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movie news | Tue. 08 14. 2007 11:18 AM EDT
Q&A: The Cast of Superbad
The stars of the summer's best buddy comedy unload about drinking, high school and comic nudity.
by Carol Lee
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Summer comedies rarely come ruder than Superbad, the story of high-school friends who use a graduation party as an excuse to get laid. Although that might sound like pretty much every other
high-school movie, this one distinguishes itself by being the genuinely sweet and hysterically funny. Co-written by Knocked Up's Seth Rogen and newcomer Evan Goldberg, the film follows the misadventures of three teens: Seth (Jonah Hill), Evan (Arrested Development's Michael Cera) and Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Thwarted in their attempt to buy alcohol from the liquor store, the underage boys spend their evening running around looking for someone -- anyone! -- to help supply them with booze so that they can seduce some ladies. In the interim they learn about the police, girls and what it takes to be a man. We sat down with the cast to get their take on high-school funny business.
How close was filming Superbad to your own personal high-school days?
Jonah Hill: When Michael and I are walking into the liquor store in the beginning, we were actually nervous.
Michael Cera: The scene I most relate to is the one in the cafeteria. I remember being very afraid of being seen alone. You feel very vulnerable.
How did you prepare for playing drunk?
MC: We just didn't sober up that day.
JH: I would just draw back from high school experiences. I asked my friends how I acted on my prom.
What do you think of today's teen comedies?
JH: I hate teen comedies. This movie was made because we all hate teen comedies. They're all inaccurate and dishonest.
MC: What's the last one that came out?
JH: Uh . . . High School Musical?
MC: High School Musical has a different vibe from Superbad. We took more of a realistic approach.
JH: There's no music in [Superbad]. People don't break out in songs.
But Michael Cera's character sings in the party scene.
JH: Yeah, for the one scene, you might get confused that you're watching High School Musical. I never identified with any [teen comedies] besides Dazed and Confused, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and American Graffiti.
How do you think this movie will change your life?
Christopher Mintz-Plasse: No one really knows me yet so I'll get back to that question later.
JH: Hmmm . . . I don't know. Actually, as the result of all the billboards of us everywhere and Knocked Up coming out earlier this summer, it's been a little strange. [I've been] going to places and a lot of people, mostly young people, recognize me. They all say really nice things. It makes you feel good. As supposed to them saying, "Hey jerk, you suck." I wouldn't like that. But it makes me feel like I'm doing a good job.
Michael, you must get recognized from being on Arrested Development.
MC: Yeah, once in a while, especially in Boston. There's a big fan base in Boston. But I kind of feel like people are more aware of Superbad than people will ever be aware of Arrested Development. I've gotten more recognized for the Superbad billboard more than I've ever gotten for being on Arrested Development.
JH: I've stood behind a Superbad movie cutout and scared the sh*t out of people.
MC: I wanna stand in front of a movie cutout and scream, "Put me back in! Help me get back!"
Superbad has a Strong-R rating. It has everything in it except for nudity. Why is that?
CMP: We didn't see a lot of nudity in high school.
JH: [Laughs] That's really funny. When I see nudity in comedy it always seems gratuitous and misogynistic. It makes you uncomfortable. I mean, why would you do that?
CM: Yeah.
JH: It's just strange to me. Seth and Evan wanted to make a movie that's R-rated just because of the language, how people talk to each other. Nudity wasn't in the script, so why would we add that in?
Have you given thought about branching out from comedy to other genres?
CMP: I'm sticking to comedy right now because I just got into it.
MC: If the script is really good, it would be foolish for me to say I'm not going to do it.
JH: Not everything in life is funny and not everything in life is serious. Some moments are funny and some moments are sad. James L. Brooks and Woody Allen mix both. I don't think you have to be just comedy or just drama. And like Mike said, whatever is good is something I wanna do.
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