The film is based on the declassified true story of CIA Exfiltration Specialist Tony Mendez, who was assigned to travel undercover to Iran disguised as a film producer scouting locations for a Canadian film.

MUSE sat down with Affleck to discuss his feelings on tackling a true story, and a true story not about Boston to boot.

“The really hard part is that it’s a true story,” Affleck said. “It’s got all these real people in it, and it’s their true lives, and if you change any little thing in it, now you’re like, ‘s—t, I’m lying.’”

Affleck said he kept Mendez, as well as the hostages, around to consult on the film and to make sure that every aspect came off as authentic and accurate to the original story.

“On this one [Argo], I felt a responsibility to stay really close to the truth because it’s not just some Civil War battle where you’ve got two soldiers in a ditch … it’s something that’s actually affecting people’s lives,” he said.

The film, of course, still has relevance today because it deals with U.S.-Iranian relations. In fact, the day it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, Canada (the embassy that hid the American hostages in Tehran in 1979) announced that they had closed the embassy and cut diplomatic ties with the nation of Iran.

Despite its somewhat controversial political implications, Affleck insisted that he was not trying to send a political message through Argo.

“I’m not trying to brainwash anybody. I’m not trying to do anything political, I’m not trying to editorialize,” he said. “But it’s important to understand that before we jump into this movie where there are guys jumping up and down and breaking windows yelling ‘Death to America’ in Farsi.”

He joked that this was a film that he would absolutely bring John McCain’s wife to, as well as his hometown die-hard liberal Bostonians.

“I wanted to tell that narrative without wagging a finger at anyone or anything like that but also just say, ‘Look this part [of the story] is just part of this experience, and you can draw your own conclusions from what happens after that.’”

In that sense, the film does an excellent job of balancing the political tension of the situation and capturing the humorous seedy vibe of 1970s Hollywood. Argo will put one through the emotional wringer, juxtaposing hilarious one-liners from Alan Arkin with nail-biting moments of the disguised hostages wandering through the bazaar in downtown Tehran.

With any other director, the two tones in the scope of the film might have felt too disconnected, but Affleck and his crew’s finesse in shooting and editing really shined from shot to shot. The visual detail was exquisitely down to the last funny haircut and pack of cigarettes, which lent itself to the authentic feel that Affleck was going for.

“I wanted it to be All The President’s Men, you know?” Affleck said when discussing the movie’s visual style. “Like dirty. Papers everywhere, smokin’ cigarettes, just kind of a f—kin’ mess, and everyone was really into that — like, how messy can we make it?”

Maybe the visual effects were carefully constructed to look “messy,” but the film as a whole is tight and nearly flawless in almost every aspect — plot, effects, cast and historical accuracy.

When asked how he felt about his finished product of his first film not set in Boston, Affleck said, “I’m glad I made this movie because now that I have, I can say, ‘Okay, let me go make a Boston movie now.’”

In the works now for Affleck is a film about Boston mobster Whitey Bulger with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck tentatively penciled in to star. The real question is whether or not Affleck will be able to top the phenomenal filmmaking of Argo upon his return to the Boston scene.

Most will recognize the 39-year-old comedian for his biting one-liners (“Saying, ‘I’m sorry’ is the same as saying, ‘I apologize.’ Except at a funeral”), which he underscores with pleasant plucks from his guitar. Others might remember the observational “visual aids” he uses, such as the large pad to explore the paradoxes of sitting in chairs.

In our digital age, standup comedians are readily available commodities. Even talented ones are easy to come by. But with his new special, which premiered last Saturday on Comedy Central, Martin continues to prove his unique comedy techniques are as razor-sharp and cunning as ever.

Martin, who finds inspiration in everything from daydreaming and music to people watching at coffee shops, said his success comes from basing his routine on simple jokes and one-liners rather than long, drawn-out personal stories.

“My material is simple and relatable enough,” Martin said. “Kids come up to me and they tell me they like my stuff, and someone who’s like 60 also might like the jokes. They’re just basic ideas about the human condition.”

Standup Comedian is no different.

In the one-hour special, Martin doesn’t set out to offend or make sweeping remarks about any particular group. Instead, he artfully showcases his punch line prowess and innovative tactics that are guaranteed to receive laughs every time. Filmed at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, Standup Comedian features Martin playing up his established tricks brilliantly and delivering pithy remarks accompanied by his music (“It’s cool when an ex-girlfriend becomes an XL-girlfriend,” he says).

Martin even tackles new visual media like his ridiculous yet hilariously handwritten fliers — “Free tiny strips of paper!” one cleverly says — which he posted on coffee shop bulletin boards to generate a reaction.

He even shows off his physical comedy chops by demonstrating the absurdity of mechanized responses in public restrooms: “The automatic paper towel dispenser is a solution to something that was never a problem.”

Standup Comedian marks Martin’s first cable special since his Comedy Central Presents show back in 2004. When asked what he learned from his experience creating a televised special nearly six years ago, Martin claimed that the biggest challenges of the process would arise on the cutting room floor.

“When I did the first show, having seen my other friends’ specials live and then seeing how they got edited, I wanted to protect myself,” Martin said. “And by that I mean I wanted it to be the way it was when I shot it when it aired on TV.”

He added, “In my Comedy Central Presents show, I didn’t have any access to the edit. If you don’t have access, some guy you don’t know edits it a certain way and takes out the second punch line, for example, or takes your closer and puts it in the second act as opposed to the end of the show. They can do whatever they want. So, by doing something like the large pad or playing my guitar, it’s harder to edit because there’s the sequence to it.”

But Martin didn’t learn this industry savvy over night. In fact, one of his earlier jobs was as a writer for Conan O’Brien’s Late Night show in 2003, and later as a “Senior Youth” correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. From those experiences, Martin said he learned a lot about the industry, including how to write on a deadline.

“With Conan, you had to be on it, do your stuff, and hand it in,” Martin said. “At The Daily Show, I’d shoot the piece with the producer, and then we’d be in the editing room and Jon Stewart would come down and say, ‘let me see it.’ So it’s really cool because it’s not only screened for an audience, but also [for people you look up to].”

And while his late night experience was beneficial, Martin joked that he learned an even more important lesson from his time writing for these talk shows.

“I have a lot of respect for those guys, but I don’t want to do that job. That is a grind,” Martin said. “It’s [close] to doing real standup but with a lot more responsibility and staff. But it does have that pretty immediate feedback which is cool.”

But during his near-decade of mainstream standup success, Martin discovered his knack and passion for acting, which stemmed from a love of film and desire to write screenplays. In 2009, Martin created and starred in a sketch comedy series for Comedy Central called Important Things with Demetri Martin, which lasted two seasons. He also appeared in films such as The Rocker with Rainn Wilson as well as the HBO series Flight of the Concords. Though he admits that he’s still “learning as he goes” with acting, Martin is excited to absorb as much as he can from the talented people around him.

“My plan was always to write films and write parts for myself that I know I’d be perfect for, “ Martin said. “But I’d be psyched when I got parts even if they were small, because it’s cool to be on set with somebody like Ang Lee or Steven Soderbergh. It’s like being at school. I get to see how they get through their workday, how they shoot a scene, how they do the coverage … just all the different moving parts of a film. It’s really cool.”

An incredible amount of experiences have led Martin to his successful career, and even though he enjoys performing for every type of audience around the country, he says that his college fans are by far his favorite.

“College crowds are among the best because [college] is a very hopeful time in people’s lives. Even with the economy being as terrible as it has been, there’s still a certain kind of optimism and possibility on the college campus that you can’t really find anywhere else,” Martin said. “There’s a certain earnestness, and I really like that.”

His college fans especially will appreciate Standup Comedian and Martin’s honest, fresh flair on comedy. With this special, Martin is truly in his best form with his always-relatable material and quirky and unconventional methods. Authentically funny, quirky and genuinely kind, Demetri Martin is a comic that will continue to leave a lasting impact on audiences of all ages.

And while he hasn’t enjoyed any sort of independent commercial success of his own, Richter’s ’never quite left the forefront.

A&E chatted with Richter before his appearance at the Fitzgerald Theater this Friday, to talk about being on TBS, NBC and the inevitable pitfalls that come with being in show business.

So how’s it going?

It’s good. I’m with six guys in an SUV driving back to San Diego right now. We just got done filming the show for today.

This current version of Conan seems like more of a callback to your guys’ early years on NBC. How do you think the show’s changed?

Well, I guess it’s natural for a show to evolve over time. But having the Tonight Show not happen and getting Conan to own his own show and not having anyone to fill anyone’s shoes. Because up until that point we were always replacing somebody and also working with a network that is openly just completely supportive. It just makes it funnier. All those things: autonomy, a sense of being treated with respect … somehow it makes you funnier.

What’s different about working with TBS opposed to network NBC?

It’s just easier. Well first off, I don’t have to deal with them that much, and that will tell you it’s easier. They’re all nice, they come by to visit, but other than that there’s nothing that we think of where we’re like, ‘Oh, how are they going to feel about this?’ We’ve been doing this long enough. We’re not like 22-year-old kids trying to say dirty words, or 45-year-old kids saying dirty words. It’s just easier. To take an idea and have it be funny and put it on TV, it’s just easier.

You do a fair amount of improv related to pop culture on Conan. Do you actually make an effort to keep up with that stuff at all?

Not really. It just floats in through the transom as they say. That would bum me out if I was like, “I gotta read “Us” magazine as homework.” I would feel like I was going to the most retarded university on the planet.

So it’s not so much a matter of time constraints — you just aren’t interested.

Pretty much. I try to just do what I want. I’m a talk show sidekick. If it isn’t easy then I’m sort of missing the point.

When you say you “do what you want,” what does that entail?

I basically go and be myself and crack wise on TV everyday. If you overthink that, it’s not going to be good for it. I go home to my wife and kids and read books about violent crime and watch cartoons with my kid, go to bed, wake up and go be funny on TV again. I don’t have to eat a lot of crow in my life, it’s pretty nice. That’s what I mean by doing what I want. I don’t mean some dick artistic thing, I just mean like a spoiled brat thing.

Your first sitcom “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” has had a cult following since it was canceled. Were you surprised when they originally pulled the plug?

Not entirely. I would say surprised is less the issue, more just disappointed, profoundly disappointed. I spent the better part of a year in a funk over it. I mean, if you feel good about something and you like what you’re doing — even if you’re doing dumb stuff and you don’t like it — if it goes away, you’re still like, “Oh that’s a bummer.” But if you really like what you’re doing you feel proud and have a sense of ownership over it, and once it’s taken away from you, it’s pretty crummy.

Is some part of you still interested in pursuing sitcoms or has that experience left you a little jaded?

I would say both. There’s plenty of people doing interesting good stuff. One of the big components of the drive to do a sitcom is to fall into a giant dumpster full of money. If you don’t admit that to yourself, then you’re lying. Everyone who puts a show on the air, there’s [some part of them] where they’re like ‘Maybe I’ll … never have to work again.’ There’s a lot of people doing good stuff on TV; they’re making a living. You know, things on cable, different little niche areas, stuff they’re doing on Adult Swim. Even stuff they’re doing on kids channels. A show like “Yo Gabba Gabba” is more interesting and funny than most of the big things on TV. So yeah, I want to make television, that’s what I want to do. I don’t see Conan and I doing this show for 40 years, but I plan on working for a long time. I’m sure I’ll do something else. But the standard, run-it-up-the-same-flag-pole sitcom world, yeah, I’m definitely a little jaded about that.

What about when Conan got the boot from NBC? Did that incite any cynicism?

No, not really. There was nothing that surprising. It was a basic evolution … when you take particular institutional characteristics and put them under the right pressure, things like that happen. It’s not that shocking. It’s kind of like “Oh yeah, that happened.” If you run a salmon processing plant, you’re going to eventually get bears to come in, so you can’t really be surprised when the bears come in and attack. That’s what they do — they’re bears. They attack. And some of these people make bad decisions.

Your career has had an interesting trajectory. You’ve been involved in a variety of work and experienced so many varying degrees of success. Have you ever considered writing a book?

Yeah, and people have talked to me about it. I’m a little bit of a loss as to what to do with it. I probably will sometime. But I kind of don’t want to write a typical memoir. Between me and a reader, I should be more interested in the story than they are, and if I were to write a memoir, I wouldn’t be that interested. I can’t think of anything more tedious than writing something like “So I was born … ”

Seth Meyers: You know, I think in certain cases, it does. I mean, when we write it, you have to write it for it to be funny. You can’t aim to affect the outcome of elections because I feel like that makes comedy too self-serious. So it’s like, be funny first, but then if the message you’re being funny about rings true with people, I do think it sticks in their head when they go to the polls.

Along those lines, is there anything you’re really hoping happens this election season in terms of comedic potential?

Well, I am a little worried about a Romney-Obama face-off. You know, I think it’s very hard to find things that are really funny about (President) Obama, and I think you know Mitt Romney. When someone’s stiff — having played John Kerry in 2004 — it’s very hard to exaggerate stiffness or gravitas or woodenness. So it could be tricky. I’m hoping that Romney picks a really juicy (vice president) because that certainly worked in ’08.

Any potential names in mind?

I mean, (New Jersey Governor) Chris Christie would be fun. You know, I think living in New York, a guy from Jersey is a good time.

On a “Weekend Update” episode,” you claimed a poll that showed an increase in Obama’s approval ratings was taken at a Brown University drum circle. Do you remember where this came from? Was this your way of confessing your love and admiration for Brown?

Uh, look I have nothing but love and admiration for Brown, but I do think it’s funny that, you know, obviously we try to write jokes that people respond to and … we do consider a drum circle at Brown probably the most liberal place on Earth.

I’ve heard that you go around doing performances like this at other colleges — have you ever spoken at a school that’s not quite as liberal as Brown? What has the response been like there?

Yeah, you know it’s funny, certainly when you go down and do Southern schools you realize it’s less loudly liberal. I’ve done shows where I’ve mentioned (presidential hopeful) Ron Paul, and I think a lot of college students relate to Ron Paul — you know maybe not at Brown, but you do realize he connects with them in a certain way. But you do realize even in the Deep South, college campuses are probably the most liberal places of those states. So even when a state is 80 percent red, 20 percent of that state is a lot of people, and they tend to find their way to your shows.

Do you tailor your shows at all?

I have enough of an act that there’s certain times where I’m like, “Oh, this is not going to be for them.”

So switching gears a little bit — if you could cast any three people, dead or alive, in a sketch, who would you cast, and what would the sketch be about?

The sketch about, that’s too hard. But I will say if I was doing any sketch with the benefit of dead or alive — the people I’ve never had the benefit to meet that I am such big fans of like, you know, Gilda Radner and John Belushi and Phil Hartman, and I guess (Chris) Farley as well. So I’ll go with Radner, Farley, Hartman, and I think with that cast we could write a good sketch. 

Turning away from your writing days and more toward your college days, what’s the most ridiculous thing you did in college?

The most ridiculous thing I did in college … I remember a couple of times going, like leaving bars when the car was too crowded, and I just rode in the trunk, but like way longer — from Chicago to Evanston. That wasn’t smart.

And what about the most valuable thing you learned in college?

