Just in time for the summer, Kristen Wiig (“Saturday Night Live,” “Paul”) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Reno 911!”) burst into theatres with the bawdy, sassy comedy “Bridesmaids.”
Blast sat down with these lovely comediennes to talk improv, the benefits of being weird, and why this isn’t just another ‘chick flick.’
BLAST: So we have to ask, as the film seems so organic, how much of it was ad-libbed and how much was scripted? Because I know you both have great ad-libbing skills.
WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY: Well, we filmed all the scenes as scripted, but then there were some scenes that kind of lent themselves to more improv. So we made sure we got the coverage of the scripted version, and then they would just…let us go, you know?
At the restaurant, and definitely in the opening engagement scene, where you see all of us for the first time. A lot of improv for that.
KRISTEN WIIG: ‘Cause we’re being introduced to their characters, so we’d done a lot of rehearsal and they had an opportunity to kind of figure out who their characters were and where they were from. So, when we meet them at the engagement party – Paul [Feig, the director] and Judd [Apatow, the producer] were so great about being like “Go. Just talk.” It was so fun to watch all the ladies do their stuff.
BLAST: You mention character development, and I think this fill really fleshes everyone out nicely. When writing the script, was that a focus?
KW: We definitely wanted to have each person be different, but not in the way where you would question how all of these people were in the same room together. Also, after meeting the girls and having them do a lot of improv in the auditions and rehearsals – we rehearsed for…how many weeks?
WMC: I’d say six weeks. And the audition material we were given was not in the film, so we all read the same scenes. It was just who’s going to do it what way, and we’ll kind of make their characters up, depending on what their take is on this material. That was kind of part of it too.
KW: Exactly. It just sort of worked out.
WMC: And again, where else but a wedding would you put these idiots together? Wedding parties are notorious for putting together a mélange of people who would never be friends.
KW: That might be one of the reason why there are a lot of movies about weddings, because you can put any person you want in the same room.
BLAST: Ok, so there are plenty of movies out there about weddings, mostly in the ‘chick flick’ vein. This is far raunchier and real than your average rom-com. What was the impetus behind doing this kind of women’s movie?
KW: I feel like when we started writing it, we never saw it as a ‘wedding movie.’ Actually in the earlier drafts, for the first maybe three years, there wasn’t even a wedding in it at the end. We didn’t really set out the make it different from other movies, or make a statement about those movies. The wedding is the backdrop, in a way.
I don’t know – we just wanted to write a fun script that our friends could come in and play, and write something that had a lot of women in it.
WMC: Without being a chick flick. Because so many movies, it’s like – I mean, I know what you’re saying – who talks that way? Nobody I know. We aren’t like a bunch of Victorian ladies who speak in code for things. Yeah, we’re very real and yeah, we talk about sex. Then we talk about our feelings afterwards. But it’s just like, this is how people are.
KW: Yeah, we drink, we swear, we have a good time.
WMC: I don’t know why this is so surprising. Just like all men don’t love sports. Women don’t go shoe shopping every day, and men don’t go to the Super Bowl every day.
BLAST: This film has a number of cringe-worthy moments, most notably in the scene at the bridal shop. How does shooting something like that go?
KW: We were there…I feel like it was a four day shoot.
WMC: The bridal shop scene was about four days. The actual “bathroom” stuff – that took a mere eight hours. Lots and lots of takes.
KW: Sorry about that. I realize now, I got out of it pretty easy. I just had to eat some candy. No, we were there – we were making sure the vomit was the right consistency and that the girls were ok.
WMC: It was great. For as much as I didn’t want to do it when I read it, it was fun while it was happening.
BLAST: Melissa McCarthy was hilarious in that scene, and she steals a lot of scenes, I think. When you two were wrestling on the couch, did you have to choreograph that?
KW: No, it was just ‘throw me around and I’ll try to stay on the couch.’
BLAST: And she bit your butt.
KW: She didn’t really bite my butt! I don’t think. I think I would’ve remembered that.
WMC: You blocked it out. I’m pretty sure she bit your butt.
KW: She’s very funny in that, with the dogs coming over. Actually getting all those dogs in the patio took a lot longer than it looks. She just had to get them in there, to stay in, and it was a little difficult. Because you can’t take a leash and just go ‘that way’ with a dog.
BLAST: Did you do your own driving in the film, to get the cop’s attention?
KW: Part of it? I didn’t do the doughnut. The parts where you’re seeing the two of us in the car, we’re being pulled, so I had to loosely touch the steering wheel. But when we were driving by, that was me. Except for like, super high speed stuff. I’ve got to give the stunt driver some credit there.
BLAST: There’s been some talk about the marketing of the film – that the trailer isn’t selling the full hilarity of it. Do you get to play a role in that?
KW: I don’t, I have no part in the trailer making.
WMC: You had no part in the editing of the movie.
KW: Right? I mean, I could make suggestions and things but, ultimately, I really didn’t have any say in that.
BLAST: Kristen, we recently saw you in “Paul,” which was a pretty funny flick as well, thought definitely more canted toward men. How different was making a decidedly more female film?
KW: I will say that, being on a predominately female set is rare, not just in reference to “Paul.” Besides “Whip It” for me, every movie I’ve done has been mostly guys. And “Whip It” is actually a good example of another movie that has mostly women in it. I hope that it’s not a rare thing, for the future, to have a comedy or any movie have a lot of women in it.
So many people are saying it’s this different thing because of that, and that’s sad to me – to see a poster with six ladies on it is rare. There are so many amazing, funny women out there. We should have the opportunity to do more things like this.
BLAST: Are you thinking about doing another script with a lot of women? Or are you taking a break now?
KW: Well, I’m finishing up the season [of “Saturday Night Live”] now. I’m writing something now that’s the adaptation of a novel so there’s not that many characters in it.
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