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Home Celebs Lunchin' with 'Superbad' Boys

Lunchin' with 'Superbad' Boys


By Kit Bowen, Hollywood.com Staff

Superbad Movie Still
Superbad Movie Still
Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, the boys from Superbad: Super stars? Super studs? Well, maybe not quite yet. But super funny? Oh, hell yes. 

Cera--best known as the now defunct Arrested Development’s befuddled teenage son--and Hill--best known for giving Seth Rogen terrible advice in Knocked Up and screaming like a girl in Accepted--have hitched their stars to Superbad, the latest comedy from the furtive brains of Rogen and his writing partner (and childhood best friend) Evan Goldberg. Also along for the ride for moral support and to hand out expert guidance is producer Judd Apatow, the super writer/director of said Knocked Up and The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Not bad for upstart comic actors Cera and Hill.

They play Evan and Seth (yes, the same names as Superbad's authors), seniors on their last legs of high school who have indulged in what can only be labeled as a co-dependent friendship. Faced with an imminent separation as they head to different colleges in the fall, the guys spend one long night, trying to acquire alcoholic beverages, hooking up with the girls they’ve been drooling over, and sorting out their feelings about the next chapter in their lives.

Sitting around a table with Hill and Cera, eating chicken Caesar salads and popcorn shrimp in a swanky Miami hotel, we are joined by Christopher Mintz-Plasse--who makes his feature film debut as Seth and Evan’s third wheel, Fogel, aka McLovin’ (the name on his fake ID)--as well as Saturday Night Live player Bill Hader, who plays one half of a very lackluster buddy cop duo (his partner is played by Rogen).

Hollywood.com: What is it about a Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen comedy that continues to work?
Christopher Mintz-Plasse: They trust everyone they work with, and they let everyone do whatever they want to do. One person can’t do the whole thing, we all give our input.

Jonah Hill: The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, especially Knocked Up, we all help with the writing. That’s how Judd sets it up. Trust the people you hire because they could as funny, if not funnier, than you are. There’s no reason that anyone at this table could have a better idea than anyone else.

Michael Cera: Casting was very thorough, we all auditioned several times. They get to a point where they are confident and positive with everyone, so they can say, “OK, go and do what you do.”

Bill Hader: Ninety percent of their job is casting. They want people they can hang out with. I had a small part in You, Me and Dupree and hung with Seth [Rogen] in Hawaii, and Evan Goldberg was there, too. After 10 minutes of just talking about movies and comic books, he was like, “You should play this police officer in this movie that I’m doing.” And I said, “Oh, yeah? Cool! Whatever, man, send it!” But people say stuff like that and it never comes true. Then I had my general meeting with Judd a few months later, and he was like, “I guess you’re playing a cop in this movie.” And I’m like, “Are you serious?” I called my agent and asked, “So, am I playing a cop in this movie?” “Yeah, you got the official offer!” That was crazy. 

JH: Like my little scene in 40 Year-Old Virgin . Judd gives you that opportunity to be really funny and if you knock it out of the park, he respects you. He’s a loyal guy and once he respects you and you do right by him, he’ll give you every opportunity in the world.

BH: When Judd sees you’re really serious about it, funny and have the same sensibilities. Everybody knows movies and are writers, doing their own thing. It’s super collaborative. There’s never just one person who’s the source of all the funny. I love watching Knocked Up and Seth is giving everyone a chance to be funny. It’s the guy’s first comedy in which he’s starring and he could be like, “No, I only want to be the funny one.” Which is usually the case. It’s so cool that every single person [in Knocked Up] is funny, even the gynecologist who says [to Seth Rogen’s character], “You’re next!” Everybody gets a moment to kill, like in a Preston Sturges’ movies.

HW: First, there was the Brat Pack and then the Frat Pack...what do we call you guys who work with Rogen and Apatow?
MC: The Young Princes.

BH: The Switch Blades

JH: The Jew-Tang Clan, ‘cause all of us are Jewish.

MC: What about the Blink-182s?

JH: I think that’s taken. The Beatles? I don’t like those stupid names. Everyone so eager to do it but to me it’s like a label almost cheapens what you’re doing, you know what I mean? We are going to end up doing movies with other people as well as doing movies with our friends.

HW: Were you nervous about Knocked Up coming out first?
JH: No, to me Knocked Up was kinda like a sure thing. Judd is the type of guy who doesn’t allow himself to fail. The most valuable thing I’ve learned from him is testing a bunch of times. Playing it for audiences and getting the scores. Because he listens to the audience. When the audience doesn’t like something, it’s gone. And the final test screenings for Knocked Up were like, whoa! Scoring through the roof. And with [Superbad], hopefully the people who really loved Knocked Up will really help our movie.

Superbad Movie Still
Superbad Movie Still
Don’t think I’ve ever seen a film with an audience where everyone laughed together so intensely. How does it feel to sit and watch something like that happen?
BH: Insanely rewarding.

JH: It’s very seldom that happens. I’ve never seen a crowd react that way.

BH: Judd said the same thing. I had seen a screening in L.A. and they went crazy. I told Judd and he was like, “Oh, that was one of our milder screenings.” I said, “Shut up.” And he said, “No, I’m being serious.” I reiterated, “They CLAPPED at the end of the movie, then watched the full credits and CLAPPED again!” Then we went to New York and it was the same reaction and Judd had to finally admit it. He said he’d never seen a movie kill like this.

