We first got a chance to talk with John Cho about the film and have posted his interview, then later had a great round table discussion with stars Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris and Tom Lennon as well as director Todd Strauss-Schulson and writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg.
When asked about the film, its content and their roles in the film’s production it was very interesting to see that over the top fun was what Harold & Kumar are all about and the goal of 3D Christmas had that in mind. Kal Penn stated, “People often worry about crossing a line in a movie, but in Harold & Kumar movies there is no line.” Neil Patrick Harris’ said that in poking fun at himself as himself in the movie meant making it as ridiculously over the top as possible which he does to great success. Even co-star Tom Lennon said that Neil’s scene is so amazing that he would be happy for a CW show that is just Neil Patrick Harris and boobies. And speaking of Tom Lennon, this is an actor who has a sharp, quick wit, no doubt from all the improv on Reno 911. It was so funny to hear him talk about the “nightmare on every level” of using two year old’s to work with on the film. On set there is what was called the “baby whisperer” or “baby wrangler” by the cast. Who knew studios actually hire a person to specifically work with real young children to get them to act! While many might be upset by scenes like cocaine being blown into the baby’s face and the baby loving it, Tom pointed out that the reality of what the audience sees and what happened on set are completely different. It was a great insight into what happens on set. In the film, the baby has cocaine blown in her face and she rubs her finger across her teeth as we have all seen is the gesture of a cocaine user. Then she starts dancing on a table to All the Single Ladies with her hands on her hips like she is high. In reality, Tom said everything was a game. The cast came in every day and danced to the Beyonce song so she was excited about dancing to it. The cocaine blown in her face was powdered sugar. And the finger brushing her teeth was just that, the tooth brushing game!
Writers Jon and Hayden told us the challenge for this film was meeting the expectations people have, namely, connecting with the characters. Since these are characters the audience relates to and loves, you have to continue making that happen to make a successful film. And when writing Neil Patrick Harris’ scene Jon and Hayden stated they worked very closely with him and the script and that collaboration proved to be very successful considering how unbelievably funny the end product is in the film!
Harold & Kumar’s 3D Christmas opens nationwide on Nov. 4th!
Recent Comments