Jason Segel & Mila Kunis Forgetting Sarah Marshal Interview

Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Oahu

Q: How was it filming in Hawaii?

Mila Kunis: I think it's actually very inspiring. You wake up -we were staying in the villas -the walk to set was across the beach. You literally walk alongside the beach. It was very relaxing. Waking up at 4:15 has never been better. Truly and honestly you wake up and you are walking to base camp and the sunrise is in front of you and it's gorgeous and stunning and in the most stressful of days nobody was ever stressed. You were innately so calm and so at peace it's bizarre.

Jason Segel: When we had lunch it was quite a sight to behold. They would call lunch and literally half the crew would dive into the ocean and swim for an hour, surf, and then come back in to continue shooting. And then we would all collide at the pool bar every night so it became a real family environment. It was sort of like camp.

Mila Kunis: It was camp! The first two weeks we were here we had yoga and horseback riding. This was the first production I've ever done where it truly felt like a collaboration of everybody involved.

Jason Segel: I had to work every minute of every day. We were here for 3 months and I believe Mila worked for 6 days.

Mila Kunis: Seven and a half. You guys worked every day and I worked 2 or 3 times a week. I had so many days off.

Jason Segel: You got tan as hell too.

Mila Kunis: That was my job. After a few weeks here they said, You better get tan, you are a local. I was like, okay. All of a sudden I was laying out. It was the greatest gig I could ever ask for. I learned to surf. It was good.


Q: How were the nude scenes?

Mila Kunis: I wasn't naked. I had a little nipple cover. In one of the early cuts you could see a nipple. Jason and I were having sex and on the side all you could see is a blue butterfly right in front of the nipples.

Jason Segel: I think this is the first movie with nudity, but no female nudity, only male nudity. It's bizarre.


Q: Did you feel embarrassed?

Jason Segel: I was born to some extent without a sense of shame and any amount of shame I have had Judd has beaten out of me for the last 10 years. He's been slowly undressing me on camera since Freaks and Geeks. It started with little Speedo underwear on Freaks and Geeks and by Undeclared he had me in just a towel and in Knocked Up he had me naked but covering myself. And now he's finally achieved his master goal of me being naked.

The thing that I like about it is it's not gratuitous in the way that it's done. It's also not done for a cheap laugh. It's not like I'm running through the Hawaiian beach and my towel falls off and everyone laughs. It takes place in a dramatic scene where the guy is literally having the most vulnerable moment of his life. The woman he wants to marry is dumping him, and having him be naked in that scene, I think, metaphorically, it was everything that he was going through realized. The other reason its in there is that I had a naked break-up in my younger years. I was dating this woman who got back from a trip she was on and she called me literally from the airport. She was like, "I just landed, I need to come see you." And I took that to mean, "I've been on a trip, I need to have sex."

So she arrives at my house and I'm there waiting for her like a flabby Chippendales model and she walks through the door and I did the east/west and I said, "Hey baby, I've been waiting for you." And she looked at me sadly and said, "Jason, we need to talk." And I knew what was happening and this break-up commences where all of a sudden I'm being dumped while I'm naked, and the whole time, and this might have been part of the problem in the relationship, I should be experiencing this as a person having a real moment in their life, and all I kept thinking was I cannot wait for her to leave so I can call Judd and tell him what just happened because nothing funnier in my life will ever happen than this. So that's why it's in there.

And then we thought it would be funny to book-end it because by the time the end of the movie comes you've kind of forgotten about the nudity at the beginning, and then to go out with one more quick shot just made me laugh. I thought that was a funny idea.


Q: People seem to be OK with female nudity but it's different with male nudity. Is it still a taboo?

Jason Segel: Yeah, I think that's a façade though. I've had a lot of men like, "Oh, that made me so uncomfortable", but I don't think it did because when I actually watch in a theater the men are kind of laughing the hardest. Women are more like, "Oh, oh, no, no." And men are laughing pretty hard, but then ego-wise they have to be like, "Eh, that's disgusting, why would he do that?" But I don't know what the next taboo is. I have to think it would be pretty disgusting. Any thoughts?