Well, I mean I think the most valuable thing I got from college (Northwestern University) was going to a school that had such a strong performing arts school and just the people I met. You meet so many talented people, and you realize that there were no successful, talented people that also didn’t work really hard. And obviously you go to a school where people are there to excel. That was great.

And so if you could go back in time and offer your college self any piece of advice, what would it be?

I would say there’s no other time in your life when you’ll have time to learn things. So like, try to learn things they’re trying to teach you — you’ll be so happy about it. You can’t believe that you will at some point in your life be in South Africa and even have taken a history of South Africa class, and you can’t remember any of it.

Any more romantic comedies in your future?

If I will, they’ll be, like, twice as romantic.

Q: How did you guys end up with parts in the movie?

Thomas Mann: It was actually pretty awful. Over the span of two months, I ended up going in seven or eight times, and we all had auditions with [producer] Todd Phillips several times.

Jonathan Daniel Brown: [I originally had an] open call over the internet.

Oliver Cooper: I had nine auditions!

Q: Was the film shot on a set or in a real neighborhood?

OC: This is real life, sweetie.

JB: We shot it on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. But we got a whole block and actually furnished the entire house so it was actually in livable conditions. I’m a carpenter on the side [Laughs].

Q: What was the filming like with so many people?

OC: It was what you see. It was fun. They played awesome music. We had a DJ in the movie — they literally had him playing all day and all night! So, crazy sex and drugs.

TM: We did five weeks of night shoots, which shoot from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. It was like one giant party. The energy on set was always at a ten.

JB: So much O’Douls, man. And apple juice and water mixed together in the beer bong.

Q: Have any of you been at a party anywhere close to the party in the movie?

JB: I don’t go to parties. I just play Xbox alone.

Q: The dialogue sounded real. Was most of it scripted or improv?

OC: [Mostly] the script. It changed every day.

JB: I would say it’s 70-to-30 scripted to improvised. With Nima [Nourizadeh]‘s directing and the writing and Todd on set, it helped create a naturalistic kind of style.

OC: Todd would throw lines at us while we were in the middle of a take.

TM: We also did a lot of rehearsals. We rehearsed a lot of scenes for two weeks before we started shooting. But a lot of scenes were rewritten for our specific voices once we were cast.

We usually got what was on the page first and had a couple takes where you could play around.

Q: What was one of your favorite scenes?

OC: I love every scene with the little kids. Like with the Tasers. I had a blast with those two kids, [Brady Hender and Nick Nervies].

Q: Was it hard to get permission to film this movie since it portrays high school kids on drugs?

TM: That was not our job!

OC: We just showed up.

TM: Warner Bros. has a legal team and they hashed that out. Everyone on set had to be 18. That was the only rule.

JB: Except for Brady and Nick. Lucky f—— kids!

TM: But, they were not allowed to be around any of the breasts.

Q: Who made out with the most girls in the most scenes?

OC: I definitely did. I had a make out montage, but it got cut out! But it was kind of weird. At six in the morning, you’re making out with a bunch of girls that hadn’t brushed their teeth since… [trails off]

Q: What was the best thing about doing this movie?

TM: Getting to work with Todd Phillips.

OC: Doing a movie.

TM: It was amazing to work with people who have established themselves, like Joel Silver, who’s known for all his action movies, and Todd, who’s known for “Old School” (2003) and “The Hangover” (2009). It was nerve-wracking, but very rewarding.

JB: Nima Nourizadeh was the man. He directed the film. He had an eye and a visual style that I’ve never seen in any comedy before. By the way, I had this really strong martini earlier, and I wasn’t expecting it to be this strong.

Q: Are you guys pursuing acting now or going to school?

OC: Not going to school, for sure. I dropped out a long time ago.

JB: I dropped out of community college, but don’t take my advice. I live with my parents.

OC: I live with my aunt and four dogs.

TM: I’d say we’re all pursuing acting.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Sundays

Network: Fox

Jon Heder is now eight years removed from the debut of his most popular role as the courageous, moonboot-wearing Napoleon Dynamite. He has an impressive list of roles and appearances in movies and TV since then, capped by the inclusion of his voice in what may have been last year’s biggest song (“N****s in Paris”). This week he talked to A&E about that, his history with animation and returning to his first role for the recently premiered “Napoleon Dynamite” cartoon.

AE: How did the idea for a TV show come about?

JH: I think it was Fox’s initiation. They came to Jared and Jerusha (Hess, husband-wife duo who were the writer-directors of the film). I think everybody knew from the get-go if we were ever going to do anything like a sequel or a TV show that the only way anyone would do it or like it was if everyone from the original was involved. So it was cool that they wanted to bring “Napoleon Dynamite” back into the world. And it seemed like a nice match. We had never really seriously discussed it, only talked about the possibility of a TV show years ago. But it was Fox that got things going and said, “What do you think about going back to the original people?” And we were definitely on board.

AE: Are you worried about being too closely associated with that character?

JH: I guess I think about it a little bit but not too much. What I know is that I really enjoyed playing that part, what we did with that film and the kind of audience we got. I was completely happy to do it again. It was what started my career. I hadn’t acted for a paycheck before. It wasn’t just another job that launched my career; it was the job. It was the first role in a film for me, ever. So it’s always just been like, “Yeah, I know that I’m associated with Napoleon. He’s awesome.”

AE: You studied animation in college. Did that draw you to the show at all?

JH: It wasn’t a huge part of it, no. I studied computer animation, and television animation is a whole different ballgame. But I have always loved it. I grew up watching “The Simpsons.” When they approached us about it, I just thought it would be so awesome. To be a part of the Fox animation lineup is really cool.

AE: Are you worried about starting the show eight years after the movie came out?

JH: No, not really. I don’t think people have forgotten about it. Maybe that’s why it is good time for it, actually. Part of me thought it was good timing because people who used to love it but have started to lose interest will think, “Oh sweet, now we have more stuff that we can love.” That’s what our hope is, to find a new audience as well. And I’ve heard that so far. I’ve had people tell me, “Our kids watched the cartoon, so I think it’s time we start showing them the movie.” That’s cool to hear. I think it would be kind of a trip to see the cartoon first, then see the movie after that. Usually I think it’ll be the other way around, but I like that it can be either way. I’m not too worried. The great thing about Napoleon and that franchise is that it’s timeless, and it can speak to almost any generation. No matter what time period it is, I think people will always get it.

AE: Your voice was sampled on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s song “N****s in Paris”. When did you first hear about that?\

JH: I heard about it after the fact. It’s kind of funny. A bunch of my friends have kids in high school, and they’re like, “That’s all they talk about at school is that song you guys are in.” I had no idea until after it had come out. But it’s cool, connects me to the youth even longer.

AE: Have you talked to them about it?

JH: No I haven’t, but I assume they are fans of “Blades of Glory,” so that’s cool. If I ever do, I’ll be like, “Hey, if you ever want to use me in a video, let me know. I can dance.” There’s always future opportunities.

Banks certainly knows how time can weigh on the will to make a daring leap.  At an enviously questionable 37, Banks has contended with a decade of formulaic supporting roles. Yet, in that same decade, innumerable actors and actresses have succumbed to time, “coming inside” from inhospitable and unforgivable stratosphere of show business, surrendering to physical exhaustion.

Banks’ plunge of perseverance has proved fruitful. Triumphantly securing her place as both as a film and television superstar, she has also proved her acting range in a spectrum of leading roles such as in W., The Next Three Days, and 30 Rock.  In Man on a Ledge, Banks reflects this liberation in playing, for the first time, an independent woman: “working class” NYPD detective Lydia Mercer who is called to coax the suicidal Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) off of a ledge of Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel.

“I really liked the idea of not playing someone’s wife or girlfriend,” Banks explains during our conversation at Boston’s Liberty Hotel last Friday, referring to the myriad of arm candy she’s played in films such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Definitely, Maybe. While Banks’ Lydia Mercer in Man on a Ledge “parties hard” and is hardened by the misogyny and emotionally tumultuous nature of her profession, Banks wanted to create a character who was “a woman…very feminine…because I think [being tough] is just clichéd.”

Banks’ consideration to explore the dynamic depth of her character is indication of Banks’ dramatic depth too. To this same end, Banks extensively researched the nuances of suicide negotiation, conversing with real-life NYPD negotiators to hear their “amazing stories” and various industry strategies.

“‘Jumpers always jump,’ that’s [negotiators’] motto. If you want to off yourself, you go to the top of the building and you jump off,” Banks said. “If [negotiators] actually get into a situation where they’re talking to someone, they have a pretty high success rate. So, little moments like that are built into the movie because of research. When [my character] first walks into the room, [I know that Sam Worthington] is not particularly suicidal, because if he was, he already would’ve jumped…and so I take my time going to the window, I ask questions…there is no rush.”

Banks’ devotion to authenticity was likely influenced by Man on a Ledge’s commitment to realism (yes, they actually filmed on a ledge of the Roosevelt Hotel). Yet, her decade of supporting masters like the “super committed” Ed Harris in Man on a Ledge, comedy heroes Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd in several films, and the “so pro” Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock, have fine tuned Banks’ observation skills, vital to an actress, and clearly paid dividends, exemplified in Banks’ 2011 Golden Globe nomination for 30 Rock.

It’s no wonder that Banks’ intrigue in her Man on a Ledge character, Lydia Mercer, came in “her curiosity and her hunger to figure out what’s going on, her need to know the truth of the situation.” Elizabeth Banks herself has proved, now that she’s on top of, or on a ledge, so to speak – of that same insatiable desire to absorb all that the Hollywood stratospheric spectrum offers. And if her upcoming role as the “Marie Antoinette meets Kabuki” Effie in The Hunger Games is any indication, Banks’ panoramic catalogue will only continue to diversify.

It is said that time slows when one plunges from the skies. If only to see the trajectory of Elizabeth Banks, let’s hope time creeps by.

ODE: What can fans expect from the “Telling Jokes in Cold Places” tour?

DM: I usually do between 75 and 90 minutes. I have a lot of new material, and I think the show is all new material.  Yeah, it’s been a while, but we are doing new stuff, getting ready to tape this stand-up special in February. And I have been writing a lot of stuff, a lot of new bits to try and figure out what I want to put in that special. And I have some new drawings and play a little bit of guitar, and I talk to the audience, but it is all new stuff.

How did you end up going from law school to writer, comedian and artist?

I hadn’t tried anything when I was in school, and it took me a while to realize I even wanted to push to showbiz. Stand-up was really the reason I left school. Luckily, I was in New York and there are a lot of comedy clubs in New York. When I finally decided to try it at the end of my second year of law school, I decided I wouldn’t go back to law school. And then by July of that summer, I finally got on stage for the first time, and then I kept going up each week wherever I could get up. Then I did different temp jobs around the city to pay my bills. I had a couple roommates, so my rent was really low. So, what started out as a plan to go to law school and then work in the field as my career turned into letting me get a job just to pay my bills, and I’ll push through stand-up. Immediately, I enjoyed it. I said, “OK, this is for me.” Once I could pay my bills, I figured “OK, let me just stick with this and see where this leads.” Along the way, I became more interested in writing other kinds of things and acting, but I never took an acting class, so that is a slower trajectory for me. Eventually, I’m hoping that I can just do something that I have written, and then as an actor, I will be perfect for the part.

Is your new special going to be as structured as your last two? Or is it going to be more straight stand-up?

I’m still trying to figure it out. It is going to be more straight stand-up, but I might still have some drawings in it in one segment. But I’m getting back to straight stand-up. I started with just straight stand-up, and then the first time I got a chance to do something on TV that was longer, I thought it would be cool to try different things. When I did the hour, I thought it would interesting to put in animation and drawing on that screen and everything. But this will be much simpler and just a curtain, maybe a few segments with different stuff, but mostly straight stand-up.

Are you still doing five to 10 minutes of requests?

I haven’t done that in awhile, but depending, maybe in Oregon I might do that if folks are into that. But I don’t know. It is like a balance. I used to not do it at all, and then I started to do that because sometimes people would want to hear an older joke, or they brought a friend and went “Oh yeah, do this joke.” But now, I’m kind of focusing on building this act, so I’m not doing that as much. Sometimes, I come out and just talk to the audience, and if they want to hear a couple of them, I do it.

Are you doing the same show at every stop, or are you changing it up depending on where you are going?

I’m changing it up. In some cities, I’m doing two shows in one night, and even in the same night, I make changes, and the second show is different from the first show.

I don’t usually tape my shows, but I’ve been recording them. I don’t really like it. Listening to them is very helpful, but I don’t enjoy it that much. But because I have been improvising a bit more, I’m trying out different tags on jokes and trying different ways way to explore certain bits. I been recording them and trying to go through and listen to what I said and how I said it. Between now and my special — I think about 20 shows — I get, like, 20 chances to fix whatever jokes I think need fixing, try out what new jokes I’ve come up with.

Is the show going to be mostly one-liners or are you going to do more longform?

It’s mostly one-liners, that’s what I like writing the most. Some of my jokes have led into larger bits, but I am not doing stories like I did. I’ve done three one-man shows that had very structured narratives, and those had personal stories in them. But I still like writing jokes.

You have written for many different media (books, TV, and stand-up). Is there a medium that you would still like to write for?

I’ve written a few screenplays and sold a couple of them, but none of them have been produced. I’m interested in writing one that I can get financing for and direct on my own. I’m also doing this book of drawings. It will be mostly single-panel drawings and some short, page-long bits — like little scenes or poems — but after that, I will write a book of short stories. Down the line, I would like to write a longer book like a novel or one long story. But I figure I need to get better at writing and learn how to do that.

On the “You Made it Weird” podcast, you said that your career is like a highway and that each project is an offramp. Would you say that stand-up is your final destination?

When I started — to be able to do stand-up in theaters around the country — that for me was really the dream and the destination. I still really enjoy that it is, like, a lucky privilege to get to somewhere and do your own material for 90 minutes and have that freedom. I guess I’ve found a connection to the road. Although I’m really interested in making films when I’m ready, and when my scripts are in a place I want them to be — it is a whole different set of challenges. A few years ago, I remember thinking, “I would love to write at least one book, try and make at least one movie and maybe do an art show one day if I have enough material to show people.” Stand-up is still really where it all starts for me, and it’s where I like to go back to, but I guess getting a little bit older and doing stand-up a bunch … it is fun to try and find different outlets for certain point of view or comic outlook.

Bareilles, a UCLA alumna, spoke with the Daily Bruin’s Marjorie Yan about her time as an undergraduate, her musical writing process and what it’s like being a judge on “The Sing-Off.”

Daily Bruin: What was your music life like on campus as a student?

Sara Bareilles: I was in Awaken A Capella and we did Spring Sing, but I also did (Spring Sing) independently. I think I auditioned for Spring Sing (during my freshman year) and I didn’t get in so I was part of Company, which is the group who does the skits in between the shows. I think that was about the majority of my singing on campus. I didn’t have any instruments with me or anything, but I remember that I would sneak into the music rooms in Schoenberg, and I would play for hours.

DB: How would you say your life has changed since you’ve gained fame?

