Saturday, December 22, 2007

Andy Samberg - Is twins with Isla Fisher (or so he says)

It's pretty rad that Jorma and Kiv's favorite movie is Rad. Have you seen it?

My favorite lines from this interview:

TONY: If someone is reading our interview, why should they buy Hot Rod on DVD?

Andy Samberg: Because they want to own it?

TONY: What's it been like promoting this film all over the world? What's it been like dealing with the press?

Andy Samberg: It's been weird. It's like constantly going on dates with no chance of boning at the end. But more fun than that. A little.





From:
http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/64499/411-Movies-Interview:--Andy-Samberg-of-Hot-Rod.htm

TONY: Since this was your first time acting in a feature film, how did you handle the pressure? Did you prepare differently?

Andy Samberg: Not really, getting to work with Kiv and Jorm made things a lot more comfortable and we're so used to shooting single-camera that it wasn't too severe of a change. We had to get up much too early though. And I ate tons of watermelon. I'd had watermelon before, but not nearly that much watermelon.

TONY: What was the transition like going from doing comedy sketches to a full length film? Did you have to slow down the process at all? What challenges did you face?

Andy Samberg: Again, since the three of us have done so much single-camera stuff both before SNL and at it that the actual creative process day-to-day wasn't so different. The main thing that was new to us was not knowing until you get to editing if this big long story is going to add up, and I think that's probably true for most people who shoot a film. It's so much stuff and often shot out of order that you kind of just have to go for it and have faith in the script and that you'll find ways to make it all work in the end. And also dealing with Kiv's fart jokes on set. That became a challenge. You'd be all involved in a scene and then there's Kiv on the megaphone like, "Hey, what do you call two rhinos farting in a swamp?!" and we're just like, "No one cares, Kiv!" and he'd be like, "Aw, c'mon, fellas! I'm Kiv!" So that was also a challenge.

TONY: What was it like having two legendary actors such as Ian McShane and Sissy Spacek as your parents in this film?

Andy Samberg: It was super effing rad. They were both amazing and they made us all feel at ease and elevated the whole movie just by showing up, and obviously by being awesome actors as well. I had pretty big crushes on both of them. But not in a weird way, I just mean sexually.

TONY: What was the actual shooting of Hot Rod like? You guys shot the film in two months. Did you have time to do a lot of takes, or was it just go, go, go?

Andy Samberg: It would really just depend on the day. Sometimes we'd have a shorter list of stuff to get and could mess around with it more, but in general we had to keep things moving.

TONY: I really enjoyed all of the music in Hot Rod. How much of a say did you have in the music? Why did you pick certain songs?

Andy Samberg: We (Kiv, Jorm and I) had all the say in picking the music. We got suggestions from our music department as well, some of which we used, like the Nutley Brass cover of "Skulls" which I love, but ultimately it was all our calls. We picked stuff in a bunch of different ways, I mean there's a lot of Europe in there and that was very much a conscious choice A) because they rule and B) because we felt like the spirit of their music, particularly on that album (final countdown) really mirrored Rod's personality and worked to show how big he thinks the things he's doing are and stuff like that. And then some stuff we just love, like Stacey Q. Oh, and John Farnham came into play via "RAD" which is Kiv and Jorm's favorite movie ever.

TONY: I really got a kick out of the Kevin Bacon/Footloose scene with you dancing. How much fun was it shooting that scene?

Andy Samberg: It was fun, but it was also the first time I've ever taken a drag off of a cigarette and I almost barfed after the 2nd take. I also realized I'm in terrible shape. It really made me realize how much coasting you do when you dance at a party. It's like 15% actual dancing, but this was like 110%. And it turns out that's way too much for me. But it was fun.

TONY: Now that you look back on Hot Rod and shooting a feature film, was it what you expected?

Andy Samberg: For the most part, yes.



TONY: How pretty is Isla Fisher in person?

Andy Samberg: That's a weird question for me to answer because during the course of shooting I found out that she's my twin sister, separated at birth. Sooo, really pretty?

TONY: I know it's hard to pick one story or one memory, but what's your most vivid memory from shooting this film?

Andy Samberg: When we wrapped Jorm came running out in a thong and popped champagne. That's gotta be up there in terms of vividness, not "goodness" necessarily, but certainly vivid. Like, burned into my eyes forever. I think it's on the DVD somewhere actually. You're welcome, Jorm!

TONY: When Hot Rod came out, the film received a lot of mixed reviews. Is that what you expect from comedy? It seems like either people get it or they don't, and you can't please everybody.

Andy Samberg: I definitely expected it. All our favorite comedies got mixed reviews. And I especially expected it because it was out first movie and people don't really know our style yet. That's something you have to earn with persistence and hard work, and we hope to do that someday. But, yeah, we didn't sweat it too much since there's such a long history of people's first movies being received weird and us loving them (The Jerk, Billy Madison, etc.).

TONY: I want to ask you a little bit about Saturday Night Live. When you're going to impersonate somebody, how do you prepare for that? What kind of research do you do?

Andy Samberg: Well, get ready to be impressed. First off, this has happened maybe twice. And it pretty much consists of looking up a few clips on youtube and watching how they act and talk. To be honest, in general if I'm doing an impression on the show it's either because I already figured out I had a funny take on it or because no one else in the cast looks more like them.

TONY: Have you heard from anyone that you have impersonated? Are they usually offended or honored?

Andy Samberg: I've never talked directly to anyone, but I heard Jack Johnson liked his. I'm still waiting to be at a party where Ken Mehlman bumrushes me from the one time I did him. That would make it all worthwhile, right? Just Mehlman in my face, like, "Whattup? I heard you were talking shit!" all Jr. High style? That would be a high point.



TONY: What's it been like promoting this film all over the world? What's it been like dealing with the press?

Andy Samberg: It's been weird. It's like constantly going on dates with no chance of boning at the end. But more fun than that. A little.

TONY: If someone is reading our interview, why should they buy Hot Rod on DVD?

Andy Samberg: Because they want to own it?

TONY: Finally, what are your plans for the future?

Andy Samberg: I'm gonna go back to it.


Enjoy!

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We're adding a category called "Text_Interviews_07" so that you can find all his written interviews he's done.

- TAE

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