Jonah Hill and Emma Stone almost didn’t star in Superbad

in 2007, when seth rogan And evan goldberg He was still not the established screenwriter he is today, when he got his first big break. And he didn’t waste it. Thus was born Superbad, the story of Seth and Evan, two teens in the last days of high school who go their separate ways, wanting to say goodbye to their school in style. This premise later gave rise to other gems of the teen comedy subgenre such as Booksmart or Good Boys.

the surprising thing is seth rogan And evan goldberg (who, if it wasn’t clear that he wrote something self-referential, named the heroes after them), was only 14 or 15 when he wrote his first script as Superbad. figure of judd apatowThe icon of comedy since the late 90s, was in charge of their production. i knew him seth rogan of his time at Freaks and Geeks and he didn’t hesitate to trust his idea.

To direct this gem of comedy cinema, apatov, goldberg And rosen they believed Greg Mottola, a filmmaker making his debut in the industry and having worked on Apatow fiction such as Undeclared, as well as being a part of the legendary Arrested Development. More than 15 years after the launch of Superbad, Motola He explained what it was like to bring to life this great project that marked an era: “When I see mentions of it on Twitter or other social networks and people remember a few lines, it really makes me happy. “

RP. How did you come to direct Superbad?

seth rogan and his writing partner, evan goldbergthey wanted to read it, and Seth read newspaper sethAnd jason segel read newspaper IvanAnd many other very funny actors also participated, such as David Krumholtz And his friends and people from the unannounced show. I thought this was the funniest script I’ve ever heard judd apatow After that if they were looking for a director, please think of me. Well, it wasn’t until three or four years later when root Was able to organize the film. He was considered very raunchy, R-rated, almost X by most studios until things changed a bit root He had great power and respect. Eventually he managed to persuade Sony Pictures to do so.

RP.- How did you approach this project?

When I first heard the script being read, I thought that the key to everything was in the final scene of the film, when the audience realizes that, in fact, when they go to university, their friendship will never be the same. It’s the end of something for them, because they’ve been each other’s support system for so long, and it’s acting out, because they’re scared of losing that friendship and facing the world for the first time. So I thought that anxiety is present all the time. And I had to be aware of this, so that in fights and in performances there was a feeling that they were scared.

RP.- What was it like casting for the film?

My only hesitation with Jonah Hill was that he was in his twenties, and I said, “Let’s make sure before we read Jonah…” We knew that Jonah was bright and funny… “Let’s Make sure we see all young people who are the right age and who are close to high school.” Because I don’t want to make one of those teen movies where you look at the actors and think, “Yeah, that’s funny, but they all look like they’re in their second marriage. They’re all 30.” So with Jonah… he has a baby face, if you will. So after seeing a lot of people just… I mean, no offense to everyone else reading, but nobody brought that character to life like he did, even No seth roganis incredible.

Clearly Seth He was already too old for the role, but Jonah gave the character a level of vulnerability that the entire character understood, so every time he said something horrible or vulgar, Jonah’s vulnerability came to the fore. And you felt like: “This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This guy is scared. This guy is not the embodiment of toxic masculinity. He’s trying to figure out how to live in a world like this.” How to live in a world where teenagers are obsessed with toxic masculinity.” And all that bragging and showing off, it just became a lot funnier and a lot more human when Jonah played it. work with Michael Cera On Arrested Development. so i did the first few episodes of that series and i knew this Michael It was brilliant and unique, so we put them together in a room and was like, “Yeah, this is the funniest comedy team we’ve had in decades.”

RP.- And in the case of Christopher Mintz-Plasse?

the story of Christopher Mintz-Plasse it’s interesting because (casting director) allison jones He is very hardworking. He and his assistants toured various high schools in the Los Angeles area, from the Valleys to Orange County, visiting each school with an improv or comedy workshop and posted a notice: “We are looking for a stranger to play this role.” He auditioned other young actors in the business, but none of them impressed us. And most of them played the guy it was understandable, like the nerd, the weirdo, or the one who was bullied, which often happens to nerds in movies.