SB: The journey has been slowly unfolding. I never felt like there was an overnight change in my life. … I’m very proud that the fundamentals of my life haven’t changed. My friends are the same, they treat me the same and my family is the same. My job is amazing and I’m very blessed and … I’ve put in my time. My life has changed and it’s grown into something I’m really inspired by and I’m hoping it will continue to do so.

DB: What is your musical writing process like?

SB: Usually I’m alone, and I like writing at my house. I live in (Los Angeles). I’m usually by myself and I write on piano for a majority of my songs. The music comes first and the lyrics come second. Every song comes from different places from an autobiographical standpoint. I put my life stories into these songs.

DB: You said your song “Uncharted” holds a special place in your heart. Why is that?

SB: “Uncharted” for me was sort of the song that got me through my writer’s block as I was getting ready for my second record. For quite some time, I just had a hard time finishing ideas and I was really worried about putting together something I’d be proud of. (“Uncharted”) was the song that broke the barrier and everything kind of opened up after that song was written.

DB: Are you putting out a new album anytime soon?

SB: I’m currently working on a new EP with Ben Folds.

DB: Ben Folds is also a judge on “The Sing-Off” with you. What is working with him like?

SB: It’s great. He’s been one of my music heroes for as long as I can remember. It’s amazing to kind of get to know somebody in that capacity and he’s super, super smart and really has this totally different way of approaching recording and just being part of the industry. He’s really punk rock and he’s really inspiring to me in that way.

DB: How did you become a judge on “The Sing-Off”? So far, what’s it like?

SB: They approached my management company and they asked if I was available or interested in being a judge and I just said, “Yes. Of course.” So far it’s been great. I mean TV is a very different medium for me.

I’m used to live performance so it’s tricky to feel like everything you do is permanent on camera but it’s been awesome. I’ve learned so much from doing a show and it’s opened up a lot of doors for me. It’s really expanded my experience.

DB: Who would you say are some of your musical inspirations?

SB: I have a lot of different people. Growing up I listened to a lot of Billy Joel and Elton John.

Ben Folds is a big person for me, Fiona Apple, all of these are piano players. Then, I got into Radiohead, Bob Marley, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. They’re all over the place.

DB: What is your favorite part about being a judge?

SB: Just being able to see these awesome performances. These people are so good. My jaw is on the floor half the time and I’m amazed at what they always have to bring.

DB: Tell me a little about your headlining show in December.

SB: Yeah, that’s at the Hollywood Palladium on Dec. 9 and we will have (Joshua) Radin on. It will be one of the final … shows we play for the “Kaleidoscope Heart” album. It’s going to be bittersweet, because we’ll be hanging up our instruments for awhile.

DB: What’s one thing you’d say you miss most about being a student at UCLA?

SB: (There are) so many things. I mean, being on that campus is very nostalgic. I go back and I always know memories will start rushing back. I miss the cranberry muffins at Kerckhoff a lot, too. I don’t know if they still have those.

Daily Bruin: How does it feel reuniting with John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris and everyone else in the cast for another “Harold and Kumar” movie?

Kal Penn: It’s very cool. John and I and Neil have grown to be great friends in real life over the franchise. It’s a rare treat to have the chance to do something like that again.

DB: You’re a triple threat, having been an actor, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate director in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House. Do you derive any sort of weird pleasure from being so accomplished?

KP: No, I think I just have no attention span. What I love about those three things is that they’re all completely different. I love being creative as an actor and a filmmaker. Part of the reason I liked teaching was because I always loved professors that put theory in the syllabus and other professors that were incredibly well-versed who had been on film sets before and can tell you what that was like. I kind of thought it would be cool to craft a class with both. And then the public service thing obviously had nothing to do with either, and I felt privileged to do that.

DB: Was President Obama a fan of the “Harold and Kumar” films?

KP: I never figured out when the appropriate time to ask the president whether he knew I played a stoner who escaped from Guantanamo Bay. I don’t know how to ask that. I kept that world very professional.

DB: Did you aspire to be an actor and work in public service while you were at UCLA?

KP: Yes, both actually. One of the reasons I went to UCLA was that they had a great film and theater school, a great communications program, strong academics and proximity to the entertainment industry, so I could work while going to school.

DB: How did you feel being a total North Campus major when you were at UCLA, studying sociology and being in the School of Theater, Film and Television?

KP: I was totally North Campus, but I remember weirding out and taking (Life Science) 2, “Cells, Tissues and Organs” as an elective because I really thought it was fascinating. I remember I missed something the professor said one day and I asked the kid next to me and he goes, ‘Don’t look at my paper.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, we’re not competing, I’m a film major, I just wanted to know what the professor said.’ I definitely felt that North-South Campus tension, so I’d say I’m North Campus all the way.

DB: Were you anything like Kumar during your years at UCLA?

KP: No, and that’s why I love playing Kumar since he’s so different from me. I liked that UCLA offered a balance. Like if you just want to be a studious person, you could be that student, or if you wanted to party all the time, you could be that too.

DB: Were your parents supportive of your career path seeing your success now?

KP: I think for any parent, especially any immigrant parent, it was tough to explain how something that is not a stable career could make you happy. It took a while, like years, for them to turn around. Now they are very supportive to the extent that my mom always tries to talk to young folks whose parents are telling them not to go into a particular career and telling them they should do it.

DB: How do your parents feel about you doing all these illicit activities on screen as Kumar?

KP: I think my parents are very good-natured about it. … There was nudity in the first movie and I apologized to my mom for it and she’s like, ‘You don’t think I’ve seen that before? I’ve changed you as a baby.’

DB: In the film, you portray a stoner med school dropout, so what is your advice to graduating students of UCLA who want to avoid that fate?

KP: I think one thing I learned was that people would always tell me that I’m crazy for wanting to do more than one thing. And I’m glad I didn’t listen to the people who told me I was crazy for wanting to pursue film and then public service and then teaching. There’s no rule that says that you can’t do it all.

Daily Bruin: How does it feel to be a recipient of the Jack Benny Award along with other comedians such as Judd Apatow, Conan O’Brien and Adam Sandler?

Betty White: Jack (Benny) was something special, and all the comedians since then have come down the pipe. … I’m deeply flattered and thrilled to be getting the award. Jack was the originator of a lot of stand-up (comedy), but everything has gotten a lot more harsh in a sense. His was a gentle comedy, but funny.

DB: In all your past experiences in comedy, who have been your favorite comics?

BW: When you’ve been in the business for 63 years, it’s hard to know. I would say Jack (Benny) and of course George Burns and the older ones like that. I also love Jay (Leno) and love the nighttime comics. I think Jack Carson was my favorite.

DB: So many UCLA students along with other college kids absolutely adore you. What’s your secret to appealing to younger audiences?

BW: Oh, I don’t know if that’s true. I would like to think it is. I only hear about the people who like me.

DB: When did you realize you were a comedian or enjoyed comedy?

BW: At the breakfast table at home. I was an only child, and my mom and dad had a wonderful, wonderful sense of humor. We laughed a lot. When I found out I couldn’t be a forest ranger, because girls couldn’t be forest rangers at that point, I decided I wanted to be in show business.

DB: Do you think comedy has changed since you first started in the entertainment industry 63 years ago?

BW: It’s gotten a lot raunchier, and a lot of the standards have changed, but I think the thing that changed most is the audience. Back when comedy started, we didn’t know every joke (and) we didn’t know every plotline that was coming up like the audience does now because they get it in their living room all the time. So, it’s a much harder audience to surprise and make laugh these days than it used to be.

DB: What comedy do you enjoy?

BW: My schedule is overly busy and I don’t get the movies as much I would like to. I’m a televisionkid. I grew up in television and I love it. What I love most about television is that you’re only playing to two to three people. If there are more than three people, they’re talking to each other and they’re not listening to you. You’re just playing to a small audience. It’s not like the stand-up comics who are playing to a big house. I thoroughly (love) television comedy.

DB: What projects are you working on?

BW: I have a book (“Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo”) coming out November 21; it’s my seventh. It’s (about) my work at the L.A. Zoo, all beautiful zoo animal pictures. I’ve been with the zoo for over 50 years, so a lot of those animals in the pictures are my personal friends.

DB: Tell us about your upcoming animated movie, Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax.”

BW: It’s a lovely animated film. It’s just beautiful. We’ve been working on it for well over a year. We go back every once in a while and get some parts finished and come in and do voice-overs. I guess it’s been almost two years now.

DB: What is it like being a voice actor as opposed to acting on screen?

BW: The good part about animation is that you don’t have to push your eyelashes on, you don’t have to get into makeup and you read your lines. What could be better than that?

DB: What do you think is the biggest lesson you learned from being in this industry?

BW: Various people out there are so different. You get to judge people a little faster in this business and the support of the audience is the wonderful part because we couldn’t do it without that warmth, and we get back in the other direction.

The Sun sat down for an interview with Jon Stewart after his Cornell U. show Friday.

The Sun: How do you think your role as a political commentator has changed since the last time you were at Cornell?

Jon Stewart: How has it changed? I’m not sure it’s changed … I have. Because I am older and weaker. But no, the show is pretty much the same philosophically as it was when I started. Hopefully, we’re slightly better at executing it and having it reflect a better version of what I wanted it to be. But as far as my role in it, it’s the same as it was.

Sun: How do you feel you appeal especially to the college demographic?

J.S.: It’s clear: I think a gentleman in khakis is never appealing to a young crowd of go-getters, men and women. The V-neck sweater can’t be denied. It’s clear I could wear a hoodie if I wanted, but I didn’t. No, I honestly don’t know, and I think that college isn’t monolithic in any way and if there’s anything to it, it’s a time in your life when you might be able to be more focused on thinking about politics or media, and because you’re not as distracted by nine-to-five, that sort of thing. Maybe it’s the subject material that’s the key to it more than anything else.

Sun: Was there anything in your college experience that shaped where you are now?

J.S.: You know, it’s funny. Not really. And that’s not to say that that is in any measure a fault of my college, but the way I experienced it, that’s on me for not understanding the opportunity that it was or taking advantage of what it was. I learned a lot more in one week out of college than I did in, unfortunately, four years … and again, not my college’s fault — definitely my fault.

Sun: How important do you think it is to separate the politics and the comedy?

J.S.: I don’t think there is a separation. There are things to clarify here. The comedy is the way we express our ideas: That’s satire, you know, satire is just using comedy to express your commentary … so you can’t separate it from politics. But inferred in that question is, I think, this idea of activism, or that it’s a liberal versus conservative polarity — and that’s the thing where I think it gets confused. I don’t think we separate politics from comedy, but we’re not using the comedy to expressly advance a dogmatic political agenda … if that makes any sense. But it is inherently about politics, so it’s not separate from it, it’s infused in it — that’s the whole purpose of it, is to express our thoughts about the systems. What we think it is is comedy about corruption. But again, those are the types of things we don’t really think about. It’s more like “Oh shit, did you see this clip?” “Yeah, let’s do something on that.” You know, that’s mostly what it is … I should probably make that sound more scientific.

Sun: You had a whole joke tonight about Dick Cheney and your issues with him. When you sit down to interview someone like that with whom you disagree with so strongly, how do you prepare for it?

J.S.: Oh boy … It’s rare that that happens, but you prepare for it in the same way that you prepare really for any interview, which is: don’t squeeze it too tight, and make sure you’re listening. Because the key to an interview is not setting a trap and having somebody walk through it. The key to an interview is finding an alchemy that creates something in a moment rather than “here’s my prescribed path, I’m gonna walk down it, and I’m gonna drag this cat down the stairs however I want to.” It’s a conversation. And it may be heated, it may be pointed, it may be useless, it may be all those things, but hopefully it’s a conversation that lives in the moment — that it’s not predefined. And you try not to, obviously, punch him. That’s also … I guess hands down, would be the other part. So the first part, and then also hands down. No slapping. Except if it’s Desmond Tutu … and then obviously, it’s on. It’s just on.

Sun: I also wanted to ask about the idea of polarity. How did we get to such a polarized community, and how do we get out of that? Do we get out of that?

J.S.: Perspective wise, we are a polarized community. But, in 1860, we went to war with each other and a senator sat on the floor of the Senate and canned another senator so you know, again, are we split? I think if you really look at the divisions of it, it’s more minor than it isn’t, but the largest drivers of the conversation are networks that rely on conflict and sensationalism to gain viewership. So that’s going to be … the fuel that’s put into the atmosphere is mainly that. And so that’s naturally going to color the conversation, and you know, it’s the chicken and the egg — what came first? If you really do look at the two manifestations of that, it’s Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party. Both are expressing a similar frustration with government, one in that they think it’s doing too much and one in that they think it’s doing too little. But I would say that the majority of people probably would view the real discomfort in the country as the symbiotic relationship between government and corporations and how corrupt that relationship has become. So again, you have to think … but the two [parties] that get the attention, I don’t think they are in the majority, but they are expressing a pure form of that upset.

Sun: Do you think Occupy Wall Street has staying power? I mean, the Tea Party’s been around for a few years, it’s elected candidates.

J.S.: Yeah, I mean it’s hard to say — certainly their frustration has staying power. The idea that income inequality has gotten more obscene I think is a powerful feeling. I feel like they’ve already done kind of an interesting thing, which is that they’ve changed the conversation somewhat from austerity to income inequality, which I think is … good that it’s out there.

Sun: Who are you rooting for in the Republican primary?

J.S.: Donald Trump. Can’t believe he dropped out. Very upset.

Daily Bruin: What is it like going solo and not having your brothers around all the time?
Joe Jonas: It’s definitely different. There are times when I miss them a lot. I get to see them quite a bit but at the same time … there are occasions that I just wish I could get on stage and be with them and play songs we’ve written together these past few years. … It can also be a very lonely experience. When you’re on tour traveling, you don’t realize how fun it is to be with your brothers both onstage and hanging out. Because you go from the stage to the hotel, spend time at the hotel all day, and now on days off, you’re just by yourself. Luckily, this time I have my friends out on tour with me.

DB: Your brother Nick has also tested the waters of going solo. Has he given you any advice?
JJ: Yeah, he gave me really great advice. I remember going to write my record and he said, “Listen, I want you to be able to go and find the sound you want to go with.” A lot of times, it’s easy for other artists to pinpoint where they want to go musically … I just needed to find that time for myself and find that sound I wanted to go with. (My brothers) both said to have fun, so they let me take that path by myself and … have a good time with it.

DB: How would you exactly describe your sound?
JJ: I would say it’s dance, pop and electronic music with a little hip-hop and R&B undertone to things. I think that’s a lot to say that. Those genres are the inspirations that producers have been working on to help me cultivate that sound from my pop-rock standpoint, from where I was with my brothers. We also made it a little bit more mature musically and lyrically.

DB: What is it like writing music without your brothers?
JJ: It’s as if I were to write my journal and hand it over to you guys. It could be a scary situation and … I really wanted to do be able to do that and be honest in a way that people can really relate (to). I want the audience to go, “I’ve been there, I’ve been through that situation. I know what you’ve gone through,” and I’ve been able to do that. Luckily, I found a place in my heart and mind to be able to let go of those worries and write songs.

