certain traits that were in the character for you, so you probably could've walked in, crapped your pants, and still got the role.
Starr: (Laughs I don't know. I thought, "I can't imagine anyone watching the tape and thinking 'This is the guy!'". But Miramax agreed to let Greg cast me, so it's to my benefit. I don't know how it happened.
Beaks: It probably wasn't that bad.
Starr: (Laughs) You should ask him. I don't know if he remembers, but I really did apologize profusely. And I don't normally do that - even if I did do a horrible job. I usually just bow my head and walk away with my tail between my legs. But if I'm going in for a friend and I do horribly, I just feel bad because I made them look bad.
Beaks: That's okay. We'll get ahold of the tape, throw it on the site and let everyone judge for themselves.
Starr: (Laughing) I would really rather that didn't happen.
Beaks: So this was one of those quick thirty-two-day shoots, which must be tough on a movie about creating intimate, lasting emotion. When you've working on a tight schedule, and are so aware that you've got a finite amount of time to pull the movie off, does it limit the amount of fun you can have on set?
Starr: No. There were rare circumstances when we were short on time and the daylight was disappearing rapidly, and we had to rush to get something done in order to have it in the movie at all. In most cases, it moved fairly fast. I didn't really feel rushed. As actors, we get there early to do all the things you do before you start shooting, and... I feel like I had a lot of fun. I look fondly back at the memories.
Beaks: Was it the kind of set where you'd want to hang out even when you weren't working?
Starr: I would do that every now and again. I love hanging out with Greg. And Kristen is like a little sister to me. I haven't talked to her in a little while, but she's fantastic. She's a really genuine young woman.
Beaks: You've got a very believable rapport with Jesse. Did you know him before this?
Starr: I met him before anyone else was in the cast. He was in the complex we were staying in, and he and I grabbed dinner. We made fast friends that night.
Beaks: I know Greg used music on the set to evoke certain emotions. Were there any specific songs he used for you?
Starr: He gave us a CD of a bunch of songs, most of which didn't end up in the movie. But one of them was pretty much the theme song for the movie. I forget what it's called... it's the one that's always playing at the park.
Beaks: "Rock Me Amadeus".
Starr: Yeah. He gave us a CD with that, "Satellite of Love" and a few other songs that didn't make it, but which definitely evoked emotion. It definitely helped me connect with that time period. Because songs aren't made the same ways nowadays.
Beaks: I know you write. What are you working on right now, and are you writing for yourself?
Starr: At the moment I'm writing a script with a good friend of mine, Charlyne Yi. It's hard at the moment to find time because she's editing a movie she did. So until she's done with that, we can't start writing again, because it takes up all of her time. But I'm excited. We're about halfway through the process.
Beaks: I'm guessing it's a comedy.
Starr: Yeah. It's very grounded, I think. I don't want to jinx it right now, but it would be a dream if... I'm thinking of someone I very much want to be a part of it, but I don't want to jinx it.
Beaks: That's cool. I was just wondering if you prefer writing as a way to make work for yourself.
Starr: It's also just an amazing outlet. It's another thing I've found that I love to do. I don't think I would continue to do it if I didn't enjoy the process of it. Writing is a whole new avenue for creativity - especially for an actor. It's so nice to be able to create this whole story and these characters from the ground up so that, if it does get made, you have such a deep understanding of everything. And you can use that to make it as good as possible.
Beaks: Are there any filmmakers or writers that you find yourself drawn to, and who might have influenced your work?
Starr: Yeah. (Pause) But there's too many to mention. At the moment, I just want to do a short film with a massive action sequence.
Beaks: (Laughing) So you want to make short Michael Bay films?
Starr: (Laughs) No, just a ridiculous, comedic action sequence. Just me getting my butt kicked. That's how I imagine a fight going down.
Beaks: You sure? You might surprise yourself. If you get a head of steam going, anything's possible.
Starr: Yeah. If I start going to Capoeira.
Look out, Mark Dacascos.
ADVENTURELAND opens nationwide on April 3rd. Want to strike a blow against studio assembly line filmmaking. Skip FAST & FURIOUS, and pay to see this movie.
Faithfully submitted,
Mr. Beaks
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