Zombieland
Written by Judy Sloane Tuesday, 29 September 2009 20:47
Interview
We chat to Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone about their gun-totin' horror movie Zombieland...
In a world that has been overrun with zombies, the hard-bitten Tallahasee (Woody Harrelson) has learnt to survive by taking out as many of the undead as he can. Teaming up with Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and the hard-edged Wichita (Emma Stone), the group make it their mission to bust zombie heads across the country. And, as they told us, making the movie was as much fun as it sounds.
Woody, your career has spanned 20-plus years but you've never done a horror movie before. Why now?
WOODY HARRELSON I guess it took Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to write it and Ruben Fleischer to ask. That had never happened before!
And Jesse, you usually play much quieter roles in movies like The Squid and the Whale and The Hunting Party, so what attracted you to this script? Was it the chance to do more action?
JESSE EISENBERG No. I prefer the mind-mannered parts of the script. They usually have another guy in my clothing do all the stuff that's exciting looking. I prefer the scenes that are quiet and talking and the action stuff was okay. It keeps you in shape I guess but otherwise, it's really just exhausting.
Emma, did the action appeal to you – you certainly seem to enjoy kicking some onscreen zombie butt!
EMMA STONE I'm terrible at action! I really am. I'm just bad at action movies. It was definitely interesting. It was something I'd never done before and I loved the character. I just can't run to save my life.Literally, to save my life. I hurt my muscle. I had to do ultra-sound physical therapy while we were shooting. And It was really nice of Rubin, (Fleischer, the director) after every take when I was crying and in so much pain, he'd say "you're not cut out for this. That looked horrible".
So how did you get under the skin of such a tough character, if she's so different to you?
STONE I was living vicariously through her. There's one part of me that feels brave like a bad ass in a situation where you feel out of control. I just tried to key into that and do that constantly instead of just as a fleeting feeling in me. But there were also parts of her that were vulnerable and scared and human. She wasn't brave all the time. There was a lot about her that I could relate to as a human being.
Woody, your character of Tallahassee has quite a unique personal style; did you have any input into his wardrobe?
HARRELSON I’ve never worked so hard on the outfit before. That’s the stuff I usually don’t put so much time into, but there were so many fittings and attempts to get that right. Ruben and I almost endlessly went back and forth on how much color to put in this or that, and I liked the way it turned out!
And what about Tallahassee's fondness of Twinkies; was that tough for you?
HARRELSON That was my biggest acting challenge. I’m not a big Twinkie lover. So, they made up a bunch of Twinkies that were actually edible for a guy like me, meaning without dairy and sugar, and all that nonsense. They were cornmeal. They were really delicious, good Twinkies. There is the possibility that Hostess could do a healthy Twinkie. It’s a thought. Maybe this movie could spark a revolution.
Although it's a horror movie, there are some laugh out loud moments. Did you find it hard to keep a straight face?
STONE Woody always keeps a straight face. I never keep a straight face, ever, ever. I break all the time. I should not be in comedies, or action films... I shouldn't be doing movies! Any time anybody does improv I laugh, when a joke is funny I laugh. I'm like an audience. You should just bounce it off of me. If it’s going to be funny, I will laugh. Woody doesn’t break.
HARRELSON No, I did. During our mysterious celebrity cameo, it was real hard to keep it together. In fact, I think we probably lost some good jokes of his because he was framed with us in it, and they couldn’t use it because we were laughing so hard, which was really unprofessional, but understandable.
Funny moments aside, the movie is all about the zombie slaughter. Which are your favourite kills?
STONE I like when I get to butt a zombie in the back of the head with my Shotgun. It also has the added effect of being in slow-motion in the movie and he falls. He really got hurt, but I never saw him bleed.
HARRELSON My favorite kill was the one with the butter knife to the jugular.
EISENBERG The script was endless violence. All the kills were so creative! I guess my favorite was the top of the toilet. What do you call that part? They called it the porcelain lid but the 15-year-old demo isn't going to appreciate that so we called it the killer toilet.
Emma, what was it like to work with Abigail Breslin as your little sister?
STONE We went by Emma-gail. She was just amazing, you couldn’t ask for anybody better to play your little sister. We got along so well and I felt really, really lucky. She’s not just a cool kid, she’s like a really cool person. She’s like a small person and it seems like she’s incredibly developed. But she also really likes Twilight and the Jonas Brothers, so she’s normal. But every chance I got to hang out with her was so much fun, it was a blast, I was incredibly lucky.
HARRELSON Not only did Abigail summon the tears every time you shot that scene, but when the camera wasn’t on her she still did it. When the camera was on us she’s still summoning tears. Amazing, I mean, really amazing.
F inally Jesse, your opening narration talks about the evolution of the zombie virus and there are obviously parallels with the current panic over Swine Flu. Was that intentional?
EISENBERG Yeah. We actually planned the Swine Flu to coincide with the movie opening. And there's some collateral damage but, ultimately, we'll have a big opening weekend. If it doesn't kill too many.