DB: What song would you say means to most to you?
JJ: “All This Time” and “I’m Sorry.” “All This Time” is this song that I took two approaches to. One approach is (that) it’s a message to somebody else, that you’ve waited all this time, and now it’s your time to shine. Another approach is looking outside the box. It’s a third person looking at (me) and … telling (me), “This is your time and this is what you’ve been waiting for. You can go out and do it.” So I’m kind of singing to the audience and singing to myself at the same time. “I’m Sorry” is a song I wrote about asking for forgiveness, which is a scary thing, too, to be able to go to somebody and say, “I messed up” and say, “Please forgive me.”

DB: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
JJ: I love Swedish House Mafia and DJs. I’m also a fan of Deadmau5 and, along with that, there are beautiful vocalists like Adele and, I think, even Kanye West. I’d want to work with people that others wouldn’t expect me to work with. I’m lucky to be able to work with a couple of artists that are really cool people. I’m excited for the world to see that they’re supporting me and to hear the songs.

DB: Is there a special meaning behind your album title, “FastLife”?
JJ: It was one of the first ideas for the album name. There’s a song I wrote, called “Fast Life,” and it’s about going out , having a good time and enjoying life to the fullest. That’s how I look at life all the time. You might have speed bumps along the way, but you are just able to continue and have a great time and realize that there are so many people out there – to have this opportunity … I’m lucky to be able to do this every day.

DB: What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started as an artist?
JJ: Probably that once you have success, don’t expect it to be there forever. Not that I’m saying like I feel like I’m starting over completely. I’m lucky to have lots of fans, and a lot of time, people assume that if I’m a superstar, I’ll be a superstar for life. It doesn’t work like that, and not every record is going to be as successful as the last one. My father always put us in a mindset of living like you’re at the bottom even if you’re at the top, and that goes with everything.

The Daily Illini: You had something along the lines of 68 odd jobs before you became a comedian and game show host. What was the oddest job out of all of them?

Ben Bailey: I don’t know exactly which one was the oddest, but there was a terrible one at a warehouse for this pharmaceutical company where I had to take these big boxes down off of shelves with a forklift, open them up, take out these syringes full of petroleum jelly, line them up 50 on a tray, put 100 trays on a rack, put eight of those racks in a big oven, sterilize them, take them out, put them all back in the same boxes, seal up the boxes and put them back up on the shelves. This all took place in a room with no windows for eight hours at a time. … That was one I walked out of in the middle of a shift, about four hours in on the tenth day.

DI: Do you find it easier performing in front of a smaller crowd, such as at a comedy club, or a large crowd, such as when you did Comedy Central Presents?

Bailey: It depends really … A crowd of five people is a lot harder than a crowd of a hundred people. But a crowd of a hundred people is easier than a crowd of 5,000 people, so, you know, it kind of varies. You can have a five-person crowd that’s awesome and you can do a show for a hundred and they just suck. There’s not really any rhyme or reason to it.

DI: Is there anything off limits when it comes doing a show for you?

BB: If I’m taping something for TV, like I just did my special on DVD, I want to keep it clean because I know there are kids who are “Cash Cab” fans and I want to make something they could watch also, but generally speaking, not really. The whole idea of stand-up is that you can say whatever you want. Some guys focus on that and make it their whole thing. I don’t really go for that. It’s kind of about writing for me. I like to do stuff that requires thought and writing the appreciation of it. You got to have a few fart jokes in your bag of tricks at some point, though.

DI: Do you have any favorite comedians that you idolize or model yourself after?

BB: I don’t have anyone I model myself after because after a certain point I stopped watching comedy because I wanted to be totally unique. I definitely have guys that I’m a fan of. As a kid I used to watch George Carlin specials at night.

He definitely influenced me … Rodney Dangerfield had a bunch of young comedian specials he did every year and I used to watch those.

DI: When you come to these college campuses, is there anything you like to do specifically and do they bring back some memories?

BB: It definitely brings back memories. There is a specific feel to a college campus that you don’t get anywhere else … It definitely brings back memories of being broke and not always having enough money to get drunk.

“Moneyball” tells the true story of Billy Beane (Pitt), an ex-baseball player who, while serving as General Manager for the Oakland Athletics in 2002, employed a different system of player selection that privileges new statistical metrics over received baseball wisdom. In his quest to identify undervalued players, Beane hires Peter Brand (Hill), an overweight Yale-educated economist who has extensively studied this particular field of sports-science. Together, the men compile a team that goes on to win a record 20 consecutive games and to craft a system of player evaluation that forever changes the game of baseball.

Though well-rounded, “Moneyball” would certainly be characterized as a drama—a genre relatively foreign to Hill. “There are funny moments in the movie, but they’re different types of comedy than what I’ve ever done,” he says. The actor is usually associated with the Apatow clan, a group of filmmakers responsible for more lowbrow comedies like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Superbad”—in which Hill made his debut as a leading actor—and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” Hill’s one-liners, both on screen and off, have made him the stuff of fan legend.

But some of Hill’s snarkier comments have recently come back to haunt him. With his participation in “Moneyball,” a fair amount of media attention has been brought to bear on a statement he made about co-star Pitt years ago, to the effect that wildly attractive actors like Pitt don’t need to try as hard to succeed in the world of motion pictures. Asked about these words now, Hill chalks them up to immaturity and inexperience.

“I [emerged] in the public eye at a very young age, so often I see my idiotic words from when I was 21 or 22 years old, and that’s a perfect example,” he says. “At that point in my life, there was no part of me that ever could have imagined co-starring with Brad Pitt. What I thought I knew about the world of filmmaking then turned out to be nothing and it still is, now, just a little sliver more.”

Blunders of youth are not the only thing keeping Hill humble at the moment. “Moneyball” represents a genre of film in which he has minimal experience, and though the actor stepped up to the plate and delivered a performance that film critics have lauded, Hill still finds himself unsettled by the uncertainty that comes with all new endeavors.

“I feel right now the way I felt when ‘Superbad’ was coming out, because I was an underdog. I was on a movie poster and I wasn’t famous; people didn’t know who I was,” he says. “Now it’s not unexpected for me to do a comedy [but] with this film I’m the underdog again because I’m unexpected and unlikely to be chosen to be in this movie with Brad and Philip Seymour Hoffman. So I’m the underdog again, I’m saying ‘Hey I’m Jonah, I hope you accept me.’”

Part of Hill’s amiable charm is his unassuming optimism. He doesn’t know exactly what’s going to happen next in his career, or what people are going to think of him in this new dramatic guise, but for the time being there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.

“Anything you want someone to see you as is a projection, and it’s false because you’re designing something … instead of just existing,” he explains. “I just want to make cool stuff. I want to make cool movies, whether a comedy or drama or anything. I just hope to be allowed the opportunity to do what I’m doing now, which is make comedies and dramas, [to] do both and have people not hate them.”

Jonah Hill is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents. He is famous for his comical personality and riotous roles, including his character Seth in the acclaimed hit “Superbad.”

But this year the 27-year-old actor steps into a different light of the movie industry, co-starring with Brad Pitt in “Moneyball,” the upcoming sport drama based on the true story of Paul DePodesta.

Hill plays the character Peter Brand, a Yale economics major hired by Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) to help rebuild the small-market baseball team, the Oakland Athletics.

Beane, the general manager of the team and a would-be baseball superstar, has the task of replacing the star players they lost to big-market teams for higher salaries.

With Beane’s competitive drive plus Brand’s knowledge and passion for statistics, the duo put together a team of baseball players overlooked by everyone else in the sports league.

Beane and Brand’s decision to put together a team based on re-examination and statistical analysis leaves almost everyone but themselves questioning their stance on the game of baseball.

Hill’s character in “Moneyball” is one of his two more dramatic and serious roles, including “Cyrus” where he gets the chance to break the “funny guy” typecast.

When Hill was cast for the film, he explained that a lot of sports writers thought his involvement with the character, re-named Peter Brand, was a disgrace: Hill looks nothing like, nor acts like, the real life Paul DePodesta.

“Through this experience, I think that sports writers tend to be a lot more harsh than film critics because they are so passionate about what they’re talking about,” Hill said.

After seeing the film, many of those sports writers have expressed to Hill that they really enjoyed everything, especially the way in which he portrayed the character.

Hill said it feels amazing to shift someone’s expectations of what they thought they were going to see.

The expectations that Hill will constantly be making the audience members laugh is still there.

However, moviegoers can continue to be impressed with the simple way in which the polite Peter Brand still manages to contribute some comic relief in “Moneyball.”

“I am intentionally doing movies that are diversifying who I am,” Hill said. “I think it is easy to put someone in a box and label them as something.”

Hill said he was excited about his opportunities and the chance to shed light on his ability to be a well-rounded, diversified actor.

“My first big introduction into the world was “Superbad,” and it really made a big splash when it came out, so since then I have been regarded as that character,” Hill said. “But that’s not who I am.”

Hill has grown up in front of the world, but has hopes that everyone will accept his desire and action to do both drama and comedy, he said.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an actor to star alongside Brad Pitt,” Hill said. “The whole thing has and does still feel like a dream.”

Hill said he is humbled by the whole experience.

On paper, the idea of “Moneyball” is “baseball statistics,” but it is actually “exciting, remarkable, moving, intense, sad, funny, honest and dark all at the same time,” Hill said.

“The filmmakers used baseball as a beautiful aesthetic backdrop to tell a really moving story about underdogs and value, and more specifically being undervalued,” Hill said.

“Moneyball” hits theaters Sept. 23.

QUESTION: Could you describe how this idea was conceived and written?

NICK SWARDSON: Adam Sandler thought of the idea. He’d been kicking it around for a year or so and one day he called me up and said, “Look, I can’t get this idea out of my head about this kid who finds his parents in a porno. Instead of being horrified, he decides that’s his calling.” Adam and I and our friend, Allen Covert, wrote the script and we didn’t want to make it just filthy. It’s actually a really sweet story about this kid trying to find his place.

Q: What’s it like working with Adam Sandler?

NS: I’ve worked with Adam for eight years and it’s great. Sandler is really creative, he works really hard; it’s not like a super party atmosphere where we’re high all day and doing beer bongs and cannonballs into a pool. Now, I’m a workaholic in the sense that I’m always multitasking and always thinking of as many projects as I can. Adam’s always thinking of fresh ideas and stuff people haven’t seen before.

Q: How did you research your role as a budding porn star?

NS: Obviously, I’ve watched 100,000 hours of pornography. It wasn’t like I had to crack open a safe of knowledge I didn’t already have. My character was way more naive and clueless.

Q: Do you have anything in common with Bucky?

NS: Not really. My teeth aren’t that big, my hair is short, my penis is huge and I don’t own a sweater vest.

Q: This was one of your first roles as the central character. Was there any added pressure?

NS: Yeah, there was a lot of pressure. Adam handed this movie off to me [because] he couldn’t be there every day. It was definitely nerve-wracking throughout the process: editing, promotions, marketing … even now! But I’m proud of the final product.

Q: Were there any scenes that were the most fun to film?

NS: My stuff with Kevin Nealon — he plays my roommate. Those scenes are really funny because he [plays a] really abusive character and my character is so innocent. It was this extreme juxtaposition of different temperaments and sensibilities.

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of this film?

NS: There were emotional moments in the movie. One of the hardest things for me was to try to stay in the moment, knowing that I looked so ridiculous. There were scenes with Christina Ricci where I would cry!

Q: Were there any scenes that were particularly awkward?

NS: Nothing was awkward. I’m completely fearless. Nothing intimidates me, nothing scares me. In “[I Now Pronounce You,] Chuck and Larry” (2007), I married Ving Rhames! Comedy is about commitment. I wanted to put everything I had into this movie, so I went in with no fear.

Q: For the record, who’s your favorite porn star?

NS: Male or female? Jenna Jameson’s probably my favorite female. Ron Jeremy’s my favorite male because he’s almost Bucky-esque in the sense that he does not look like a porn star. He looks like a guy who works at a gas station, and he had great chest hair.

Q: If you were really a porn star, would you have called yourself “Bucky Larson?” Do you think this movie will affect your love life?

NS: It’s going to be huge for my love life, no pun intended. Bucky’s penis is probably half of a Skittle, [whereas] mine’s at least five Skittles. And, no, I would not choose “Bucky Larson.” I would choose “Meryl Streak.”

Q: If there were one thing you could say to convince people to see this movie, what would it be?

NS: It’s unlike anything you’re going to see. It’s the same people who created “Grandma’s Boy” (2006). It’s funny, it’s different and it’s the weirdest assortment of comedy you’ll ever see in your life.

Q: Is this movie a message to guys: Size really doesn’t matter?

NS: Yeah. If you have a violently small penis and you see this movie, you will feel better about yourself. Even if you have a medium-to-small penis, you’ll feel like a stud. If you have a huge penis, you’ll feel like an alien because your penis is so gigantic.

“30 Minutes or Less” reunites Eisenberg with director Ruben Fleischer. The two worked together on 2009’s “Zombieland,” which Eisenberg followed up with an Oscar-nominated performance in “The Social Network.”
The Daily Texan participated in a roundtable interview with Eisenberg just before he handed out slices of pizza at Austin’s Home Slice on July 11 to promote “30 Minutes or Less.”

The Daily Texan: What is it like playing someone who is constantly panicked?
Jesse Einsenberg: It’s a strange balance between the dramatic situation that my character is in versus the movie as a whole, which plays comedically and lighthearted. Ruben, the director of this movie, asked me to just play the scenes as realistically as possible and keep in mind I’m in a comedy, so if something funny occurs to me, I can say it. I was lucky to be surrounded by the funniest people in the world, who kind of took the burden of making the movie funny off me a little bit so I’m able to maintain the dramatic situation with my character.

DT: Tell me about the development of the dynamic between you and Aziz Ansari.
JE: Aziz was cast before me. When I auditioned, it was with him, so I had to kind of adjust myself to his pace. He’s very quick and uses a lot of random cultural references. I like improvisation, but I’m not as up-to-date. He called me Wayne Brady in my audition, and I didn’t know who that was. I had to do a lot of crossword puzzles to get up to speed before we shot the movie. But it took the burden off my shoulders. I was worried about having to be funny in what would be a very dramatic situation, so I felt unburdened by him because he’s so naturally funny, even when he’s not trying to be funny. He’s just got a funny way about him and naturally funny speech patterns, so it felt more comfortable than it would have if I was with somebody who was playing it more dramatically.

DT: What drew you to this project?
JE: I loved the script when I read it. It’s rare to find a script that’s genuinely funny and has a character that is credible. In most movies, especially most comedies, the characters change based on the whims of the plot. This character was really driving the plot. In the first part of the movie, he’s kind of living a mundane life and he’s kind of a depressive and he doesn’t engage, but when he gets this bomb strapped to him it forces him to re-evaluate his life and to grow up a little bit. It’s very character-driven even though the framing of the movie is funny.

DT: Did you do any of the driving yourself?
JE: I ended up doing a lot of the driving because the director wanted to shoot this movie without a lot of computer-generated driving effects. Most chase scenes now, with the technology available, would be done without the actors really there, but he wanted to do this kind of classic style that would mirror the movies that these guys liked — “Point Break,” “Lethal Weapon,” even “Heat.” To shoot it in the way that they would have shot it, which means putting the actors in the car and putting stunt drivers in 20 cars surrounding the actors and having a single camera just drive next to that scene and shoot it practically.

