Sundance Film Festival Report: Ben Foster Talks Here, The Mechanic; Ed Helms on Cedar Rapids; and the Cast of Like Crazy
Posted 01.24.11 by reelz
Hollywood Dailies' Jeremy Parson files his second blog about being in Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. Parson got to talk to the cast of the comedy Cedar Rapids, chat up Ben Foster about his upcoming movies and talked to Golden Globe winner Melissa Leo. And, of course, he caught up on some 3-D.
It's been an eventful whirlwind of a weekend here at Sundance - interviews, events, some blizzards! Saturday, I sat down with Ben Foster and the cast of the independent film Here, which is screening at Sundance.
Ben was happy to talk about this new film and naturally I also brought up his new hit movie The Mechanic where he stars alongside Jason Statham. Ben explained the contrast of the two very different roles, and even brought up the fact that he was questioning his career path as an actor back when he took on his role in Here.
After a lot of mid-day snow slowed things down a bit, we ended the day with some fun evening events around town.
Sunday - again, an early chilly start to a busy day. First up, I went to the Brown Star Insurance office on main street in Park City. At least, it appears to be an insurance store front. In reality, it's part of an elaborate marketing campaign for Fox Searchlight's new Ed Helms comedy Cedar Rapids.
In the movie, Helms is an insurance agent for, you guessed it, Brown Star Insurance. After picking up some Cedar Rapids swag in the fake office, I sat down with cast members Ed Helms, Anne Heche, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. In our quick four minute conversation, Ed Helms debated with me rather or not we should refer to Sigourney Weaver's character in this movie as a cougar, and he was quick to remind me that it is he, Ed Helms, who appears in tighty wighties in the film...not John C. Reilly, whom I had mistakenly credited with the appearance.
From there it was on to the Nintendo 3DS lounge where I interviewed an expert on their new gaming system. It's pretty amazing! You can play video games, take photos and play video content (like movie trailers) all in 3D, without wearing the glasses! I was impressed and so were Paul Rudd and Terrence Howard, who were checking out the goods in the room during our quick interview.
I went on to the Bing Bar - a large house on Main Street that's been modified for events during the festival. We quickly set up for interviews on the second floor, which was buzzing with activity from other crews, publicists and actors.
Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Charlie Bewley all talked to me about their new independent movie, Like Crazy. It's a dramatic love story that centers around a girl (Jones) who can't get back to America to be with her true love (Yelchin) after her visa expires. But the part of this experience that my younger sister, wife and all ladies in my life are excited about is the fact that Charlie Bewley stars as Demetri in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. Bewley told me he had literally flown from the Twilight set in Louisiana to Sundance to do press for Like Crazy He said he's having a blast filming the movie - and that audiences can get ready for a very aggressive Volturi in the upcoming movie. I reminded him that this time next year he'll likely be flogged on the street by crazed fans regularly...he seems ready.
Finished off the day with the Red State press line. This is Kevin Smith's controversial new horror thriller centering around an extreme fundamentalist group. The highlight was a lengthy talk with recent Golden Globe winner Melissa Leo in which she shared how honored she has been with awards recognition. I asked her if anticipation grows as Oscar nominations inch closer and closer, and how she would spend nomination morning. She said she'll just wait and see if she's awakened that morning by a phone call. Either way, Leo seemed completely content already - with or without any further nominations.
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