August 2007 | blackfilm.com | features | SUPERBAD

SUPERBAD | An Interview with Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera
ByBrad Balfour

August 13, 2007

Talk about extending a franchise. From "The 40 year old Virgin" to "Superbad," producer/writer/director Judd Apatow has put his stamp on the modern comedy universe. It's not so much that he has cornered the market on nerd white boy jovialities, but somehow he and his proteges have hit a nerve--most recently culminating in "Superbad," a coming-of-age comedy penned by "Knocked Up" star Seth Rogen and buddy Evan Goldberg (who served as executive producer for both films) and starring Jonah Hill (an Apatow ensemble member) as Seth and Michael Cera as Evan.

It's all one big happy, chuckling family. From the days when he was a writer for "The Ben Stiller Show" and "The Larry Sanders Show"(even when he was an actor and stand-up comic), Apatow developed a sophisticated comic style that was neither too dopey or so broad; it rang true about the geeky side of all of us. First with buddy Steve Carell then Seth Rogen and now, with Jonah Hill and maybe Michael Cera, he's developed an ensemble of actors who embody his brand of R-rated extended comedy.

With "Superbad," producer Apatow tapped director Greg Mattola (who debuted with the indie comedy "The Daytrippers") to do an honest--yet sweet--examination of two buddies who are about the graduate high school and are grappling with some unfinished business like getting laid before they step into the "real," ahem, collegiate world.

"Superbad" basically takes place in one day as they to try to resolve their frustration in ridiculous, naive ways that are embarrassingly true and show how testosterone can make men really dumb. In doing so they all embraced newcomer Chris Mintz-Plasse as the scene-stealing Fogell who becomes the over-the-top character "McLovin" in order to buy the liquor for the big party.

Thanks to the Judd Apatow comedy cult--which sees its followers grow with every new film release--these guys now lead the charmed life. So they can forget about nerd-dom--except when it works so well in the movies.

Are you guys sick of each other after all this touring around the country?

Michael MC: No, we've had a few days off from each other.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse: It'd be bad if we were all sick, since we're going to
Europe for a month.

Jonah JH: We've been able to recharge our batteries, rekindle the love that's there.

MC: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Did you guys develop a certain love for each other as a result of this project?

MC: Yeah, I think so. We hung out a lot.

JH: We talked about our feelings a lot.

MC: We didn't let disagreements come between us.

JH: We have a lot of the same tastes in music and film.

MC: We went to meals together.

So what is some of the music and film that you share the same taste in?

JH: Michael and I had to spend a lot of time together before we started shooting.

MC: Bands like Weezer, and the [films of] the Coen Brothers.

Mintz-Plasse: I like Weezer too, but they love them.

MC: Yeah, I burned you a deluxe Pinkerton [Weezer's 1996 LP].

JH: To me and Mike, Weezer's first two albums ["The Blue Album" and "Pinkerton"] are the best...

MC: Life-changing.

JH: [They are] modern-rock albums.

Do you guys like Ween?

MC: I like Ween, but they're not Weezer!

JH: I had this weird counselor at camp who made us perform this Ween song called "Push the Little Daisies, Make Them Pop Up." He later got arrested for rape...just kidding.

MC: Just kidding, he didn't get arrested.

JH: He didn't get arrested; he walked away scot-free.

Did you share stories of your own equally awkward and absurd adventures as high school students--and if so, what were some of those?

JH: We definitely all contributed things to the script with Seth and Evan. [They were] more about feelings you had in high school, and then, a lot of specific stories. For me at least, it was more about bringing what you were going through in high school.

MC: Yeah, the feelings more than the experiences.

Michael, I know you were acting on television throughout most of high school. [Jonah] you’ve been acting too, and [Christopher] you just came out of high school. You guys all must have had really different high school experiences. Did that play into how you worked on this?

MC: I think we all remembered and took the same things from high school. The same feelings.

JH: I think that’s why people relate to the movie, that [it's for] all different ages. People seem to like it that are older as much as people that are younger. You never forget what it’s like to be in high school--everyone went through those experiences. I think that’s what makes it so relatable. I was out of high school for like five years before we made the movie, and Seth and Evan had been out of high school for five or six years probably. And for Judd, [he was] like 100 years out of high school—just kidding. I think it’s just to remember that those feelings of frustration and being freaked out. That’s what we were all able to bring to it.

Jonah, you’ve worked with Seth on a couple of movies--so you knew each other. So Michael, how did they find you in order to be Evan?

MC: I just auditioned for the movie several times. I read with different kids. I came in like 10 different times. Eventually they told me they got it.

And how about you, Christopher?

CM-P: [It was the] same thing. I auditioned about four times.

JH: Judd and Seth just asked me one day if I wanted to do it. I had worked with them a bunch of times. We get along well and enjoy working with each other. I think they were having a hard time. I wasn’t thought of originally for a long time, because I’m only a year younger than Seth and Evan, and we’re all such good friends and it would be weird to consider me younger and not them. Fortunately Seth has aged poorly and I’ve aged wonderfully.

Did it feel like going back to high school?

JH: It was strange. I had a lot of conversations with Greg and Judd about not being who I am now, to not have any traces of myself now. So I moved back in with my parents. I stayed in the same bedroom where I lived in high school, which was torturous, as you can imagine. I would go through my old yearbooks and look through my stuff and try and get back to a place where [I was]—and it did, I started feeling the same lack of privacy.

Going to work was like going to school. While you’re working, you’re working; while you’re in-between you’re talking with your friends. That’s what high school is like, where you kind of look forward to going to school and not wanting to go. You don’t want to go because it’s school, but at the same time it’s like, "I get to hang out with my friends all day." It really helped out staying with my parents. They were nice enough to let me back in.

Did alcohol play a prominent role in any of your high school upbringings?

CM-P: it did for me. Not a big role, but I dabbled a little.

JH: I remember when I was like 16 or 17, we would spend the whole week discussing how we were going to obtain alcohol.

Did you manage to get it?

JH: Pretty much always. I grew up in Los Angeles, and there’s this place called the San Fernando Valley, where Chris grew up, and way deep in there you can find a liquor store who will sell alcohol to a one-year old. We would just drive far out and look for the seediest-looking liquor store. I looked like I was 14 when I was 16, and I would obviously not be 21, and they would sell me alcohol. Thanks, guys. Thanks for the memories.

Some of the movie was based on things that happened to Seth and Evan. Did they actually know someone who went on a joy ride with a police officer?

CM-P: It was fictionalized.

MC: I think they just thought it was funny.