DT: What was your favorite scene to shoot?
JE: The bank robbery scene in the movie was really challenging but also our favorite. It was logistically challenging because so many things go wrong. The idea is that these regular guys, this elementary school teacher and this pizza guy, have to rob a bank and in their heads, they think they’re Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, but in their bodies, they’re me and Aziz. There’s this great disconnect between what they think they’re doing and what’s actually happening, so they end up kind of looking ridiculous. It was a challenge to shoot because there were so many things to account for, but it was so fun because we were gearing up for it, as actors and as characters. We shot it toward the end of the schedule, and we were anticipating it so much, it was a release to be able to do it.

DT: Can you tell me about your role in the next Woody Allen film, “The Bop Decameron?”
JE: I’m not sure if I can say anything, but I know he’s in it. But I have no idea who he’s playing, because they only send me my scenes. I’m very curious to see, because I think he’s the greatest actor. I love watching him in movies, and I think people underestimate his acting skill because they think he’s playing himself, but if you’re on a set and realize what it’s like to do it realistically, it takes a lot more than just being himself. I love his acting, and I hope we’re in a scene together.

“30 Minutes or Less” opens tomorrow.

“Cars 2″ features star race car Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and his best friend Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) as they head overseas for the first-ever World Grand Prix, a race to determine the world’s fastest car.

When Mater is mistakenly caught up in a case of international espionage, he finds himself torn between helping Lightning McQueen and assisting in a top-secret mission orchestrated by British super spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer).

Giving the “Cars” international flavor by visiting London, Tokyo and Paris was a nice change for the franchise, Wilson said in a press conference earlier this month.

“It felt like with this movie that it was sort of just this exciting new adventure that they’re kind of going with … the World Grand Prix and that the friendship between them became sort of a funny story element and has a sweetness to it,” he said. “But then also just kind of the hilarity of seeing Mater, such a kind of fish out of water in this sort of spy, intrigue and stuff, I think is very appealing.”

The film primarily focuses on Mater, Lightning McQueen’s trusty, rusty tow truck friend.

Being the focus of “Cars 2″ was a surprise for the man behind the character’s voice, Larry the Cable Guy, whose real name is Daniel Lawrence Whitney.

“There’s a lot of stuff on Mater in there, so I never really thought that when the movie was going to come out that it was basically, boom: a big, long tall tale,” Whitney said. “This is a Mater deal.”

When Mater realizes in the film that others perceive him as simple and dumb, he questions whether he really is. However, it’s Mater’s amicable nature that makes the character likable, Whitney said.

“The cool thing I like about Mater is Mater’s Mater,” he said. “He likes people for what they are. He doesn’t judge anybody by how they look or anything like that. He’s just – he’s an easygoing guy and he’s a friendly guy and he just wants to be friends with everybody and so that’s why I like Mater.”

Also lending his voice to “Cars 2″ is acclaimed British actor Michael Caine, who has appeared in Christopher Nolan’s two Batman films as well as other British spy films.

Despite playing spies before, Caine said he’s never played one quite like this — a shiny blue Aston Martin.

“I have honestly never played a car before,” he said. “I drove some cars in ‘The Italian Job,’ which was a thing about mini cars, but I’ve never been a car. This is a brand new experience to me, and one of the reasons I did it (is) because I (have) been in the business a long time and it’s very difficult to get a brand new experience.”

Still, Caine said voice work was not totally unexplored territory for him and his iconic voice.

“I’ve done radio plays for BBC when I was young,” he said. “So I was absolutely used to that style of work and working with the voice and I have a very distinctive voice and so, it’s always great for me.”

Recently, “Cars 2″ has taken heat from conservative groups for the film’s portrayal of big oil companies. The conservative blog The Lonely Conservative said in a June 20 post that “movie directors and producers are coming out and admitting” that “the Hollywood industry is trying to indoctrinate our children with left wing propaganda.”

Director John Lasseter, who is also chief creative officer at both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, said the film isn’t trying to be political.

“It’s not really like a political view, it’s more like who is a good bad guy, a big bad guy in the car world, and we thought it was this interesting thing that’s been going on of like alternative fuels and big oil and all that kind of back and forth that’s going on,” he said. “I’m just trying to make an entertaining film. I’m not trying to say anything political.”

Regardless of its political detractors and even its critical detractors — “Cars 2″ has a 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes as of Wednesday evening, far and away the lowest score for any Pixar flick to date — the film is poised to be a financial success.

The first “Cars” film made more than $490 million in worldwide box office, according to boxofficemojo.com. Merchandise based on the film has also raked in an estimated $5 billion, according to a 2009 report in The New York Times.

However, Wilson said kids still don’t recognize him as Lightning McQueen.

“I have parents that (say), ‘This is Lightning McQueen,’ and the kid just sort of stares there at me blankly,” he said.

Stone and Parker, the co-creators of Comedy Central’s hit show “South Park,” are bringing their first play, “The Book of Mormon,” to Broadway.

The show is a satire about two Mormon boys from Salt Lake City, who are sent out of their element to a war zone in Uganda as missionaries. The show opens Thursday on Broadway.

After 14 seasons of “South Park,” and several other feature films, the decision to put together a Broadway play was an easy one for Parker, who wrote the music, lyrics and book, along with Stone and Robert Lopez.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid, and a big Broadway musical was something probably even before movies and television that I really wanted to do,” Parker said in a conference call with Stone.

Writing a Broadway play, however, was not as simple as writing an episode of “South Park.”

An episode of “South Park” generally takes about a week to complete, whereas “The Book of Mormon” took Parker and Stone seven years to fully realize.

“A musical … takes a little more planning and a little deeper into the storytelling than an episode of ‘South Park,’” Stone said. “That’s why we can do an episode of ‘South Park’ in a week, probably because we have the characters or most of them unless they’re new that week, and it’s only 22 minutes.”

Over the seven years of production, Parker and Stone went to write the music for the show first, before penning the rest. The pair’s research for the show ranged from browsing Wikipedia to taking numerous trips to Salt Lake City.

“We would go to these restaurants in downtown Salt Lake City and ask waiters if they knew anybody, and a lot of them were post-collegiate, kind of like 25- to 30-year-old guys, and we would ask them if they’d been on a mission and almost every single one of them had,” Stone said. “And it was interesting. We met a dozen or so people who had been on a mission.”

Though Parker and Stone met each other while attending the University of Colorado, about nine hours from the Mormon hub of Salt Lake City in bordering Utah, they didn’t go into “The Book of Mormon” looking to portray any specific sort of message about Mormons.

While their work often provides satirical looks into various topics, Parker and Stone said they’re careful not to speak through their characters, especially in “The Book of Mormon.”

“I think the stuff that Trey and I like the best is when the characters speak for themselves. I think some of the episodes of ‘South Park’ we’ve obviously gone a little more in the other way, but again, our favorite ones are when the story is true to itself and you can’t quite figure that out,” Stone said. “I think (with) ‘The Book of Mormon,’ we’ve tried to do something that’s much more the characters speaking for the characters and the lines ring true to that.”

Much like “South Park,” “The Book of Mormon” will present material that might be questionable for young audiences.

Because some have described the show as offensive and shocking, Parker and Stone are following the same formula for parents thinking about bringing kids to the show as they do for “South Park.”

“We’re pretty much able to say, if you can sit down and watch any episode of ‘South Park’ with your kids, then it’s probably OK to bring this to them, too,” Parker said.

The show has been garnering favorable reviews from the press. Michael Riedel of The New York Post said the show is “hilarious, audacious — and guaranteed to offend just about everybody,” and Adam Green of Vogue said it’s “quite possibly the funniest musical ever.”

The Mormon church — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — has not been so kind to the musical.

The church issued a statement on its website Feb. 7, saying, “The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people’s lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ.”

However, Stone said he’s received good feedback from Mormons who have seen the show in previews.

“I talked to a couple Mormons (who went) to one of the first preview nights and they really liked it,” he said. “I’m sure if you’re a devout Mormon, you probably won’t like this show, but then again, not many devout Mormons are going to come.”

Now, with seven years of work finally about to pay off with the musical’s Thursday night opening, Parker and Stone have made plans for what’s next.

“Go on vacation for two weeks, and then go back to ‘South Park,’” Parker said.

He dissects historical examples of “g-rogue,” a term a friend coined, from Jack Sparrow of “Pirates of the Caribbean” to Lord Byron, noting their mix of stealth and suaveness. Metzger could very well have included himself, considering how he has smoothly continued to include writing in his life.

Although he received a marketing degree from the McCombs School of Business, writing has always interested him, and eventually he decided to minor in English. After taking a job in phone sales at a major corporation after college, he found himself in a warped “Office Space” nightmare and decided to pursue a career with a small business.

However, as he strode into the interview room of an Austin-area spa with absolutely no understanding of the mechanics of spa treatment, his knowledge of literature and writing came in handy.

“I noticed my interviewer had a British accent,” Metzger said. “I asked her where she was from. She said the U.K., and I asked what part. She answers, ‘Swansea,’ and I go, ‘Where Dylan Thomas is from?’ And she gets all excited, and I begin to recite Dylan Thomas’ ‘Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night.’ I was then offered the position, even though I was grossly unqualified.”

Now he works with a student housing real estate company but regularly keeps a block of time on Saturdays just to write whatever inspires him. Three years ago, that inspiration came as he was flipping through a book at a friend’s house on how to be a gentleman.

He felt that the book was too serious and decided to write his own handbook. Instead of the serious tone, he would inject some playfulness, and instead of simply the gentleman, he would describe the gentleman rogue, an archetype made distinctive in the intrigue he possesses and that had interested him for years in books and movies.

Although he has written two manuscripts before, “The Rogue’s Handbook” is his first to be published by a major publishing house, Sourcebooks. It has been a long process of editing, revising and publicizing. The experience also showed him how much growth he has made as a writer since his time as a UT student.

When Sourcebooks returned his manuscript to him with formatting revisions, Metzger was more than willing to make the changes; a stark contrast from his 19-year-old self. During his sophomore year at UT, he and a friend sent an article to then-fledgling Maxim magazine. Maxim wanted to publish it but with some slight changes.

“To me, they wanted to dumb it down and distill it down to a textbox or a text,” Metzger said. “Back then, my artistic integrity could not be compromised. I was just arrogant. I thought they would back down. Then they said they wouldn’t publish it. Years later, I’m older and wiser, and Sourcebooks said they wanted to make formatting changes, which I found to be constructive and I made. I had this thought bubble of myself at 19 saying, ‘Absolutely not! I will not change a word.’”

Now, after that exhausting three-year process, “The Rogue’s Handbook” has finally been released. Already, Metzger is working on a manuscript of a novel that he first started as a student that includes Cuba, prostitution and culture shock. It is an ambitious work, but given the “g-rogue”-like skill Metzger has shown in continuing his writing career, he should have no problem finishing it.

Reidy is a 1992 graduate of Notre Dame with a degree in English. After serving in the United States Army (he was in ROTC at Notre Dame), he took up employment as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Pfizer, a job he quickly learned to manipulate. Reidy managed to only work 15 hours per week but also become the No. 1 sales representative in the country, peddling drugs of all kind, most notably the 1990s wonder drug, Viagra.

Reidy was “always interested in writing,” and it was selling Viagra that gave him an initiative to start. In 2005, “Hard Sell” was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Reidy snagged the book deal without an agent.

The Observer interviewed Reidy about the “Evolution” of his life from a salesman to a screenwriter.

What made you decide to write “Hard Sell?”

One of my classmates said to me one time, “When are you going to stop talking about [writing] and actually do it?” That was a great question for me, kind of a kick in the pants.

As far as “Hard Sell” goes, when I was working for Pfizer I was working 15 hours a week, but I had this whole elaborate system for making it look like I was working when I wasn’t working. I thought, “I have a lot of funny stories, but you can only write about sleeping late and quitting early so much.” Then, I got promoted to sell Viagra, and Viagra became a pop culture phenomenon — I knew that was my hook. Drug rep: okay good story, but it’s selling the one drug. That was the hook.

Once you got “Hard Sell” published in 2005, you were fired from pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, where you sold chemotherapy. Do you at all miss your days as a pharmaceutical rep?

I miss people. Being a writer is a pretty lonely occupation. I don’t miss the day-to-day BS of a corporate job, but I do miss establishing relationships with doctors and nurses.

And certainly, I miss selling the chemotherapy for Eli Lilly. I really believed in our drugs and helping patients. A woman from Maui, a breast cancer survivor, once hugged me as if I had invented the drug. That was really rewarding.

Whose idea was it to adapt the book into a movie? How did Fox 2000 Pictures end up with the rights to the book?

I always thought it was a no-brainer, in terms of turning it into a movie. Just add a love story, and boom it’s a romantic comedy: guy selling Viagra, falls in love.

I got in touch with Malcolm Gladwell, the guy who wrote “Blink.” He spoke at the last Eli Lilly cancer meeting that I went to. He told some stories that he had written for “The New Yorker” about the prescription drug crisis. I contacted him afterwards and told him I had a book coming out in a couple of months and wanted to see if he’d be interested in doing a review on it for “The New Yorker.” Of course, I look back now and think, “As if, no way.” I couldn’t even believe he answered my e-mail. My publisher sent him one of the galleys and we never heard from him. I thought, “Oh my God, my book is so bad, this poor guy doesn’t even want to e-mail me.”

I stalked him again. I said, “Hey, my book came out, I got fired, I was on TV a couple times, blah blah blah,” and he said, “Yeah I noticed that, I hope everything worked out.” Then he asked if I had sold the movie rights. I said, “Not yet, here’s my agent,” and he said, “Okay, I know somebody who might be interested.”

So, a couple weeks later my agent got a call from the manager for Charles Randolph. He was hot in 2005, for writing the script for the movie “The Interpreter.” It was the film that reminded Hollywood that adults would go see a movie.

I got on the phone with Charles and he said, “You know why we’re talking right?” I said, “Because you read my book?” He said, “No, Malcolm Gladwell.” I couldn’t even believe it: Stalking totally paid.

So he bought the book. Once Charles got on board the project launched. Universal [Pictures] and Fox 2000 actually ended up in a bidding war, two words you definitely want to hear sometime in your career. Universal won, but two years ago they decided adults weren’t seeing movies anymore. They put it on what’s called “turn-around,” meaning it was open for some other studio to come in and buy it. That’s how Fox got it.

Did you have a role in the filmmaking process, or did you simply hand over the rights to the book?

Certainly when you sign your rights away, it’s just gone. But I worked pretty closely with Charles, probably spent about 20 hours together, either at lunches or over the phone. I was telling him stories that were in the book, and actually I remembered stories I forgot to put in the book — really just explaining the whole life of a drug rep. There’s a lot of stuff in the movie that’s completely true. If it didn’t happen to me, it happened to people I know. He really did a nice job keeping it as real as possible.

And when they were shooting, I was on set for five days, which was amazing.

