New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

TG: Somehow we muddled through (laughs).

TP: It was a tough time, but we pushed through.

TG: I’m not a method actor. Say if I were playing a blind person, I wouldn’t go for months pretending I couldn’t see. But this is the closest I’ll ever be to method acting, because I loved the group of people I was with, we were partying our asses off during our free time, and it bled into the film.

Topher, how was it working with That ‘70s Show writers Jackie & Jeff Filgo on the film again?

TG: It was great. They really know my voice. They are a pleasure to work with and they wrote the show for the years I really thought it stood out. There’s a real racism against sitcom writers, because sitcoms are filmed in a cheap way and the cameras really far away from the subject, there’s an audience laughing… But I remember thinking [on ‘70s Show set], “Man, if the scripts that I was doing in the movies were as half as good as this, it would be really hilarious and amazing.” So I was very happy to be in a position to say that we are going to hire these guys.

How was the casting experience?

TG: It was the best part. You kind of feel like as a young actor in Hollywood, you have heard rumors of who is kind of a jerk, who’s cool, and you have your opinions of who is a good actor; but normally you don’t get your opinions heard. They say, “Hey, here is the person you are in the movie with.” But in this case it was great to be able to make the decisions. I remember Teresa and I actually met in an audition for another movie and I said, “That girl is really good.” And Anna Faris I’ve always wanted to work with. I think it is egotistical that I think she can be my twin equivalent (laughs). Dan [Fogler] I’ve seen on Broadway, he won the Tony for The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee. I wanted to work with that crew.

Did you always envision yourself as the lead when making the story?

TG: Always, every movie that I read (laughs).

What are the differences between playing a movie role and a TV role as an actor?

TG: I remember asking Michael Douglas that [question] when I did Traffic which was my first film. He started off on Streets of San Francisco and I asked him that same question and he gave me this crazy answer that taught me a lot about acting! He was like, “You know it is really all the same thing,” and he kind of walked away (laughs). It really is, though. It’s no different than how I talk to you and then how I talk to [Teresa], you talk and act the same way to almost everyone. There is no mystery. I think the fact there is no mystery is the great mystery. It’s all the same thing.

Continued:       1       2       3       4