Trailer: ‘Friends With Kids’ starring Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Adam Scott, Kristen Wiig, Megan Fox, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd

Friends With Kids is a daring and poignant ensemble comedy about a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in life when children arrive and everything changes. The last two singles in the group observe the effect that kids have had on their friends’ relationships and wonder if there’s a better way. They decide to have a kid together – and date other people.

There are big laughs and unexpected emotional truths as this unconventional ‘experiment’ leads everyone in the group to question the nature of friendship, family and, finally, true love.

Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Adam Scott, Kristen Wiig, Megan Fox, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd and Edward Burns

Directed by: Jennifer Westfeldt

In Theaters: March 9, 2012
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Kristen Wiig on Auditioning, Writing Her Next Movie and Moving to the Director’s Chair

Kristen Wiig is not sticking to just comedy anymore.  As award season approaches, Wiig is drawing attention for possible nominations for her writing of the smash-hit Bridesmaids but she’s not the sort of person to rest on her laurels. 

With upcoming movies Friends with Kids, Imogene, and The Comedian, Wiig said in an interview with Papermag, that she is “writing something by myself that’s not a comedy. It’s just a smaller, indie movie, which is the sort of thing I actually gravitate towards…And then there’s another story idea that I want to write way down the line that’s probably not a comedy either.  One of them I think I might act in, one of them I want to just direct.”

Wiig is enjoying her chance to be behind the camera too.  She took part in the Bridesmaids’ audition process—resulting in the casting of one of Hollywood’s most cheered women ensembles.  “To really sit on the other side of that was really eye opening and weird,” she says.  “I definitely know how it feels to be the person walking in and doing an audition; in my experience, to like, say something awkward and then leave my bag in the room—it’s a nerve-racking thing.”  Read more

“Bridesmaids” Chris O’Dowd on his new found fans: “It was a very strange sensation to hear myself being, ‘awed.’ It’s very odd”

The new comedy hit “Bridesmaids“ won over audiences this weekend, and one particular newcomer has women audibly ogling aloud in theaters and declaring their love via Twitter.

Chris O’Dowd, a 31-year-old Irish actor who lives in London, plays Officer Rhodes. He is still adjusting to the movie’s success saying, “I’m overjoyed that it’s doing so well, it’s a hell of a ride!”

Dowd says it was a long improv session with “Saturday Night Live” star Kristen Wiig that helped him land the role. “Kristen was there with Judd and  Paul. We sat down and read this script, then we did a half an hour of improv… it went really well. Kristen is so easy to work with and she’s just an amazing improviser.”

Dowd first approached the character with an American accent, but it was his native Irish tongue that helped close the deal. “I went in and did it with an American accent, like I do in most auditions. It went fine, but the director knew some of my work, so he asked me to do it with my accent and it worked out better,” he says. “I think they went for it in the end because they liked the idea of it being – it was never going to be formulaic – keeping any kind of normal structure away from it by putting this accent which is somewhat askew with the rest of the story, interested them.”
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“Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig: “If people are reacting in a believable way you can kind of take an audience anywhere”

Paul Feig, director of the hit  comedy, Bridesmaids, recently talked with Speakeasy about working with the predominately female cast and how he was open to on-set improvisation.

On directing Kristen Wiig, he said that she “actually came into this wanting to play it very grounded to the point where I felt like I wanted to showcase her comedy a little bit more. Because the first draft they wrote of the script was really a good draft, but it had her a little more reactive – she had very funny people around her and was very kind of grounded in her journey. And it was like, I want both because I’ve seen her in movies and she’s always fantastic. But I’ve seen her movies where she’s not funny at all, she plays it pretty straight, and I’m always kind of like oh shoot, I want to see Kristen be funny too.”

Feig says he wants his actors to be open to improvising if it feels right for the character. “I’m a big believer that if you have very real characters and actors playing the characters in a very real way where they are the person and they’re not commenting on the person, then you can put them in the craziest situations,” he said. “Because then it’s just like for you and I, suddenly if a spaceship came down and we got sucked into an alien spaceship, you and I would react the way that we react to things around here. And the problem is when you do things and these people are acting like crazy people, and you’re like okay, what reality am I in? But if people are reacting in a believable way you can kind of take an audience anywhere.”

Kristen Wiig: “Comedy is tough, and sometimes the more you try, the more it doesn’t work”

Kristen Wiig came to Hollywood in her early 20s to fulfill her childhood fantasy of starring on Saturday Night Live, and right away she discovered three small problems: namely, no experience, no connections, no work.

The wannabe actress wound up working in retail for years before she figured out a way she could make a gradual transition into show business.

“You get this idea that you’ve figured out your life, and you go for it, so I moved to L.A. and immediately got scared and partially changed my mind,” Wiig says. “I thought, what the hell am I doing? I had no experience, and this city is filled with people who have experience and who are trying and going out there and auditioning and taking classes and doing plays. And I was like, ‘I took Acting 101. Hi, L.A.! I’m ready to be discovered!’ Which didn’t really happen.”

While supporting herself working in retail, Wiig discovered the Groundlings, she honed her skills and soon began to land small TV roles before she received her dream invitation: to join the cast of  ”Saturday Night Live” in 2005.

Wiig met “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig when he cast her in her first movie role, a small part in the 2006 film ”Unaccompanied Minors.” A year later, Wiig proved herself a scene-stealer in “Knocked Up,” playing a TV exec who seesaws from aggressive nemesis to fawning all over star Katherine Heigl’s character.

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7 Clips from ‘Bridesmaids’ starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Ellie Kemper

I’ve heard a ton of great things about Bridesmaids – like it’s the female version of The Hangover – and I can’t wait to see it! I love me some Kristen Wiig.

Starring Wiig, Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd, Maya Rudolph and Ellie Kemper, it’s about a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend and a group of bridesmaids on a wild ride down the road to matrimony.

Check out these 7 clips from the movie!

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Trailer: ‘Bridesmaids’ starring Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph

Bridesmaids: Kristen Wiig leads the cast as Annie, a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony. Annie’s life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian’s maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. from trailers.apple.com

Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd, Matt Lucas, Jill Clayburgh, Rebel Wilson, Michael Hitchcock
Writers: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo

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Trailer: ‘Paul’ starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost & Seth Rogen

Paul: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America’s UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown, the space-traveling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town–a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost). Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes. from trailers.apple.com

Director: Greg Mottola

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner, John Carroll Lynch, Sigourney Weaver, Seth Rogen

Writers: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

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MacGruber Interview At the SXSW IFC House

Here is the MacGruber interview I sat in on at the IFC House at SXSW.