Do you think the fact that the film has become largely a love story detracts from its ability to portray the life of a pharmaceutical salesman?

I don’t think it detracts at all. In his character’s arc, he becomes a better person over the course of the movie thanks to the love story. He comes to a big realization about what he’s doing in life, which is pretty cool and really fits well at the end. If the movie is as big as we’re hoping it is, it will certainly shine a light on the industry.

Were you happy with the choice of Jake Gyllenhaal to play you in “Love and Other Drugs?”

I don’t know if you’ve seen a picture of me but I’m thrilled, believe me. When I was still for sale after I first made the deal, they could have had RuPaul play me and I wouldn’t have cared. But my friends were really concerned that my large ego was going to grow even further. The girl I took to the prom e-mailed me to let me know Danny DeVito was available to play me. That was a little rough.

When Jake was chosen, classmates of mine from Keenan Hall — I used to live in Keenan — e-mailed me to ask if Jake had to shave his head to play me. And I said, “You guys are such jerks, you know that I had hair when I was 27.” Love those Domer friends.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the way “Hard Sell” was adapted?

My favorite part is the fact that in 50 years people might think that I actually slept with Anne Hathaway.

And least favorite, I don’t think — I like everything. And I also don’t want to get in trouble with Fox. I’m trying to make it as a screenwriter now. The whole process was so amazing. On set, I actually got to correct a couple things, make them more realistic in terms of what drug reps really do. They really embraced me.

At the premiere a couple of weeks ago, I felt like the belle of the ball. Everyone was congratulating me, and the director said to my girlfriend, “Aren’t you proud of this guy?” I don’t have a love interest in my book, so I don’t know how they could have made it any better. I’m really proud.

Do you have any other projects you’re currently working on?

The banter between my dad and I in the book got a really good response, so I’m trying to start a collection of humorous essays about my dad and me.

Do you have any advice for Notre Dame students looking to get into the entertainment industry?

You have to write everyday. Whether it’s good enough isn’t nearly as important as honing your craft and writing, writing, writing. My mom said that to me back when I was talking about being a writer. She said, “You know what? I think writers, they write,” which is absolutely true. That is how you get better, doing it everyday. It’s a lot easier to get on a roll when you just start writing.

And the second thing, you have to have an outline. You can’t just write your novel or your screenplay and wing it. I don’t do anything without a really detailed outline now. It really annoys me that I have to admit that because I used to think differently. I’d wake up in the morning sit down at my desk and be like, “What the hell is this? What was I thinking last night?” The outline is key for me now.

I’m here to interview “Chuck” star Zachary Levi and actress / former teen pop sensation Mandy Moore about their parts in the new Disney film, “Tangled,” but with my recorder prepped and my questions written, all I can concentrate on is who ordered the untouched green salad sitting primly on the room service cart.

Suddenly, there is shifting in the room to my left. The voices get louder and thank-you-goodbyes are exchanged. An older man, presumably a reviewer for a paper more important than the one I represent, emerges from the room, notepad in hand. He looks at me and says, “You’ll like them. They’re very friendly.”

I nod, smile and wait for the other reporters to be ushered in before I follow. I’ve got a seasonal sore throat and I’m worried the actors might want to shake my hand. God forbid I be the one to give Mandy Moore, my childhood idol, a cold.

My fear is squashed when Levi introduces himself by offering a fist bump and an explanation that he’s sick. I take silent, personal delight that we are simultaneously ill and offer my knuckles. Ditto to Moore.

Levi is unexpectedly charming and charismatic while Moore, with a genuine grin permanently affixed to her blushed face, is a living embodiment of sunshine — the ideal Disney princess.

The Daily Aztec: Is “Tangled” a story that will appeal to both boys and girls?

Zachary Levi: Absolutely. I think that is one of the things Disney set out to accomplish. They’ve had a lot of success in the “princess” world and a lot of those movies appeal to boys as well. I mean, I was a little boy and I watched all of them, I don’t know what that means. They wanted a movie that was equilateral. Yes, you have this princess character, but it’s a fresh take on it. It’s an adventure movie at heart.

DA: What lessons do you think college students could learn from “Tangled”?

Mandy Moore: I like the idea of never questioning that little voice inside of you and not letting fear win at the end of the day. Her entire life, Rapunzel’s been told it’s her 70 feet of hair that makes her special when clearly, it was something within her that was special.

DA : I’m sure both of you are Disney fans —

ZL: Dis-nerd.

DA : Right … What’s it like to be a part of the Disney legacy?

ZL: Mind-melting. We’ve talked about this at length, (motions to Moore) it’s growing up watching the films. Not just the ones that are considered our generation, starting with “The Little Mermaid.” We’re the 50th animated feature, which is unbelievable.

MM: It’s so above and beyond that we’re a part of it with this movie because you know, those movies, and “The Little Mermaid” and so on, were such huge parts of our childhood. They’re so ingrained in my memory, like singing every single word of “Beauty and the Beast.” And now, this movie could potentially mean to kids nowadays what those movies meant to us. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.

DA : When you were little did you want to be Ariel?

MM: I did, I did.

ZL: So did I, sister.

DA : I’d say you’re more like Aladdin.

ZL: I love Aladdin … For little boys, that was more the movie because he was a guy. There was also so much adventure going on. And the genie was so good — Robin Williams as the genie was maybe one of the most perfect Disney roles ever. And Abu is great, and the carpet is great and Iago is great … definitely it was more male-driven. And Jasmine was hot.

DA : Did you guys record dialogue together?

ZL: We didn’t record dialogue together once.

MM: We only met when we did the duet. Doing all the press, all of this, is the first time we —

ZL: The first time we’ve hung together.

DA : Is that difficult, when you’re imagining someone’s reactions?

MM: Yeah. I mean, I guess you get used to it as well. It allows you, or forces you to dig deep into your imagination and give every different variation on a line you can give. And at least the directors were there — they were with Zach and they were with Donna (Murphy) for her sessions, so they know what they need to get from me to match what they love and they’ve already gotten from Zach. You have to just get in there and throw caution to the wind and have fun.

DA : In your opinion, is any one type of character more fun to play or easier to play than others?

MM: It’s always fun to play the villain.

ZL: Yeah, it’s fun to play the villain. I think in society, people are called upon to be nice people — as they should be. I think it’s good to have standards, for people to treat other people with kindness and respect … (but) you don’t really have that outlet for those other parts that might be inside of you that are just dying to yell at somebody. I don’t know if it’s a matter of exorcising your demons, but when you get to be a bad guy, you get to. And there’s no recourse — you’re actually being paid to do that.

MM: It’s very cathartic.

“Tangled” hits theaters Wednesday. For more information, check out its website at disney.go.com.

Excerpts:

Q: What are your roles at EA Games and in the Sims franchise?

Azure Bowie: I’m the assistant project manager for the Sims 3 Console and I’ve been with EA for about four years now. I started as a college intern and then I transferred over to work full-time for the Sims team. I’ve worked on projects such as the Sims 2 Expansions, the original My Sims games, all the way up to the Sims 3 games and some of those expansion packs too. My most reject project is working with the console.

George Pigula: I’m an assistant producer within the Sims. Lately I’ve been working on the console — Xbox and PS3 — mainly the online features but other areas of the games as well. I’ve been with EA for about seven years. I started working summers in my college career and came here afterwards.

Q: What drew you specifically to the Sims franchise when you started out as producer and marketing manager?

AB: I remember I was talking to the dean at my school and I was having a hard time finding internships that I was really excited about. She gave me the best advice, which was to look at my hobbies and start applying to those companies. I’ve played the Sims since I was in middle school. It had never really entered my mind to go into the video game industry, but I wrote a letter and did some interviews, and I’ve really loved it ever since.

GP: For me, I started out just working a summer job in order to just pay for school. I was actually planning to go into business management elsewhere, but after working at EA and experiencing other corporate culture outside of EA, I found out that I much preferred the culture here. I’ve always had great passion for games of all types, and toward the end of my college career, an opportunity came up in the Sims, and it was the opposite of the current games I was working on, so I really jumped at the chance to go and experience a new type of game. I’d played the Sims before, but I knew they had a really great fan base, and I was excited to go on a project that already had a fan base like that.

Q: What effects do you think consoles will have for the game?

AB: When we were creating the console game, we were really excited to have the chance to put the Sims 3 on to the HD console because for the first time, we could actually take the game that people have been loving and put it on the HD console, so when you play it, it is the Sims 3. In addition to that, we also wanted to add some features that we thought console players specifically would really enjoy. Sometimes, they want to get to the good stuff quicker and jump into the game quickly and accomplish something, so we gave them some systems that enabled them to do that. Karma powers, for instance: you can mess with your Sims in a way that you’ve never been able to before. You can inflict a fire storm on your Sims or you can even bless them with the best day ever. So those kinds of things where console players can directly impact the lives of their Sims that we’ve added to the console game.

Q: Was the wait to move everything to the consoles now because you wanted the HD?

GP: This is the first console generation where the consoles themselves are really beefed up and powerful enough to handle a game like the Sims. There are also a lot of people who want to play the Sims who don’t own a PC or really game on them. We wanted to make sure that fans who moved off and only have these consoles still get a chance to experience the great game we made.

Q: What do you think makes the game so addictive?

AB: I’ve been playing the Sims since I was in middle school and I just never stopped. Even though I work on the projects now, I still play when I go home. I’m very much addicted to the Sims. What keeps me coming back is that I can play and still be surprised by the game. I can pop the game into my 360 right now and can play it in a completely different way than I’ve been able to before. And it really is about your creativity and the stories you want to tell.

GP: There’s just a lot of different ways for people to play. I could sit down next to Azure and play, and I guarantee we would probably play completely different than each other, and we’d still have a great experience. The Sims is an awesome game because it lends itself to so many different kinds of playing. Some people love to go in and built or create outfits and Sims. They get a kick out of creating their favorite movie stars and singers. And there are people who go in and want to tell a great story. I play different than a lot of people because I always play one or two Sims, and I like to skill up, and I ran into a coworker who plays 6 Sims at a time, which I thought was mindboggling. It’s games like that appeal to so many people and make it so addicting.

Q: What’s the story behind Simlish, the language used by the Sims?

AB: Simlish is one of my favorite stories to talk about because it’s so interesting. When the creators of the very first Sims game was trying to figure out what language the Sims should speak, they looked at a bunch of different things including Navajo and other obscure languages because they wanted it to be something that the players could create their own stories and the game wasn’t telling you specifically what your Sims were saying, that you could create that kind of background story in your own mind. Because of that, they kind of landed on, “Well, let’s create our own language because that way no one can really research back and find out exactly what the Sims are saying. The fun thing about Simlish is that it’s really organic, and they use the same words to say certain things over and over, and the community has kind of put meanings on some of these words. It kind of grows on its own. And there are actually voice actors who come in and do all of the voices for the Sims.

Q: What have you learned over time in dealing with this franchise? How have you tried to keep that up?

GP: Because of the fans, we can’t do enough. Our fans want so much, and we listen to them. People want to tell so many stories with the Sims. We listen to all of those ideas and we try to get them out as fast as we can, but at the same time, we want to make quality products for the fans so they stay with us.

The Daily Texan: I grew up listening to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, so how does it feel being n the scene since 1991? How has the dynamic of Bone Thugs changed?

Flesh-n-Bone: Well, you know the dynamics of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony from 1991 to now, it’s a major thing because we are legends, I feel. We are legend in our own right and we’ve been through all types of situations, all types of battles and weathered so many storms. Bones has proved to be so resilient and diligent in so many different aspects in how we are able to come hard, fall back and then come hard again.

DT: How has your record company Flesh-n-Bone benefited the group?

FB: Having your own record label … I can pretty much be the kind of artist that I want to be without people telling me how I need to tailor my music to appease this crowd or that crowd. I can make music the way I please without having a whole bunch of record labels trying to out shine me with respects to how I should create my music.

DT: How has the current music industry and certain techniques like auto-tune affected the melodic hip hop that Bone Thugs creates

FB: The only auto-tune that might have been on the record is one of the backup singers that we had brought in to sing. Other than that, Bone Thugs has always been against auto-tune because as singers we harmonize. What you are hearing are our vocals is straight raw talent … We’ve never had to go in and tweak our voice to make it sounds better, we use our straight, raw elements … and create the Bone element.

DT: How was it being reunited with your group after eight years in prison?

FB: It was an amazing blessing. It was an amazing experience because coming home to that type of love; you know, you really don’t can’t expect to have that type of situation coming from where I came form. The penal system and all of the correctional systems or whatever out here in LA county is known for having the most notorious prison systems in the nation, so I survived that. I made it through that and to come home. Not everybody that come out of the system that’s designed to be just tough in every word … has family and not to mention a career and other situations way before they come home. Me, I had all of that stuff. God is so merciful and I’ve been working the same day I was released form prison, I went to work. I was picked up on a tour bus by the Bones … We are getting ready to do the tour and that’s once again Bone Thugs-n-Harmony coming back to show some type of growth and maturity with what we do and show the careers we have right now … We are trying to move forward, you know, as business men with all do respect.

DT: A lot of your music is obviously very melodic and reflective and some of it is even inspirational — do you ever feel pressured to be harder or tougher than you are in your music?

FB: Yes. The urge will always compel me to do positive, innovative stuff. So let me tell you something, you are always compelled to hardcore stuff that’s going to come out, no matter how you look at it and then nine times out of ten, that be the most inspirational stuff because it’s the human experience that counts. As artists, you should be able to express these the human experiences. As an artist I do feel that all artists are dully bound to try to make this music essentially positive in a sense, positive and inspirational in a sense … music has to be meaningful.

DT: How was it collaborating with Notorious B.I.G. on the song “Notorious Thugs?”

FB: Oh my goodness, those dudes when I met him, he and Puff Daddy was here in Los Angeles and it was an amazing experience. I remember that studio session like it was yesterday. Biggie for the most part was real quite and shy for some reason, I think it might have been all the smoke [laughs] … he was kind of like stuck in the music. Biggie Smalls on a couple of cases on that album that I met with him, his personality was definitely a great personality and it’s no wonder who he was in the music industry that he could make such a name he made for himself. He was a serious artist, he wasn’t a man of too many words, but he was stuck in the song.

That’s because we’re at a seven-minute preview of “Jackass 3D” at Paragon Theaters, donning 3-D glasses that make the movie feel real- a little too real for some.

But 10 years after the debut of “Jackass” on MTV and more than four years since the franchise’s last feature film, the shock value is exactly what fans expect and want from headman Johnny Knoxville and his troupe of professional exhibitionists.

As the enthused audience leaves the theater with signed photos in hand, Knoxville and longtime “Jackass” director Jeff Tremaine nurse cans of Bud Light while spilling the deets on the 3-D flick to The Miami Hurricane.

The Miami Hurricane: How does it feel for “Jackass 3D” to finally hit the big screen?

Johnny Knoxville: It’s an odd feeling because it feels like we were just shooting it yesterday, and I wish we were still shooting it. But we’re very excited. We feel like this is our best “Jackass” film.

TMH: Because the film was shot in 3-D, did you try anything that fans might not be used to?