Q: Did you click right away when you first met?

Mila Kunis: Yeah, Jason and I got along really well really fast.

Jason Segel: We are both very easy going, Mila and I. Also, I was basically paying her.

Mila Kunis: It worked out well. It was only a small group of us in Hawaii and we all became friends really quickly.

Jason Segel: Mila and I chat until 3 in the morning.

Mila Kunis: We did last week. We talk all the time. It was so easy. He's writing his musical. And he was online and I was working and I just finished. I got on and he was like, "What are you doing?" It was pretty laid back and very healthy. I saw his penis. He's seen all my bits and pieces and I've seen all his.

Jason Segel: She had to do a scene where she walks in to the dressing room and she's supposed to be lovelorn for me and 'I missed you' and she's supposed to walk towards me passionately and embrace me and instead she walks in and literally walks towards me while staring directly at my penis laughing hysterically. It was a real blow to the ego. I'm not going to lie to you. We wanted a genuine reaction of laughter from Mila...

Mila Kunis: So when the camera turns around and they are done showing his penis I figured he'd put his robe on or maybe a pair of underwear. I didn't think twice about it. My parents just walked through the door so I walk out and they come in and he's behind the cameras and his penis doesn't show, no one sees it. And I walk in and he just drops his robe and starts doing a puppet show with his penis for me, full on puppetry of the penis, like the watch, and Elmo, and a little Eiffel Tower thing going on and a little Leaning Tower of Pisa happening. It was a lot of different things, full on puppetry of the penis, so how could I not look? I was like, "Oh, Elmo, I get it." And then he did the next one. It was kind of great.

Jason Segel: I love that you made Elmo one of them because now in my mind I have to figure out how to do that.

Mila Kunis: It's like you take your penis and you squish the balls on top of it so it looks like Elmo. (by now she is laughing really hard)

Jason Segel: That's right. I remember that. I've loved puppetry since I was a little boy.


Q: Did you practice that?

Jason Segel: Literally it was a spur of the moment thing, but Nick and Judd said to me at the beginning that anytime I'm off camera, and he wasn't thinking of my penis when he said this, but feel free to throw them off their game and shock them, not just to make them laugh, but also in dramatic scenes. Feel free to push them. And so it just seemed like a good opportunity to give her a push.

Mila Kunis: I think it was a spur of the moment thing. It was a couple of whisky shots and all of a sudden you were more than comfortable with your penis.

Jason Segel: I guess in fairness I was pretty drunk. I had to get drunk to do those nude scenes.


Q: How was the kissing scene?

Mila Kunis: In the very last scene he's naked and I come and hug him and he's still naked and this is like 12 hours after work, the last day of production and everything, and he has downed, I would say, half a bottle. And so you get a little sloppy. And Nick says, "Go in for a nice romantic slow kiss." So I'm walking to him giggling and I'm coming to grab his face. We'll demonstrate this for you (and she does by pulling his face). He completely starts swallowing my face and my head.

Jason Segel: I was drunk and I wasn't really taking direction well. Nick said, "Listen Jase, this is the final shot of the movie and it's a pull-back shot and I want a nice romantic kiss while I pull back. What was so romantic about that?' Fuck you, Nick!

Mila Kunis: I'm little and he's big and his arms would, like they are supposed to go maybe around the waist, but no, they were like this. He was swallowing my face and I kept laughing so hard. (She is laughing through the whole thing and he starts laughing too)


Q: Are you jealous?

