The Cast of ’50/50′ talk about the film, working together and being funny about cancer

I saw 50/50 the other night at the opening of the San Diego Film Festival and after the huge applause, I started to notice more than several people wiping tears from their eyes.

50/50 stars Seth Rogen, Joseph Gorden-Levitt and Anna Kendrick and, as I’m sure you know by now, is based on the real-life friendship of Rogen and writer Will Reiser. It’s incredibly funny, sad and uplifting and Gordon-Levitt is fantastic – especially after only having a little under 2 weeks to prepare.

Here are 3 videos: The first is the Rogen, Gordon-Levitt, Kendrick, writer Reiser and Bryce Dallas Howard discussing working together. The last 2 is from Moviefone, where Kendrick, Gordon-Levitt and Rogen ask each other questions. Check it out – you’ll definitely chuckle. Read more

‘Community’ Star Jim Rash Making Screenwriting Debut with ‘The Descendants’

Up until recently, Jim Rash could only be found in front of the camera, appearing as a series regular on NBC comedy Community and in recurring roles on That ‘70s Show and Reno 911!. However, the upcoming film The Descendants, a screenplay adapted from the Kaui Hart Hemming novel of the same name by him and two others, finds Rash in the writing credits for the first time.

“We ended up writing a screenplay around 2005 that got us on the Black List and then we crossed paths with Alexander Payne,” said Rash of he and writing partner Nat Faxon, who collaborated on The Descendants with Payne, speaking to The Wall Street Journal. “It was a little weird, coming from the acting side of things, especially since both of us have primarily worked in comedy.”

The Descendants, due out November 18, stars George Clooney as a middle-aged man who attempts to reconnect with his children after his wife and their mother is injured in a boating accident.

“After people hear that we’ve written a movie, they’ll ask if it’s a comedy and we’re like no, it’s a dramedy,” Rash observed. “There’s nothing in the one-line pitch that makes them think, oh, very funny.”   Read more

Zooey Deschanel Explains Inspiration Behind ‘New Girl’ Theme Song

With new show New Girl, singer/actress Zooey Deschanel has successfully made the leap to television, playing a twenty-something who moves in with a group of three men she met online after catching her live-in boyfriend with another woman. It’s attracted an average of 9.8 million viewers in its first two weeks on air, thanks in no small part to its unique brand of quirky humor, which unsurprisingly spilled over into its theme song.

“I wanted something upbeat that really felt like a theme song,” explained Deschanel, saying that the themes from classic sitcoms like Welcome Back, Kotter and The Mary Tyler Moore Show served as inspirations. “The theme song from Mary Tyler Moore really gets you ready for a show about someone who is taking on a new life.”

One-half of indie duo She & Him and wife to Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, Deschanel is no stranger to pop music. “We wanted to have a Lovin’ Spoonful kind of feel,” she said.

Video after the jump.  Read more

Trailer: ‘Norman’ starring Dan Byrd, Emily VanCamp, Richard Jenkins

Norman: Norman Long is a high school loner, a self-aware and darkly funny teen who’s just trying to handle his daily existence. In the wake of his mother’s sudden death, Norman must now also deal with the reality that his father is starting to lose his battle with stomach cancer. Norman, depressed and angry, unintentionally gets caught in a lie that he, in fact, has stomach cancer. Soon his complete distortion of the facts spirals out of control. Part coping mechanism, partially as a way to feel closer to his father, and to a certain degree to prepare others for his possible suicide, Norman begins to imitate his father’s debilitating physical symptoms, dramatically affecting his life and the world around him. Emily, a magnetic girl with one of those rare enchanting smiles, gets caught up in Norman’s fabrication and struggles with her deep rooted romantic feelings in the face of Norman’s “impending” death. Ultimately, Norman must confront a burning set of conflicting emotions as he struggles to define his relationship with his father, his love for Emily, and ultimately who he will be as a young man. courtesy of trailers.apple.com

Director: Jonathan Segal
Cast: Dan Byrd, Emily VanCamp, Richard Jenkins

In theaters: October 21st, 2011
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Trailer: ‘John Dies at the End’ starring Paul Giamatti

John Dies at the End: It’s a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can’t. courtesy of trailers. apple.com

Director: Don Coscarelli
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman, Doug Jones, Daniel Roebuck, Jonny Weston, Fabianne Therese

Coming Soon
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Trailer: ‘Contraband’ starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Lukas Haas

Contraband: Chris Farraday long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy, botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs, Chris is forced back into doing what he does best — running contraband — to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian, to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.  Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate, and sons become their target.