HW: How do you distinguish Superbad from something like American Pie?
MC: Jonah made a good point one time. With American Pie, if you look at those four guys, you’d never think they’d be friends in real life.

BH: Or that they’d have any trouble getting laid.

JH: What I hate about high school movies is there’s nerds and jocks and cheerleaders. It’s stupid. That’s not what life is like. That wasn’t my high school experience at all! I’d go up to a basketball player and make fun of him, you know what I mean? I wouldn’t be scared of a football player. Everyone was cool in their own way, had their own group of friends. Like the guy who spits on me [in Superbad] is kind of a nerdy guy, a Lord of the Rings kind of guy.

MC: He like listens to Rage Against Machine. Those were the guys I was most afraid of in high school, the crazy rocker guys. They were scary as hell! But not the jocks.

HW: The girls, too, in the film were very realistic.
JH: The female characters in the movie are way smarter. Seventeen-year-old girls are way smarter than 17-year-old boys.

HW: Why is this your favorite movie, Jonah?
JH: ‘Cause my name’s first. It features me. No, I don’t know. I don’t usually have a lot of the weight on my shoulders in my other films. I’m usually the kid who comes in and gets some funny jokes once in awhile. This was a chance for me to show I could carry a story. A chance to play a character you could really get behind or else you don’t like the movie. It was a risk for me, but I think it paid off. And it couldn’t have been more fun or challenging to do it. It hit me the first day, if you don’t like me, then you can’t enjoy the movie. It was frightening but it was awesome!

BH: And I’ll add to that, the other great thing about this movie is that it is a comedy but I feel like, especially with these three guys, they are also great actors, not just comedians. The scene where Jonah confronts Michael about him leaving, it’s incredibly sweet and it grounds [Superbad]. Not a lot of people can do it. Also the look Seth gives Evan as he’s going down the escalator at the mall at the end. It breaks your heart.

MC: It’s like The Notebook.

Superbad Movie Still
Superbad Movie Still
HW: What about the McLovin phenomenon?
BH: Judging from the screenings, when we walk out, people are screaming, “McLOVIN!”

MC: I know so many guys I went to high school just like that.

HW: How was the experience working on your first movie?
CM-P: Probably the best experience of my life. And if I continue acting, I can already say now [working on Superbad] would be my favorite. Everyone was so cool and helped me a lot.

HW: Did you party much in high school?
CM-P: Not really. Wasn’t for me, I wasn’t a partyer. I like to hang out with my friends, mostly.

HW: But if you get an invite to the Playboy Mansion, you’ll go, right?
All Together: Actually, we did get invited...and we turned it down.

MC: To play videogames instead.

JH: What I think is really working for us right now is that we are really opposite of what Hollywood type people. I find it refreshing to see all this success, even if I could look at it from the outside, it’s refreshing to me on why I continue to work with all these people, first of all. Second of all, no one is a diva or goes to night clubs or party. It’s like we all hang out and live our lives like we normally would. I think that’s important and makes you not go crazy. If we don’t buy into the bullshit that comes along with it. I mean, really the only changes in my life right now is I get people who come up to me and give me compliments. Which is all really nice, you know?

HW: Are the characters you play semi-autobiographical to co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg?
JH: Nah, that’s a misconception, just cause we have the same names. Seth wanted to play my role, yeah, but it’s not like Walk the Line.

MC: Or La Bamba.

JH: Right. Seth and Evan wanted me and Michael to play our own versions of the characters.

HW: And working with director Greg Mottola?
BH: Usually with improvisational movies like this, it can be static, but Greg Mottola made [Superbad] very cinematic.

JH: Most comedies don’t look this good.

BH: Maybe there’s a misconception that comedies can’t work if they look amazing as well. I mean, look at Monty Python and the Holy Grail . It looks awesome.

MC: I’m reading this book Bill gave me, in which [Holy Grail director] Terry Jones talks about making sure the film looks really good. Because if it looks silly, the funny stuff wouldn’t hit as hard.

HW: Do you feel shows like Arrested Development and Saturday Night Live are launching pads for movie careers?
MC: I think people who watched [Arrested Development] are in the industry. It wasn’t mainstream, but it definitely helped all our careers. Massively.

BH: Yeah, that’s the nice thing about [SNL], in the industry, it’s kind of a big deal. A lot of cool opportunities. I’ve got Hot Rod coming out and Judd’s next one Pineapple Express. I mean, the whole reason I met Judd or any of these people is because they saw me on the show.

Superbad Movie Still
Superbad Movie Still
HW: How do you handle that on Saturday Night Live, with doing the show and then movies?
BH: With this cast, everyone is super supportive and really excited about what everyone is doing. I think we a smaller cast like we have, you get the same comic sensibilities. And we are truly fans of one another.

HW: I’ve got to ask...who drew the gallery of very descriptive phalluses displayed at the end credits?
JH: Evan [Goldberg]’s brother, David. They’re brilliantly funny...

BH: Really well done...

MC: So creative, so different. It looks like everyone was drew by a different artist.

HW: Is there sequel potential or is it too early to tell?
All together: Too early!

JH: It’s too arrogant to say, “Oh, we’ve talked about a sequel.”

MC: We’re more concerned about our Golden Globe potential.

JH: And getting our Oscar speeches ready.

Photo(s) by Hollywood.com Staff- © 2007- Columbia Pictures- All Rights Reserved

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