RANDOM INTERVIEW: THE STARS OF SUPERBADWhen our writer, Peter Crooks, suggested that Superbad was a can't miss summer comedy, a la Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Dazed and Confused, we were all ears. Then he presented us with an interview with the stars, and we couldn't pass it up. Sure it doesn't have much to do with music, but it's a good read and entertaining. So there.All hail McLovin. If you haven't heard of him, it won't be long now. McLovin, aka Fogell, is a high school senior uber-nerd in the new comedy, Superbad, opening in theaters on August 17. Played by newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse, McLovin/Fogell is one of the great breakout characters in recent movie history, in one of the funniest teen comedies ever. Superbad, written by Seth Rogan (the star of the year's other funniest movie, Knocked Up) and Evan Goldberg, produced by Judd Apatow (director of Knocked Up), and co-starring Jonah Hill (also in Knocked Up) and Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development), offers a simple premise: high school buddies hope to score party booze to impress some hotties. Packed with adolescent angst, clever screwball comedy, and genuine heart, Superbad is smart, thoughtful, and (most important) consistently hilarious. It's over-the-top, but much more realistic than the John Hughes comedies of the 1980s. Like its teen-classic predecessors, American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused, Superbad takes place in a single night. And though Superbad is set in present day - except for a few references to text messages and Red Bull, it's texture and kick-ass funk soundtrack feels more like the 1970s. (Certainly the film's Foxy Brown-esque opening title credit sequence, hands down the coolest credit sequence of any 2007 film, is a throwback to that greatest of film decades). I saw the movie at an early screening more than a month before the movie's release and it's hilarious. If you don't believe me, you could ask anyone in the mostly twenty-something audience I saw it with, who poured out of the screening saying, "Greatest movie ever." Stars Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and first-time actor Mintz-Plasse showed up for an interview at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. The Owl Mag: I've heard that this script, by Seth Rogan (Knocked Up) and Evan Goldberg, has been bouncing around Hollywood for years. How far back does this script go? Jonah Hill: Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg started writing this when they were 13. More than ten years ago. Which is awesome, they started writing it when they were in high school…so its very realistic about what high school is like. I'm in high school right now, and its like right one. I'm just kidding, I'm 23. Jonah, early in the film, you and Michael send Chris's character, Fogell, into a liquor store with a fake ID to buy booze for a party. The next thing you know, he's getting into the back of a police car. I thought the film's sense of humor can be summed up by your character's reaction—you're like "He's screwed—and we still need to get alcohol." Not, "Oh shit, we have to get our friend out of jail." Jonah Hill: That's a joke that hasn't really played well in the theater, but we thought that was so funny when we were shooting it, that we were dismissing the fact that he was in trouble. It's like, "He's done, he's dead now." Michael Cera: It says a lot about your characters, the way they don't get along. There was a really funny line that got cut out of the final version, Jonah says, 'What are we gonna bust him out of jail, I don't even know where jail is!" Jonah Hill: Exactly. I thought about this, if you found out your friend was in jail, how would you even know where the jail is. I saw this movie with a young audience and there was this immediate reaction that this is an instant classic. Michael Cera: Really? Did you see it here in San Francisco? Jonah Hill: Did you see it at my parents' house? No, I saw it in Walnut Creek, a suburban city about 40 minutes east of here. Anyway, did you have that feeling when you're making the film, that this might be a classic? Did you think, "Oh, we've got a Dazed and Confused here? Or was it more of a Weird Science? Jonah Hill: Yes, actually my biggest inspiration while making this was Dazed and Confused. Michael Cera: Yes, especially because it takes place in one night.  I work for a magazine that does a lot of suburban lifestyle stories, and when we do stories about teens' binge drinking or promiscuous sex, it's like "Is your teen doing this???" These issues are dealt with in this movie, though in a gleefully vulgar comic way. Still, do you think Superbad is a kind of social commentary about today's teens? Michael Cera: The first screening I went to, there was a guy in his 20s who was there with his mom. Jonah Hill: I remember this screening. Cameron Crowe was there. Michael Cera: Yeah, Cameron Crowe was there with his mom. No, not really. But this guy's mom comes up to us and says, "I thought this movie had a really good message about teen drinking." Because our characters both drink and we don't get the girls because of it. Jonah Hill: Right. Had we not gotten drunk, and actually just talked to these girls, we might have gotten laid. Michael Cera: Parents who see this also went to high school, so they know that kids like this exist. Parents seem to enjoy this movie, it's tested really high with older audiences. We'll see how it does when it comes out though. If you guys had a tip for this year's senior class, from your own experiences in high school, what would it be? Michael Cera: Get a job. Grow up. If you want to be treated like an adult, act like one. Jonah Hill: My high school guidance counselor told my parents, in a meeting, in front of me, that I wasn't going to get into any colleges. That was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. So I would say, just know that life gets better after this year - have fun. Christopher Mintz-Plasse: This year is going to be easy. Just cheat off your friends and you'll be fine.
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