LOS ANGELES, July 20, 2000 — They are two people who play outsiders.
But Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari, the stars of “Loser,” won’t find that word anywhere near a career evaluation. With critical and commerical success under their belts (she for “American Beauty,” both for “American Pie”), the two paired off again at the premiere of their latest romantic comedy, held at the General Cinema Avco in the Westwood section of Los Angeles.
“They are the cutest people in Hollywood. They are so adorable and talented,” “Loser” director/writer Amy Heckerling gushed. “And I just think everyone’s gonna love them. They’re cute together, and they’re cute separate.”
Biggs stars as the nerdy Paul, whose encounter with fellow outsider Dora (Suvari) sparks a connection, but her relationship with her professor (Greg Kinnear) is clouding her realization that the answer is directly in front of her — and wearing the dorkiest “Fargo” hat ever seen.
Jimmi Simpson, Zak Orth and Tom Sadoski, who play Biggs’ mean college roommates, enjoyed ribbing Biggs off camera as well as on.
“That was the first thing Jason laid down in rehearsal,” Sadoski said. “He said, ‘None of this, once we say cut, this stops.’ And we were pretty good about honoring that, but sometimes it slipped.”
Says Biggs of Heckerling, who also wrote and directed the teen comedies “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Clueless,” “She’s brilliant, and she’s so open to our ideas as young people. She incorporates what we know and what we want to share with her it’s so amazing — she’s got such a grasp on it.”
For her part, Heckerling says she continues to be fascinated with youth. “[You’re] figuring out everything in your life then. You’re figuring out who you are and what you’ll look like … there are major, major turning points in life, more than at any other time in life.”
Also attending the premiere were Suvari with husband Robert Brinkman, Drew Barrymore and Tom Green, Biggs’ “American Pie” co-star Shannon Elizabeth, his “Boys and Girls” co-star Amanda Detmer, Lori Loughlin, Andy Dick (who has a small role in the film), “Clueless” alum Brittany Murphy and “Felicity’s” Tangi Miller.
“Loser” opens July 21.
