By Hollywood.com Staff
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Monday, July 06, 2009
Hollywood continues its zombie renaissance this October with the release of Zombieland, a horror-comedy about a pair of undead-fighting gunslingers who attempt a cross-country road trip to visit a Los Angeles amusement park. A while ago, we had the chance to visit the movie's Atlanta set, where director Ruben Fleischer and stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone took time out of their busy shooting schedule to talk about the unconventional project.
Leading off were stars Harrelson and Eisenberg, who together provide the bulk of the testosterone in Zombieland:
How often is it that you get to carry off a sawed-off, lever-action rifle? Do you just feel automatically badass when you whip that out?
Woody Harrelson: "A little bit, I gotta admit. It just jumps up the testosterone level the moment I put it on."
Jesse, you’re better known for opening up your feelings than opening fire. Was it a change to do an action film and carry a gun?
Jesse Eisenberg: "Yeah, guns are heavier than they look. Just wanted to tell anyone who watches the movie, 'Guns are heavier than they look when you carry them in your hands.'"
Woody, you’ve done every kind of movie under the sun, and this combo is kind of new for you. When you came in, did you think this would be a departure, or were you just “I like the script, I wanna do it, period?”
WH: "Yeah, that’s what I thought, that the script and the characters were good."
JE: "Anything with a 'land' in it. Adventureland, Zombieland … "
Woody, did you know much about Jesse and Emma before this film?
WH: "Not nearly enough … The first day I met Jesse, he came in and we were reading for Amy Pascal and all the honchos over there at Sony, and I just thought he was fantastic from the get-go. He’s got such a good, interesting, totally different kind of humor that I love, so since that time, we’ve had a lot of fun. He kept surpassing expectations all along."
Is this kind of like a zombie survival guide?
WH: "Well, in a way, it is a survival guide for these characters."
JE: "I have a list of 47 rules on how to survive Zombieland, and towards the end of the movie, I start either crossing them off or modifying them because they just make my life a nightmare, because I’m so stringent, whereas Woody’s character is such a fun character and he has zero rules to survive Zombieland, so it starts to rub off a little bit."
Woody, does the converse happen? Do some of his traits start to rub off on you?
WH: "Yeah, that’s true. That’s completely true. There’s one, where he always limbers up before he does things, because it’s cardio. There are several things that are fundamental to survival, according to his guide book, and that’s the one towards the end, I do a little bit of limbering up."
Is the secret message of every zombie movie: "Enjoy civilization while you have it?"
WH: "Yeah, I suppose so."
JE: "That assumes that zombies will be real at some point."
WH: "Do you think we’re heading towards some apocalypse?"
JE: "I think we’re almost there, by the end of the season."
How important is chemistry between you guys?
JE: "Like a five, on the level of five, it works. Yeah, our characters are funny. I’m very cautious about surviving, and he gets a thrill out of being aggressive and killing. If there’s a zombie coming, I flee, and he just wholeheartedly goes in and tries to kill, so it’s a funny dynamic."
WH: "But just in terms of us interacting, I think it’s really important because there’s a lot of improvisation that’s happened and moments that get kind of expanded, and I think it’s been pretty key just to be able to have a chemistry."
During your stay here in Atlanta, have you had a chance to hit the Claremont Lounge, the famous strip club?
WH: "I don’t think they’re happy strippers. [Laughs] That’s where they get their second chance. Someone said, ‘That’s where strippers go to die,’ and I said, ‘No, no, there’s where they go to live again.’ Anyway, I like that place … That’s a fun spot, and it’s cool because immediately, when you go in and there’s someone 70 years old taking their clothes off or maybe crushing cans in her breasts or something, you really suspend all judgment."
I’m guessing you didn’t do this with the family, that this was a non-family deal.
WH: "I tried to get the family in. [Laughs] I figured that the kids gotta learn some time. No, they didn’t let you in if you’re under 21 or something."
Woody, you seem very comfortable being heroic in this film. Do you think you’d like to do more gun-totin’ action-hero types?
WH: "I’m personally not a big action type of guy, because they film it in little brief segments, and it’s hard to get a handle on the scene for me, but yeah, maybe eventually. I’ve gotta do something with my life."
Jesse, has this been enough of a dose of action for you for a while? Is it back to maudlin indie dramas for you after this?
WH: "He thought all of them were comedies."
JE: "Yeah, they were supposed to be. No, I feel the same way. They film it in these tiny pieces, and it’s hard to put together what you were doing. It’s like a whole different type of acting, I guess, but it’s been fun and you get to run and then you don’t feel like you have to run after work."
What’s your favorite zombie kill so far, or in the whole script that you’re gonna get to do?
JE: "My favorite one is when we’re in a grocery store. There’s a zombie chasing me, [Woody] has a baseball bat, and I slide under his bat on my knees, so just as he’s swinging, it hits the zombie and not me."
Obviously, you have to like a script to want to do it, but do you also have to like the character you’re playing?
JE: "Yes. It’s the only way to do it, if you feel like you can do it well, and that’s the only reason they would choose you as well. For me, at least, that’s the reason they would choose me."
WH: "For me, I really loved my character, Tallahassee. I loved the script -- just generally, such a beautiful, well-written script, so funny -- and Tallahassee’s a lot of fun. He’s just this s--t-kickin’ kind of guy who’s really got this broken side to him."
MORE: Emma Stone on the thrill of gunning down the undead
Photo(s) by Sony Pictures/Columbia /Tristar Sony Pictures Entertainment- © 2009- Sony Pictures Entertainment- All Rights Reserved