chris, who did improv at her high school in the Valley, went with her friend to the audition and had no intention of auditioning at first, thinking it looked stupid. but it was there and allison Talked to him and said that he should audition. He said, “Yeah, right,” and he did. And when he emailed me right away, he said, “You gotta see this guy.” He sent me to audition and I said, “Yeah, he’s different from everyone else.” I had never acted in front of the camera, but there was something fun and interesting about it. then we put together Jonah, Michael And chris improving together, and chris He started improving, he talked about Jonah and rebounded at his humiliation, and he wasn’t the helpless idiot who was always being bullied, he acted like he was the coolest person in the room and everyone else looked up to him. There were little helpers.

after what chris He went away, Jonah He said to me: “What is he doing? He is not a character. What is he doing?” root He said, you have to accept it: “JonahThe more you complain about that guy, the more you’re giving him the role.” That was the dynamic we wanted, so that it was interesting and real, and there was tension, and as friends, They really drove each other crazy, but as friends

RP.- What did you see in Emma Stone that made her choose you for this film?

Well, she was one of the only people Sony executives weren’t sure about. I’d never done a movie before, and it’s weird to say it, but they were like, “Is she the kind of hot girl everyone imagines her to be?” I think they thought it had too much character. That is very interesting. And I said, “He’s amazing. He’s got tremendous charisma, a great voice and an incredible sense of humor, I don’t understand why he’s not in a movie yet.”

It doesn’t make any sense to me, he’s done a lot of TV and things root She said they should have lunch with her, so the executives went out to lunch with her and at the end they immediately said, “She’s got the role. She’s amazing. She’s incredible.” So it’s not like they were stupid and said she should be more attractive or blonde or anything like that, but they were like, “That’s interesting, is this the right direction for this?” Because they were thinking of teen movies in which a teenager is a fictional character, but I said, “Trust me, it’s great,” and it actually is, and it’s been featured in a number of movies, Superbad Better movies than

RP.- How was the conversation with the studio to set the tone for Superbad?

After we found the lead, we did a reading for the executives and it went incredibly well. I knew that basically they would let us do whatever we wanted. They just told us, “Do this, don’t go over budget.” His support was there, even though he sometimes had comments, most of them just coming on set for laughs. In the beginning, he said to us, “Can you make sure you take each line without profanity?” And I said, “You have to give us two more weeks to shoot.” There is a profanity in every line. This is the essence of this film. We tried, but it wasn’t going to be good enough. So it was more for the TV version or for the plane, and it was really hard to accomplish, I’ve never seen the TV version because I’m sure it is… They cut occasionally and tried to cut profanity Did. out of the movie… but i don’t want to see that

RP- Was there any improvement?

on any project including Undeclared and I’m sure the same was true for Freaks and Geeks and every film directed and produced by Jud apatow, most of the time there is a lot of improvement in it. I would say Superbad probably had a little less than Undeclared, simply because the script was so good. But whenever someone had an inspired idea or a place to do something, I always gave them a chance, because all these people are very smart writers. Joanna is a wonderful writer. That’s why he used to come up with jokes that had already happened in his mind or flashed in a moment Michael He’s incredibly resourceful and creative and, you know, and just…more Michael He can take a line and turn it into something completely different than anything else. and of course with seth And bill haderThere has also been a lot of improvement.

RP.- What does setting the industry on fire with this comedy evoke in you?

When I studied film, I didn’t necessarily think I was going to make teen film as a genre. There is very little that people have liked. I was mesmerized by the films of European cinema, Woody Allen And Scorsese, Kubrick And Fellini, I wanted to… First of all, it was showy, and I wanted to be more “artistic”. But I did a very simple comedy in my first film and I love comedy. When I did Undeclared, I thought, “Why… I love teen comedies. Why…” Part of me thought… Because there haven’t been many good comedies in a long time, I thought, “I don’t Guess ‘you don’t want to do what you do.” Now”.

one of my favorite Superbad screenings was the test, and bill hader I was sitting next to me, and at the end she said to me, “Look at the girls behind us,” and I turned to look to the side, and these two girls were crying and hugging each other, they The two were teenage or high school girls, and the movie touched their hearts, and the idea that friendship doesn’t last forever really touched them, even as they laughed at the profanity-laced portions for the last 100 minutes. (www.REALPOLITIK.com.ar)

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