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Lukas Haas
Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur

In Theaters: January 13, 2012
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Paul Rudd on Judd Apatow, Auditioning for ‘Anchorman’ and Fearing Success

Paul Rudd has worked with comedy director/writer/producer Judd Apatow on a number of projects, including in Apatow’s upcoming Knocked Up spinoff, This Is Forty.  Naturally, it would seem like the two have a long history pre-Hollywood and that Rudd always planned to be in comedies, but it turns out that isn’t the case at all.  Rudd opened up about his relationship with Apatow, popping zits, and his initial fears of success in a length interview with Playboy.

It turns out that Rudd became of fan of Apatow’s seminal Freaks and Geeks series and the two began to exchange e-mails.  The two didn’t actually meet until Rudd was auditioning for one of Apatow’s first movie successes.  Rudd explains, “We e-mailed each other for a long time. I wasn’t actually in the same room with him until I auditioned for Anchorman. And walking in there and seeing him was weird. It felt as though I was meeting my Asian pen pal. I really wanted to make a great first impression.” 

Rudd, however, wasn’t his usual self — he attempted to fit the 1970s image he would use in the film during the audition, confessing, “I wanted to do something special for the role. I was working on Friends that week, so I was able to raid the show’s wardrobe department. I don’t normally dress up for an audition to try to impress the director unless it’s something I really want and I think dressing up might help. The wardrobe supervisor on Friends helped me find this horrible polyester suit, and I had enough time before the audition to grow a mustache and the chops. It wasn’t fully grown in, but it was enough to give them the general idea.”   Read more

Terrence Howard & Cuba Gooding, Jr. Praise George Lucas and Lament the Current State of African-American Cinema

Red Tails isn’t just a vanity project for producer George Lucas — the story of the World War II Tuskeegee Airmen is something Lucas has wanted to tackle for years — but a film that fills a void that is all-too-often ignored: a drama with a predominantly African-American cast. 

They’re a rarity in Hollywood, and Think Progress caught up with two of the film’s stars, Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr., to discuss with them the current state of African-Americans in Hollywood.  Their thoughts?  It’s difficult to break through.

Howard maintains that Hollywood is unwilling to invest in films with African-American casts because of the perceived low earning potential.  He explains, “Now, Hollywood, for a number of years has maintained the status quo by saying black films do not have an international value. Therefore we’re able to pay black actors less, we can give them less money to make their films…If this film, if George Lucas, who is basically the Parrish of the film industry, as Col. Noel Parrish did for the Tuskeegee Airbase, he put his entire career on the line and stood behind these black pilots, these American pilots. What George Lucas did, he put his entire career on the line…when they wouldn’t distribute it, he put $30 million into distribution. If this film is not successful, it will become a stumbling block for all time where they can say that black films do not have value or merit. It’s important that this film is supported…if George Lucas does not profit from this, then the rest of the industry will see no profit in black people.”   Read more

Ask a Casting Director: What Does the Path to LA Look Like?

written by Scott David, Casting Director; Theatrics presenting Beckinfield

Scott, as an actor living in Northern California, what does the path look like to get to L.A. and start working? Should I be submitting to agents and casting directors down there now or should I build a body of work up here first and submit demo reels? I guess I’m at a point where I want to know what the next step is. – Jason

Jason, your question is the never-ending quest of an aspiring actor!!!

It is always best to live near to where the action takes place…and that would be Hollywood! If you are young and stable and have the means to move into the area your chances at procuring work will be greatly enhanced!

Be sure to have a safe place to live, a car, money in the bank, the ability to immediately enroll in acting classes, and the strength and perseverance to engage yourself in the entertainment industry.

It is always much easier to come to LA with some legitimate credits — theater, TV, film, commercials, or web-based work.   Read more

Trailer: ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, John Goodman, James Gandolfini

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” tells the story of one young boy’s journey from heartbreaking loss to the healing power of self-discovery, set against the backdrop of the tragicevents of September 11. Eleven-year-old Oskar Schell is an exceptional child: amateur inventor, Francophile, pacifist. And after finding a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, he embarks on an exceptional journey–an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. As Oskar roams the city, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity, who are all survivors in their own ways. Ultimately, Oskar’s journey ends where it began, but with the solace of that most human experience: love. courtesy of trailers.apple.com

Director: Stephen Daldry
Cast: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Max von Sydow, Viola Davis, John Goodman, Jeffrey Wright, James Gandolfini

In theaters: December 25th, 2011
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