Out in two weeks, Horrible Bosses is poised to be the R-rated comedy of the summer. Or, at least the R-rated comedy of the summer with the most laughs. Directed by Seth Gordon and starring the hilarious trio of Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day, the film follows what happens when three everymen are pushed to their limits by the titular evil taskmasters (Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell). Spoiler: murder plotting happens. Also, some great chemistry.
That chemistry was on full display when the cast convened for a lively press conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan on Friday. Bateman, Sudeikis, Day and Gordon were joined by the film's screenwriters (including former Freaks and Geeks star John Francis Daley), and a little someone known as America's Sweetheart. That would be Aniston, for those keeping score at home, and not Spacey or Farrell (the two male co-stars couldn't make it). Movieline will have much more about the funny Horrible Bosses in the coming weeks, but for now enjoy the best revelations from the press conference.
For her role as a sexually harassing dentist, Jennifer Aniston went Method...
"I did go to the dentist right before hand," Aniston said when how she prepared for the role. "See how they hold the tools."
...but she didn't consult with SmartWater.
Yes, one reported did ask Aniston if her racy Horrible Bosses role was a problem for SmartWater -- one of her recent employers. "Ah, no. I didn't."
Once upon a time, Jennifer Aniston had a real job.
"Toughest job I ever had was being a bike messenger in New York City," Aniston revealed. "Yeah. I was 19." While Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day both thought that was "hot," Aniston disagreed. "Not if you saw me riding the bike."
Studio executives were worried that audiences wouldn't recognize Aniston because of her hair.
Aniston has dark hair in the film, which apparently made some people uneasy. "My look for this was -- you guys wanted her to look different -- I wanted her to have dark hair, because I was doing a movie right before and right after," she said. "We had this wonderful time period that we called HairGate, because the studio was refusing -- they did not want me to wear a wig. 'No one will know who you are!' I'm like, 'What do you mean? They'll know my name because my name is in the credits.'
Crisis averted, Aniston said the darker hair was actually key to her performance. "There was just no way that I could be saying these words, and playing this woman, and not look somewhat different. So, that was really fun for me. I just completely felt such freedom. That was really fun. I never had that much in a character before."
Jason Bateman is aware he's typecast now, but that's show business.
If you're getting a bit used to seeing Jason Bateman playing the everyman voice of reason, you're not alone. Bateman is, too. "You do get hired for what you last did. I guess it becomes your choice or obligation to do different things. I haven't had the luxury of drastically different roles come my way," he revealed. "Hopefully I will someday, and I'll take those. Up until then, I will basically take what I can get."
Charlie Day is pretty certain cheating on your spouse is a terrible thing to do.
In Bosses, Day's character, Dale, is engaged to be married, and gets tempted throughout the film by Aniston. His onscreen friends often wonder what the problem with that is -- who wouldn't want someone who looks like Jennifer Aniston to sexually harass them? -- and apparently some audience members do too. "I've gotten that question here and there," Day said when asked about whether Dale should have cheated with Aniston's Dr. Julia Harris. "I got one earlier from a reporter who said, 'I would have slept with her.' I said, 'Are you in a relationship?' He says, 'Yeah, I've been dating a girl for six years.' 'Will you write that in the article?' [Laughs]" Note to that reporter's girlfriend: get out while you still can.
You might think Jason Sudeikis loves improvising, but you'd be wrong.
"Less improvisation," the Saturday Night Live star said when asked how much improv went down on the set. "Improvisation, for me -- when you say that, I think, 'The cameras start rolling and we don't know where we're going, and let's just waste peoples' time and money.' That's not what happens. There's a lot of people, a lot of time. These guys -- all three writers [Daley, Michael Markowitz and Jonathan Goldstein] -- laid out a tremendous frame work. And then we just sort of, at the beginning of the day, the four of us -- Charlie, Jason, Seth and I -- we developed a different rhythm."
That said, Sudeikis is great off the cuff.
When one journalist asked whether or not the cast could imagine what two of the characters in the film would look like having sex (no spoilers), Sudeikis whipped out a pencil to illustrate. "These are stick figures, it's going to be very crude," he joked. "Assuming all our sex organs are in the same place, you've probably seen sex like that before."
And, yes, he's also just plain hilarious.
"Jason Bateman, I've never seen you give a bad performance," said one reporter. "We gotta get you a Netflix account," quipped Sudeikis. Tip your waitress.