Disney has provided me with an expense paid trip to Los Angeles for the #VeryBadDayEvent and #DisneyInHomeEvent in exchange for my review of the events of the trip. No other compensation is given. The opinions and experiences in my posts are 100% mine. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
Disney’s ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY hits theaters this week on Friday October 10! I am SO excited to take my family to see it. I got to screen it early and it’s hilarious and such a great feel-good movie. After watching the film I had the amazing opportunity to interview two of the stars of the movie, Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner. I was so excited for this interview, a huge fan of both of theirs, and they did not disappoint. BEST interview ever. They are an absolute riot and so much fun to chat with!
As soon as they walked in the door of our interview room Jennifer smiled at us and said, “These are my people!” A show of solidarity with the moms. Love it! Our interview was high-energy, funny, and really conversational. Steve and Jennifer have a great chemistry off-screen and get along so well. It’s really no surprise the movie is so, so good. Here are some of my favorite highlights from our talk. And while you’re reading you need to really picture in your mind’s eye how Steve Carell would deliver these lines. Because it was HILARIOUS!
How did you both get involved with the project?
Steve: I was asked to be in it, and I said yes. I liked the script, I thought it was funny, inventive, and different. I feel like I hadn’t really seen this kind of family movie in a while. And the fact that Jen was going to do it was a huge draw for me, because I’d been a huge fan of hers for a long time. It’s true. We have met a few times over the years, but just sort of in passing, and when someone not only lives up to, but exceeds expectations, of everything you’ve heard about them? That was her. She’s just…
Jennifer: Steve Carell!
Steve: …the nicest person. She is. She’s the nicest person ever.
Jennfier: Well, he’s fibbing a little bit, because he was actually on this movie first, so I was the one who knew he was doing it and said “Oh, yeah, I’ve been dying to work with him forever.
Steve: Well, I continued to do it because …
Jennifer: We had a really good time.
I will bet you were laughing the whole time during the making of this film. How hard was that?
Jennifer: There are definitely scenes in the movie that, I don’t know how they cut me to because I just wanted Steve to think that I was professional. And there were times where I just couldn’t not laugh with him. I don’t know how anyone could. I defy you to be in a scene with him and not laugh.
Steve: Well, the same. The same from my perspective. The scene where she’s screaming at the car in front of us. I mean, that’s a side of her I had never seen before, and it was crushing me. It was so, so good.
Jennifer: The scene where we were in the car, making the weird sounds, and I look at him and he’s going, “Arararara!” I can’t even think about it. I can’t watch it.
Steve: But that was part of the joy of doing it. And the kids laughed too. Like it was work, and we tried to get it right, but it also had to be fun. And buoyant. What’s the point of doing anything unless you’re enjoying it, and I think everyone had a good time doing it.
Were there any days on set that were really bad days, just like in the film?
Steve: There was one that we kind of point to. There we scene where we were outside, around the car, talking after the big accident and after the driving test. And it must have been like 105 or something. And so that was probably the most arduous day, physically.
Jennifer: I think it was tough because the baby got upset.
Steve: Well, yeah.
Jennifer: It’s just that you know what that does, I mean, that practically made me lactate. It’s like, “Whaa –!” And there’s nothing you can do.
Steve: You know what? We can set her off just by going “Wahh!”
Alexander – Clip “Stop, Drop & Roll”
(Watch the clip above and this bit of the interview will make much more sense!)
How many shrimp did you have to catch in your mouth in the restaurant scene?
Steve: Oh. I caught the shrimp. Yeah, secret talent.
Jennifer: Did you know you had that talent?
Steve: I didn’t.
Jennifer: Until that moment?
Steve: I didn’t know that I had that eye-shrimp coordination.
Steve, tell us more about the fire scene in the restaurant.
Jennifer: So exciting.
Steve: Jen was like, petrified.
Jennifer: I was so nervous. Even though I had been set on fire before, you know what it’s going to be, but I was so nervous to watch.
Steve: Very protective.
Jennifer: I didn’t want the kids in the movie to watch him be set on fire. It was very, very tough on me.
Steve: It really wasn’t scary.
Jennifer: Steve, you got very, very unfunny.
Steve: I got focused. I got focused.
Jennifer: You got unfunny and very focused. You couldn’t say that you were not aware that you were on fire.
Steve: I was aware that I was on fire, and I prepared to be on fire. And then I was on fire. And it’s the type of thing you don’t want to do a lot. You don’t want to do 25 takes of the Steve on Fire scene. So, you just try to get it right that first time, so you can move on.
And it was the first time? You did it perfect?
Steve: Once or twice.
Jennifer: I feel like it was twice.
Alexander – Clip “This Day Was Cursed”
What was your favorite scene to film?
Jennifer: I liked when we were all together.
Steve: That’s what I was going say. We were all together for most of the movie.
Jennifer: A lot. The dancing at the end. It’s just, all of the fun stuff, is really fun. It looks fun, and it is. There was a day between scenes where they just put us in a little room in the house, and we all had our phones with us. And we sat with those kids, and nobody ever looked at their phones. We just talked. You wouldn’t think that you would have that much to talk about with teenagers, you know, because it seems like they’re from another planet. But these are the coolest group of the smartest, most interesting, engaging kids.
And the five of us just hung out together, and had the best time, and that, to me, is kind of the crux of this whole movie, was just that feeling in that room, and that nobody came in and bugged us. Nobody else was there. It was just us as a group. And it was something that we chose to do.
Steve: On my last day, Dylan and Kerris did a song for me that they had written. And Ed. The three of them. Sang this song. But I think the two of them wrote it and the three of them performed it, and I broke down. I really didn’t see it coming. Yeah. It really crept on me, the emotion of it all, and kind of the feelings that we all had, just over a couple of months for one another. And to see everyone again, and be doing press, is really fun.
Jennifer: It’s different when you work with kids. Like, I know I’ll see Steve. I’ll always be glad to see him and hopefully we’ll work together at some point, but we played these kids’ parents. You know. Especially the babies. If you are working with kids, even though there are people there, making sure they’re okay, and their parents, but you’re the one saying, “Do you want a snack? Do you have to pee?” Do you know? “Are you tired?”
Steve: There is a responsibility there. You want to make it okay for everybody. You want everybody to be happy. And be having fun. But, also, you know, you try to sense what’s is going on with them.
Hopefully the words on the screen come through with some of the energy that was in the room that day. It was such a fun interview with Steve and Jennifer. They are amazing people and made a fantastic movie. Plan a family movie night and go see what all the FUN is about!
Follow ALEXANDER on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to speed with the latest news. You can also check out the website for more info. I have free printables and the trailer for you, too. This movie is so, so good! I’ll have more cast interviews and my film review later this week so stay tuned!
ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY hits theaters October 10!
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