JK: 98 percent of the ideas we wrote just to be funny in 2-D. If it’s not funny in 2-D, it’s not going to be funny in 3-D.

Jeff Tremaine: We definitely wanted to stay true to the brand. We were nervous about making it in 3-D, just thinking that it might change our process. We weren’t open to that. We did some tests with different companies and we found [one] that could keep up with us so we didn’t have to change anything [and] could shoot it how we wanted to.

TMH: What was the worst injury on set?

JK: We had a bunch. [James] Lemus blew out his shoulder and had to have surgery on his shoulder and hand. I had a whiplash, concussion, I dislocated my shoulder, I had stitches in my hand.

JT: Steve-O got his nose broken pretty bad.

TMH: You guys are celebrating 10 years, a decade of “Jackass.” How do you keep it fresh creatively?

JK: I feel like we write better ideas now than when we began.

JT: Yeah, to be honest, we didn’t shoot more bits this time. But it was harder to kick bits out of this movie than it ever has been. We’ll make “Jackass 3.5.” With the last movie, we made 2.5 with the things that just didn’t make number two. In this one, we have so many bits that didn’t make the movie. I think it’s because either our ideas are better or we’re just better at executing it.

JK: Our ideas are better. We had so many bits that we didn’t even get to film [for “Jackass 3D”]- great bits, which I’m still f***ing pissed about.

JT: I think part of it is that, look, we only do these things every four years, so you start bursting at the seems to get the guys back together.

The 3-D Jackass reunion debuts this Thursday.

Barbara Walters: Well the first thing, and it’s cliché but it’s true, is follow your bliss. What do you want to do? What do you really love? That’s the hardest decision, especially when everybody else seems to know exactly what they want to do, and you’re the only one that doesn’t. I didn’t. My career didn’t start until I was in my 30′s. The second thing is get your foot in the door. Don’t be too proud. If you want to get into television or radio or newspapers, take any kind of a job. Get there before everybody, stay there later than everybody, and do what you love.

ASP: What attracted you to journalism?

BW: I’m not sure I was attracted, per say, to journalism. I went to work for the local station – this has been a long time, I have to go back a few years. I loved television. I started in the publicity department. My father was very well known in show business and so I knew a lot of the people and I started in the publicity department at was what was then NBC’s local station. Then I was made a producer, and then I was made a network producer. I had no thought of being on the air, it wasn’t going to happen with me. And part of it was that I was in the right place at the right time on the Today show and they knew me because I had been writing for everyone else. So in a way, it was accidental. I never set out and said, “I’m going to be a journalist.” I had a knack for writing and that was helpful. I wrote the way I talked and in television, that’s very helpful. Unless you don’t like the way I talk, and then it’s no help at all.

ASP: What were your college years like?

BW: I went to a school so different from your university. It was very small, I went to Sarah Lawrence College which was in Bronxville, NY. When I was there it was an all girls school. I loved that it was an all girls school. I didn’t have to worry about putting make-up on or being the most popular girl in the class or in the school. And it was very small, so when I see the University at Albany here, I think, “How do you manage?” and “Don’t you get lost in the beginning?” I’m assured that in its own way, it gets to be very cozy and very familiar. For me, it was an extremely different experience — very personal, we all knew each other. If there was a bad side, it was that there were no required courses and I think that’s a mistake. I missed a very great deal.

ASP: Were you studious?

BW: I was very serious. I worked very hard. But again because you could choose the subjects you studied – we didn’t even have majors! – I liked what I was learning, but I missed a lot. I sometimes joke and say if I really learned — I didn’t take a language, I didn’t take math, I didn’t take science – if I had taken all these courses, I might have made something of my life. But what it did instill in me was a curiosity, and it enabled me to work on my own, and to not be afraid to ask questions.

ASP: Why do you think young people don’t follow the news?

BW: I think you do follow the news, you just don’t follow the news the way I follow news. I mean, you have the Internet, and some of you may have iPods. I don’t know why you don’t. There’s so much going on in this country now and you need to be involved with what’s going on. You need to understand why there’s anger in this country and why there’s frustration. If you’re going to be going out there and trying to get a job, you better know what’s going on. But the way I follow the news, newspapers and magazines is not the way that you’re learning news.

ASP: What do you think of Twitter?

BW: I did it for a bit and then I thought it was kind of silly. I think it’s a good thing to use for me if I have special coming up and I want people to know about it. It would have been nice to say “speaking at the University at Albany,” that would have been nice. But when I see people saying “I went to the movies” or “I had my hair done” – who cares? I think it’s a waste of time. Isn’t there something better to do than twitter? Do you think there’s something to better to do than Twitter?

ASP: I know a lot of news stations and journalists use Twitter to link to their articles, and it’s becoming a way to share news.

BW: Well so is Facebook and so is.. well, if it’s a way to share news, I think that’s very good. Most of the people I know who Twitter are not sharing news.

ASP: Have you tried using Facebook?

BW: I haven’t. I interviewed at one point some of the people who made Myspace, and and it’s not for me. I have ways of communicating, although, I can understand that it’s a way of dealing with people and making friends. Andrew Sorkin was on The View, a television program I’m involved with, and he has just written The Social Network. He said, which I thought was very interesting, that he thought Facebook didn’t bring people together as much as it separated them. He thought that because you could do everything now through Facebook, you didn’t have to meet people face-to-face; you didn’t have to talk the way you and I are talking. People are becoming uninvolved rather than involved. When at a time, especially for young people like yourself, there is so much technically that’s happening and there’s so many ways that you can communicate. You can get lost in it. You can spend hours in it and avoid perhaps doing some of the things you might have done if you didn’t use Twitter, and Facebook, and Myspace, and YouTube, and Perez Hilton and Politico and Huffington Post and Daily Beast, and whatever I left out. So you can spend all your time doing that, which is interesting, but maybe there are some other things to spend time on.

Once I saw her name, I was super excited to talk to her. As a television reporter, you can imagine that I have seen her in countless numbers of episodes of different shows.

Today we talked about her past roles as well as her experience working on “Community.”

Q: I am also a big fan of Drake and Josh, and Josh as well as yourself was the reason my first job was in a movie theater. What is the transition like, from a kids show to Community?

A: I am shocked because [Helen] is kind of crazy.

A: Moving from Drake and Josh to Community was an easy transition because both are comedy and I get to work with funny people. Coming from a set from where everything is PG to a more naughty set, was a little of a shock, but I can roll with the punches.

Q: How does working on this show compare to others you have been on in the past?

A: Every set is pretty much the same work with different people. The environment is the same. We still have trailers, make-up and the food station. The only difference between Community and other shows I’ve worked on is the style of sitcom.

The actual shoot day is different because Community is a one camera production; other shows have multi-cameras on set. The day is a lot longer because the shooting is slow and meticulous. We have to read our lines perfectly and get the angles right; while multi-camera productions shoot the scene from various angles all at the same time. Those sitcoms do the whole show like a play.

The good thing is that we don’t have to know all our lines at once, we only have to learn one or two scenes a day, which makes a longer day work wise.

I like to rate jobs based on how long the work day.

Q: Are there any characteristics that you have given Shirley to make her so hilarious?

A: The only thing that I have given to Shirley personally is calling people, ‘pumpkin’ or ‘sweetie.’

The stuff that makes Shirley, Shirley I take from my mom. The feeling of being a single mom, I took from my mother.

All high voices and low voices that Shirley speaks in, I just think is funny.

Q: What are the progressions the audience can expect to see from Shirley, from the first season to now?

A: Shirley was maybe not as involved in things last year. This season we are going to find out more about what makes her tick. The writers are getting her more involved so we can find out what is inside of Shirley.

We are going to see a big difference in Shirley between last season and this one.

Q: You went to the University of Akron. Are there any similarities between your experience there and what the cast participates in on Community?

A: Of course. Most college campuses are the same no matter if they are 4 year colleges or 2 years. Students still agonize over tests and normal things. I went to a community college over the summer while I was in high school. I got to see the mixture of races and ages and kind of got to experience that melting pot of people.

I think that what sets Community apart from other shows is the fact that all of the characters are hilarious and that all of these people can be found in a community college.

Q: What do you think sets it apart from other sitcoms?

A: I think that is the draw of people to the characters. You can see yourself or someone you know in each of the characters. They are accessible to everybody.

Then again it is not that much different than other sitcoms. Seinfeld had different people that all met in Jerry’s apartment or the coffee shop; the same thing as in Friends and the coffee shop. I think the only difference is that we have different races and people from different walks of life.

I think that what sitcoms are about are different types of people bumping heads and trying to figure out how to deal with it and each others differences.

Community airs at 8 p.m. Thursdays on NBC.

This time the stunts, pranks and private parts are going to be right in your face in Jackass 3-D, which opens Oct. 15.

Some of the stunts in the trailer for Jackass 3-D include bungeeing Steve-O into the air in a portable toilet, playing duck hunt by feathering a cast member and launching them into a lake while other cast members shoot paintballs at him, and playing tetherball with a bee hive full of 50,000 bees.

Actor Johnny Knoxville and director Jeff Tremaine sat down on a conference call Friday with college media.

Q: Do you have any rituals that you do previous to performing a stunt? And can you tell us what convincing it takes, if any, before you agree to film a potentially dangerous scene?

Johnny Knoxville: Before I’m doing a big stunt, about 20 minutes before it’s on, I’ll go sit and listen to my cousin’s music or other music. When it’s on, I’ll just have someone come pat me on the shoulder, and I’ll walk right in and do it (right then) because I want to just get it out of the way.

Q: What’s the process for shooting 3-D compared to what you’re normally accustomed to?

Jeff Tremaine: The 3-D cameras were a lot bigger and bulkier, but man, once we got all the guys together, it just felt like we were shooting a normal Jackass. The process – we had to be a little more prepared. You know they took a little more prep time to get everything ready so when the guys show up, we can just shoot.

They don’t have to wait for all the – you know the extra (bodies) to get set up. But for the most part, you know it felt the same.

JK: Yes, my request to Jeff was if we shoot 3-D, I don’t want to have to worry about the cameras one time during filming because we just need to be able to do what we do. And Jeff and (Demitri) absolutely set it up where we filmed it just like a regular Jackass. We did not think about the cameras once.

Q: What do you think the 3-D format will add to the movie experience?

JK: It feels like you’re right in the middle of a stunt or prank with us. It really elevated the movie to a whole other level. Like, this bit, “The Beehive Tetherball,” we’re playing tetherball with a beehive, and it feels like 50,000 bees are swarming around the theater or around your head. It really – it really works in 3-D.

JT: And it just makes a dumb idea even dumber.

Q: What made you guys want to shoot the movie in 3-D originally?

JK: Yeah. The studio suggested it and we resisted. But after we did some tests with the cameras, it didn’t slow up the way we shot, and that was our big concern.

It would shoot it like a regular “Jackass.” That took the pressure off, and we had a ball with the cameras.

JT: And also it gave us a good title for the movie right away. You know your third movie – got to be in 3-D. That’s just the rules.

Q: Other than the 3-D, is there’s anything that takes this movie above and beyond where the other two were?

JK: We – the relationships with the guys are just – you know we give each other hell, but you can really feel how close we are, and that just seems to be there. It was in there in the other films, but it was in this film bigger than ever. And really, the – we think that naturally elevates the stunts and pranks in each film, not super consciously, but just it takes a little more to make us laugh.

JT: There’s a – there’s a competitiveness that goes on when we shoot those. There’s a real natural one-up-man’s-ship that happens with the guys, so everybody wants to get the best footage, and then once you start getting really good stuff, they realize how hard it’s going to be to get in the new movie, so everyone steps up, you know?

Q: Is it hard coming up with ideas, since you guys have pretty much done like everything already?

JT: No. We were just bursting with them. This one happened more naturally than any of the ones before.

JK: Yes, it was easier coming up ideas for this movie than any of them. We had a stockpile of ideas that we never even got to because we ran out of time.

Q: Has there been any time at any point in Jackass history when you had to turn down a stunt because it was just too crazy, too off the wall for you?

JK: You know the only time that we won’t do a stunt or I won’t do a stunt is if there’s a negative vibe going around the set and it just kind of puts a dark blanket over everything and then I’ll just say, “Let’s not do it. Let’s not do it today. We were filming this stunt up in Tahoe on this huge ski slope and someone on that ski slope died that day. It wasn’t associated with the production, but there was a death on that ski slope the day we were there. It was on the same mountain, the Donner families cannibalized themselves on. We we’re getting ready to do a big stunt and it just felt weird. We called it off but that is super, super rare.

Q: How do you like producing compared to acting? Because you’ve done some work with the Dudesons and Nitro Circus, so how do you like being a producer as compared to being an actor?

JK: I enjoy every aspect of doing TV shows. If a person I think is interesting I’ll just kind of lend my services where needed. So I’m able to jump back and forth between the things pretty easily.

Q: Can you tell a story of like, the worst injury that happened or like, the – how someone got hurt the most badly during the making of this one?

JT: We had a fighter jet that we had parked on the end of a runway and we were using the big thruster at the back. We set a little mini-trampoline up and Loomis was jumping into the jet stream holding an umbrella, and that dude only weighs probably 63 pounds soaking wet, so he just …

JK: 68 with a hard on …

JT: and he comes to the ground pretty hard and he broke his collarbone and got his hand tore up.

JK: He had to have surgery on his hand. I think he might have surgery on his shoulder.

JT: The other guys got banged up pretty bad, but no one got too seriously hurt. I mean, there’s mental scars …

Q: What is your favorite stunt that you performed in the movie?

JK: Between Jeff and I, it’s kind of a tie between the high five where we built this 5-foot-tall hand and spring loaded it so whenever someone walked into the kitchen in the morning, they just got smoked by the palm coming around the corner and the port-a-potty bungee where we took Steve-O and put him in a full port-a-potty and shot it 100 feet in the air with a bungee cord and a crane.

We’d like to think this conversation got his juices flowing.

Signal: The New York Times Magazine profiled Glenn Beck this week.

Lewis Black: Did they really?

S: They did. A ten-page article.

LB: Ten pages? Gives me a headache just to think about it. Go on to the next question … no, go on, finish.

S: They noted that Beck’s made over 400 on-air references to fascism, Nazis, Hitler and the Holocaust, etc. Do you think that they took a page from your “Nazi Tourette’s” segment on “The Daily Show”?

LB: Yeah, they did take a page from it and they should’ve given us some credit, you know?

S: So you scooped The New York Times Magazine?

LB: Well, no. It’s just you might as well, if you’re doing that, then at least say something. It’s typical of them, they ignore the work. My work. Bastards.

S: You’ve used your comedy to comment on politics, very prominently during the Bush administration. You’ve described your outlook in the past as “being on the Titanic every single day and being the only person who knows what is going to happen.” Is there any particular absurdity in American culture right now that you see as the next iceberg?