Jason Segel: I'm not lying when I say this. I was cured of jealousy by watching one episode of Dr. Phil. It was one sentence that immediately cured me of jealousy. He said, "The problem with jealously is you ask yourself hypothetical questions like what if this person leaves me, what if this person cheats on me? And you let those questions echo in your brain and you become incredibly jealous." He said, "The problem is you never follow through and just answer the question. And the answer to those questions is, it will hurt, and I'll eventually be fine, and I'll meet somebody else." And as soon as I kind of wrapped my head around that I stopped being scared. The answer to what if this person cheats on me is it will hurt and then I'll be fine afterwards. So I don't know. That was the end of jealousy for me for the most part.

Mila Kunis: I'm not a jealous person at all, not in the slightest. I've been in a 6-year relationship. If something happens then it happens. Without having watched Dr. Phil it feels like I have that exact same outlook. If it happens it happens for a reason. I have not an ounce of jealousy in me. I think it's the ugliest emotion.


Q: Doesn't that mean that you don't care?

Mila Kunis: It means that I care too much. I think it's completely the opposite. I care enough to understand. Why does caring have to be anger? It's the same thing as people out there that love fighting because fighting shows that they care. I disagree. You can show that you care without raising your voice. You can show that you care without desperation. Knowing that you care is all you have to do. I don't feel like showing it with words is different from showing it with actions. Saying you love somebody does not necessarily mean you love them. My boyfriend and I don't fight. We don't raise our voices. It's a very calm, understanding, trustworthy relationship. And that's why I think it's lasted as long as it did, because it's based on trust.


Q: He's not jealous of you?

Mila Kunis: Not in the slightest. My parents have been married 35 years. My grandparents are married over 50 or 60 years. I think jealousy is such an ugly emotion that consumes so much of a human being at all times. Not even relationships, I just mean jealousy of another human being's life or career or house or car. And why? So many people want certain things instead of just wanting what they have they always wants somebody else's, and I think it's a really ugly way to live your life.

Jason Segel: Mila is one of the most levelheaded people I've ever met. I've gone to Mila with personal problems and she is my Dr. Phil.


Q: Can you talk about the underlying themes in the Judd Apatow films?

Jason Segel: Nick, Judd, and I are kind of like-minded in that none of us are particularly the image of a macho man. And I think all three of us are romantics and women have this power over us and we can't seem to exactly put our finger on why, but a lot of the movies explore that, the notion of not necessarily feeling worthy of the person you are with, is a running theme in these. This character is different than the Knocked Up version of the story where it's a chubby guy who is trying to learn to let his emotions out. This is actually the opposite. It's about a very sensitive guy who is trying to learn to get some backbone. But I think exploring relationships is something that is really interesting for us and the nature of how they change. One of the things Judd said to me while I was writing this script is, feel free on the first draft to turn in a drama. Don't feel this pressure to have there be set comedy pieces and slapstick jokes and raunchy humor.

These movies only work if they are based in truth and we take a great pride in that we are willing to dig as deep as we can into this well spring of humiliation that we've actually experienced in our lives, starting with Freaks and Geeks. Some of those stories are really out of our lives. The scene where Sam Levine in Freaks and Geeks goes around town on his bicycle because he's found a garage door opener in his dad's car that doesn't belong to them and he's just clicking at every house until he finds the woman that he's cheating with. That happened in one of those writer's lives, and the naked break-up happened in my life so I think the thing that binds all these movies is they come from a place of reality and truth and heart. So the subject matters are different, but it's about digging deep because everybody can relate to something if you are really honest about it. When you try to funny it up too much you end up getting a dumb comedy. But these, I think there is something different about it. They are dramas at heart.

Those things are funny. You'll laugh at a fart joke. I don't know after an hour and a half sitting in a theater how much that's going to resonate with you. I don't know if an hour later you are going to be talking about it, but I hope with a move like this there are things you will remember. I think the notion of running into your ex girlfriend with a man who even you think is better than you is something people can really relate to.