LB: Well yeah, we’re not gonna pay for anything. So at some point, we need to figure out how to pay for stuff again. We’ve completely ignored it. And the biggest absurdity is for anyone to say you can’t tax wealthy people. I mean, that is stunning in its ignorance, it’s spectacular. When I read that there’s this kind of debate about it, it makes me think I’m crazy.  Part of the reason of the Great Depression was — and everyone knows this, everyone knows it — that there was a disparity between the wealthiest and the middle class and the rest of the country.  And we’re repeating that again. There’s a repeat zone. Okay, so we’re not in a depression, but … Will Rogers would make jokes about the redistribution of income. You can’t even say those words. I would get along better in a crowd of conservatives if I actually took my penis out and walked around than to say the words, “redistribution of income.” That one really drives me around the wall, more than anything else. That and the fact that we’re gonna have to debate health care again. Seriously, what was that about? We’re gonna discuss it again? And you guys are the ones who are gonna get screwed.  So, good luck.  Seriously, the adults are not dealing with reality.

S: What’s the role of comedy and your role as a comedian in sort of confronting this whole absurdity?

LB: Well, my role appears to be that I stand up and basically repeat what I read in the newspaper, and go, “Holy fuck!”  That’s my job. That basically appears to be what I’m getting paid for. It’s a pretty good gig.

S: Your style has been describe as “ranting,” even when what you’re actually saying is smarter and more coherent than what we’ve come to expect from a lot of our country’s talking heads. Is the way you deliver jokes a reaction to the crazier people you’ve heard on TV and radio?

LB: I was doing it way before them. Glenn Beck was not wandering around ranting and raving. That’s come over time. Limbaugh actually for a while talked about the fact that he was an entertainer. Now he thinks of himself as a pundit, which is, really, more psychotic. The one thing you can rely on is that he’s fat. But it’s not a reaction in terms of them, it’s just, I’m funny when I do that. I’ve always been funny because I got upset. I mean, I would get upset about things that were just stupid. You know, really meaningless almost. Like this Droid. Like tonight, I’ll talk about … I’ve now had an iPhone, and I’ve got a Droid, and am as well versed as you guys are in technology. They made the iPhone, which is not a phone, but a really great computer, and then the Droid, actually, is a really good phone, but it’s a piece-of-shit computer. And then I get upset about that, on a simple level. I’m funniest when I’m angry. That would’ve been the answer to the question in the beginning. You can cut the rest of that crap out.

S: The state of New Jersey itself is usually a prime target for visiting comedians. I know you’ve performed here several times. Is there any joke about New Jersey that hasn’t already been made?

LB: My opening act, John (Bowman), will be making a few. But he likes it. I’ve never had a problem with New Jersey. I think it’s an excellent buffer from Delaware.

S: Well, we should tell that to Delaware.

LB: We’re gonna need it when they elect that psychotic down there.

S: Christine O’Donnell?

LB: Oh yeah. You know what her average salary was last year? This I didn’t know until today. I don’t get this information fast enough. Do you know what it was? She made $5,800 last year. Isn’t that unbelievable? A fucking monkey in a suit could’ve made $5,800 in Delaware. Seriously. Shave a simian and put a suit on it and let it interview, and do some sort of dopey work. How do you … and then you run for the senate. And people vote for you. How is it a state? How is Delaware even allowed to be a state after that point?

S: Your comedy is forthright, to say the least. How do you find college audiences respond compared to any typical audience?

LB: They’re great, you know? First off, they can deal with paragraphs, which is exciting. That’s always a thrill. I think the only thing that separates college audiences from a regular audience is, most campuses still have that political-correct thing that’s floating around. So you say something and there’s this, “ooh, I can’t believe he said that!” That is the only part, and it’s really kind of appalling. I think that a college is a great place to have a discussion about political correctness, but you’re allowed to laugh at a joke. Okay? And when political correctness gets into what people deem to be humor, unless it’s denigrating, or offensive, or mean-spirited on a sick level, most of the time, what happens with political correctness is they don’t really get what the joke’s about. If you make a joke about Alzheimer’s, chances are the joke’s not about Alzheimer’s, you fucker.

S: In November, you embark on a seven-day comedy cruise.

LB: Yeah I know, that’s weird, isn’t it?

S: Is there such thing, in your opinion, as a “cruise person,” and are you one of them?

LB: Well I am kind of. I’m not a cruise person, per se, in the sense of, “Oh, boy, let’s go down and cha-cha. I can’t wait to do a merengue.” No. And I’m not near-dead. However, what is great, since I travel all the fucking time … I’ve been on a few cruises, and part of the reason I did it is … I don’t want to be on a plane. I’m spending 150-200 days a year on a tour bus traveling from place to place. The nice thing about a boat for me, or about going somewhere and just staying somewhere for a week, is the boat is the place. You get there, and I don’t have to deal with anything, I don’t have to unpack, pack. And I go see St. Petersburg, or Stockholm, or Oslo, and what’s nice about that is you see it and then you go, “Wow, I don’t have to come back to this shithole,” or “Wow, this was really great.” St. Petersburg being kind of a shithole. But they’re working on it. And I’ve been on two transatlantic (cruises), and those are really great because, at least for me, nobody can get to me. There’s no way they can get out there. Especially if I have an iPhone, there’s absolutely no way.

S: In the movie “Accepted,” a couple years ago, you played a college dean. Do you have any advice for real-life college kids, as somebody who’s been doing what he likes to do for a while?

LB: I had an argument with a friend of mine recently about the fact that I believe everyone, I think, at a certain point, actually has something that they really wanna do. And if they don’t, chances are it’s because either their parents or a teacher or somebody told them it was insane for them to do that. I don’t care how stupid or idiotic whatever someone’s idea of what it is they want to do is, I think that you have to pursue it. If you pursue what it is you think you want to do, whether you’re qualified for it or not, you’ll end up doing what you wanna do. As opposed to going, “Gee, I have to make this kind of money,” or “Gee, my parents won’t be happy if…” You can fill in all the blanks. You’re still going to have to see a shrink eventually. All of you. So in order to get rid of two-thirds of what might be the problem, do what you wanna do, ‘cause you don’t wanna wake up at my age and go, “Gee, I could’ve been.” That’s the worst. I think that’s what it boils down to.

After all, the partnership between P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) and Dave 1 (David Macklovitch), the sole members of Chromeo, was already somewhat ridiculous, even before taking into account their lifelong friendship and penchant for over-the-top antics. They described themselves as “the only successful Arab-Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture,” for example.

But after a while, the music began to speak for itself. Chromeo’s sound is a throwback to the golden era of electrofunk — a pastiche of 808s, talk boxes, chunky synthesizers and porny guitar work — and while that may seem irrelevant now, Chromeo’s simple, fresh take on an outmoded genre has given electronic music a kick start.

“We always wanted to be very visceral and work with strings, the way disco producers did in the late ’70s,” P-Thugg told The Daily Texan while en route to a show in Seattle. “We take [our style cues] from the guys who recorded stuff in the late ’60s and ’70s — we love the classic stuff with disco and strings.”

Currently, the duo is awaiting the Sept. 14 release of their third full-length album, Business Casual. It’s important to note that their last album, 2007’s Fancy Footwork, was their last significant release and their mainstream breakthrough.

“[Business Casual] still retains the same Chromeo essence ­— we just tried to put more effort into it, get a string section to do a couple of songs and make the album sound more … musical,” P-Thugg said. “We don’t want to lose the Chromeo style and be too cutesy.”

This summer, Chromeo contributed its song “Fancy Footwork” as the soundtrack to a UK advertisement for VO5 Extreme Hair Gel, amid some criticism and fan backlash.

“I guess some people see it as selling out, but I don’t really see it that way,” P-Thugg said. “It expanded our exposure and a lot of people learned who we are through that commercial and found out about our music, you know?”

On Aug. 13, the young and talented cast of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” — including Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, Anna Kendrick, Cera and Winstead — as well as director Edgar Wright made Austin their last stop in the United States before heading out to promote the film in Europe. Sitting at a round table at the Four Seasons Hotel, the cast members opened up about their on-set experiences and the appeal of their respective characters.

The Daily Texan: What attracted you to the script?

Brandon Routh: No one could read the script unless [they were] working with the director Edgar Wright, but I read the source material and knew that this was something I was interested in.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: I read the [comic] books, loved everything. I like the stylized, over-the-top performances.

DT: In the film, Scott must defeat Ramona’s exes by using their weaknesses against them. Do each of you have a weakness?

Jason Schwartzman: Getting buried alive and hair pulling.

Edgar Wright: Tickling. Definitely tickling.

Michael Cera: I hate when people grab you by the neck.

DT: If you could have a superpower, what would it be and what would be your superhero name?

JS: I would be Ultrasound Man.

EW: Wizard Sleeve. I would have Dumbledore in this sleeve, Merlin in the pocket and Gandalf in the other [sleeve].

MC: The Tailor, I could make anyone’s clothes fit perfectly with the touch of my finger.

DT: Anna, you have acted in a variety of different films, each in a different genre. Are you trying to find your niche?

Anna Kendrick: You get lucky. If I told you that I had any type of strategy, I would be lying. I wanted to do “Scott Pilgrim” because I was a fan of Edgar’s work and wanted a shot at working with him.

Harris has enjoyed a long and successful rapping career, having been nominated for 15 Grammy awards and winning three, and “Takers” marks only his third film, after “ATL” (2006) and “American Gangster” (2007). The interview began, predictably enough, with a question regarding the difficulty of the transition from music to film.

The rapper-turned-actor was quick to point out the differences between the two media.
“Music is all of your thoughts, your opinions, your views and based on your principles,” T.I. said, “whereas in film, your personal views take a backseat to the views of the story, told by either the writer or the director. So you’re just an instrument. As a musician you play the instrument; in a movie, as an actor, you are an instrument.”

He pointed out that the transition is what one makes of it. “As long as you’ve got a real passion for what you’re doing, if you love the story that you are a part of telling, it’s a piece of cake,” he said.

One reporter insinuated that T.I.’s recent music and MTV show, “T.I.’s Road to Redemption offers contrasting messages to the characters he’s portrayed in movies, such as bad-boy lawbreakers in both “American Gangster” and “Takers.”

Asked what message he wants his fans to receive, he reiterated the difference between his music — focusing on his views and opinions — and film — interpreting those of the writer and director. Emphasizing his point, T.I. stated, “I don’t think that I should be held any more accountable to the characters that I play in my films, like ‘American Gangster’ or this new movie ‘Takers’ … than Arnold Schwarzenegger should be held for him playing the Terminator or for him playing Commando, or any of these other violent characters that any other actor has played or has been playing for years. No one questions [Al] Pacino for playing Scarface, no one questions [Robert] De Niro’s values for playing the gangsters he played in ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Casino.’ What did they do any different?” he asked incredulously. “This is not T.I. or Clifford Harris’ message. I’m just accurately portraying what the story calls for. I’m taking what’s on the script and putting it on the screen.”

Asked where he finds inspiration for his films, T.I. lauded his acting mentors. “I have been blessed and fortunate. My first two films, I got to work alongside two of the greatest actors in the game. My first film, ‘ATL,’ was produced by Will Smith … I got to really learn the ropes from the biggest box office superstar in the world. And the lessons I learned there, I took with me to the set of ‘American Gangster,’ where I got to share the screen and got to pick the brain of … arguably one of the greatest black actors ever, in Denzel Washington,” he said. “One thing that Denzel told me that stuck with me, and always will stick with me … he said, ‘Now don’t ever let the camera catch you up. Don’t act, just be.’”

As to whether T.I.’s greatest joy still lay in music or film, he conceded that while music is his first love, and he remains very passionate about it, “film is something new and fresh and exciting.”

He elaborated, “To me, right now, music is oversaturated … back when I began, back in ‘88, ‘89, when I first decided that I wanted to be a rapper, if you were to make it and become a rapper and get a video and a record deal and go platinum or go gold, man, you were something special. You were a cut above the rest,” he said. “But nowadays … you tell somebody, ‘I’m a rapper,’ [they say] ‘Yeah, of course you are, everybody’s a rapper.’ You tell somebody, ‘Yeah, my video’s coming on MTV,’ [they respond] ‘Yeah, everybody’s video’s on MTV, YouTube, too.’ There’s no exclusivity to the artistry anymore. It’s sort of like it’s been diluted and oversaturated so much that if you want to be special, you’ve got to find another way to be special. You’ve got to step outside of this and do something else,” he said. “You know I’m still going to do it because I love to do it, but the side of me that yearns to be special and exclusive and different, the side of me that wants to travel another path, I got to get out and find something that I can do that everybody else can’t do.

Everybody just can’t hop into a box office smash and earn $25 million up the first weekend,” he boasted. “Everybody just can’t do that.”

When Mallory Brewer of Kennesaw State University’s Sentinel joked that 2009 had been a rough year for T.I. and his “Takers” co-star Chris Brown, he laughed a bit in agreement. Then, responding to her query as to whether the film would make them look heroic or contribute to the bad-boy image, T.I. said, “You’re gonna think about a person whatever you choose to think about that person … I don’t think that, even if Chris was to come out tomorrow with a romantic comedy where he swept a woman off of her feet, you know, a ‘Pretty Woman’-type of comedy, it still would not take away from what people think and believe about him — what they choose to think and believe about him.”

In talking about “Takers,” Harris couldn’t decide on a single most memorable moment during filming and finally concluded that the experience as a whole and interacting with his co-stars on a daily basis were his favorites. “Just the camaraderie of the guys — we were just showing up and hanging out, and we just happened to shoot a movie in the process,” T.I. said. “Everybody got along well. It was an experience above all others.”

Then, seriously, but to the amusement of everyone present, he added, “I can tell you the day my least favorite moment was when they had me in that cop suit. It was hot and tight. And the heat — it seemed like the day went on forever. It was one of the hottest days in California history; it had to be. That was my least favorite day.”

“Takers” premieres nationwide August 27.

“Where we have been adventurous in the past, we’ve become more adventurous in the road of story telling and imagination,” Volpe said.

Staying true to this, Ludo released a music video for the first single off of the new album, Prepare The Preparations, called “Whipped Cream.”

The music video for “Whipped Cream” is awkward and funny. Volpe said the band tried “keeping it real,” and “representing” with an abundance of blank stares. On top of that, the video also featured the band spraying everyone and everything with whipped cream.

“We used a lot (of whipped cream),” Volpe said. “A whole lot, like 40 cans.”

Despite using so much of the delicious dairy product in the music video, the song itself is not even about whipped cream.

“It’s about showing both a guy’s creepy ‘I’m so sexy’ perspective and a girl’s objective ‘you’re a creep’ perspective,” Volpe said. This is not the first time that Volpe has visited this subject — on their last album, You’re Awful, I Love You, Volpe wrote the song “Go-Getter Greg,” which depicts “guys in bars creeping on girls.”

Prepare The Preparations will be the first without bass player Marshall Fanciullo, but Volpe assures that the songwriting has not been negatively affected due to the loss of the band member.

Ludo’s weird lyrics and over-the top situations, notorious from songs like “Girls on Trampoline” and “Lake Pontchartrain” won’t change with the new album, either.

“I like to write from my imagination, so there are songs about skeletons, grave robbing lovers, a Cyclops and of course love and all that stuff,” Volpe said about the new album.

According to Volpe, the album may go out on a limb, but old fans won’t be left hanging.

“I think it’s just as catchy as the last (album), but it’s a little more adventurous,” Volpe said.