Mila Kunis: I will say that both of those shows were incredibly critically acclaimed. Regardless if people watched them or not they were really well respected shows because they had talented people and I think talent will always overstay popularity. That's the bottom line. 70s Show came out and Freaks and Geeks came out and I remember thinking that's a brilliant show. And I think the bottom line is maybe it will take longer, maybe it's not as quick, but ultimately they will always prevail over what's hot at that moment. Those shows were not number one, but they were so smart and so funny and had such great people in it that yeah, maybe it took 5 or 6 years longer, but every single one of those actors is huge and so is Judd.

Jason Segel: I think another reason we are having the success at the moment is, the reason our group has stuck together is that we found this group of like-minded collaborators and we read each other's scripts and throw ideas off each other. It is a very special environment to find people who your senses of humor are similar, your style is similar in the way you communicate, and when you find that there is sort of no reason to mess with that recipe. But I do think part of the reason we've stuck around and are doing well is because Judd himself is the most loyal person I've ever met and cares about all of us deeply, but maybe more than that, when those shows got canceled, Judd is a prideful gentleman. He, Count of Monte Cristo style, decided he was going to show every executive that he was right and that we were good. We were on a plane the other day and finally he turns to me and goes, I finally got you the lead in a movie. I can rest now. And he reclined his seat. But I think there is some element of that with Judd, like, no, fuck you guys, I'm going to show you Segal can be a lead, Rogan can be a lead. Because, I don't know. We work hard and we are theoretically we are talented dudes, but I couldn't have gotten this movie made without Judd. No way no how.


Q: What's your next film?

Jason Segel: Five-Year Engagement is with Judd and Nick to direct. Nick and I are writing it together. Judd will produce for Universal. Nick will direct it and I'll star in it, but then Nick and I are also writing the new Muppet movie, which is my dream come true. So I'm a happy boy.


Q: Were there any deleted scenes that you are looking forward on the DVD?

Mila Kunis: There was a scene with Russell and Kristen where they are horseback riding that I thought was hysterical that didn't make it to the movie.


Q: Were any of your scenes deleted?

Jason Segel: I think that she did so well in her scenes that we had to choice but to keep them all.

Mila Kunis: There was also a great yoga scene.

Jason Segel: With the funny Kristen Wiig who is the funniest people I've ever met.

Mila Kunis: But they both are on the DVD.


Order Now from Chaos
Order Now from Sanity

Kristen Bell Forgetting Sarah Marshall Interview - www.girl.com.au/kristen-bell-forgetting-sarah-marshall-interview.htm
Russell Brand Forgetting Sarah Marshall Interview - www.femail.com.au/russell-brand-forgetting-sarahmarshall-interview.htm

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd
Director: Nick Stoller
Rated: MA15+
Genre: Comedies

From the producers of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up comes a comic look at one guy's arduous quest to grow up and get over the heartbreak of being dumped -- if he can only make himself start Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel, How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up) has spent six years idolizing his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars). He's the guy left holding her purse in paparazzi photos and accidentally omitted from acceptance award speeches. But his world is rocked when she dumps him and Peter finds himself alone. After an unsuccessful bout of womanizing and an on-the-job nervous breakdown, he sees that not having Sarah may just ruin his life.

To clear his head, Peter takes an impulsive trip to Oahu, where he is confronted by his worst nightmare: his ex and her tragically hip new British-rocker boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), are sharing his hotel. But as he torments himself with the reality of Sarah's new life, he finds relief in a flirtation with Rachel (Mila Kunis), a beautiful resort employee whose laid-back approach tempts him to rejoin the world. He also finds relief in several hundred embarrassing, fruity cocktails. For anyone who has ever had their heart ripped out and cut into a billion pieces comes a hilarious, heartfelt look at relationships -- featuring Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader and Jack McBrayer. Part romantic comedy, part disaster film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the world's first romantic disaster comedy.

DVD BONUS MATERIAL INCLUDES:
o Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes
o Gag reel and much more

"Screamingly funny" - Zoo
"Brilliantly, outrageously, painfully funny" - James King, Radio 1