Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer have been friends since 7th grade and make up The Lonely Island comedy trio.They are currently part of the team behind Saturday Night Live with Samberg in front of the camera and Taccone and Schaffer part of the writing staff.
Hot Rod
But the trio have branched out onto the big screen with Hot Rod which follows Rod Kimble a wannabe stuntman.FemaleFirst caught up with Andy and Akiva to talk about their first cinema project and what lies in store for them next.
How much was the script changed from when it was a Will Ferrell project?
Andy - I will tell you, and this is just between us, he is actually still in there.
Akiva - It changed a little bit, since it was written for Will Ferrell we couldn't have Andy doing a Will Ferrell impression, it was very well written for Will Ferrell, which means you couldn't picture anyone else in because it was specifically written for his voice. So just as a matter of necessity, so Andy wasn't walking around saying big Will Ferrell lines, and then everything always changes on set when start making things up so it changed a little bit there too.
And was the eighties tone something you set out to capture or was it something that was caught by accident?
Andy - Yeah we kind of imagined that these dudes were kind of stuck, along with their emotional growth, and their interest in popular culture had probably stunted around the same time so we wanted to seem like they had stopped growing up 1988. They had stopped gaining new interests so we wanted the things around them to reflect that.
How much easier was to shoot your first feature length movie having known each other so long?
Akiva - I imagine it made it much easier because it was the three of us, we have never done it the other way.
Andy - What other way is there really once you have done this?
Akiva - Exactly it's just conjecture at this point.
What did you learn from making your shorts that you were able to apply when making Hot Rod?
Akiva - I don't know. But the three of us working together doing the shorts and then doing a movie the day to day of setting up a shot and doing what is necessary for that shot that's not that big of a difference, when you have a hundred people around you or a few, the core people are the same basically. It just ends up looking better, or the explosions are real instead of paper mache or animated, everything gets bigger but it's not that different from a creative stand point.
Andy - You could almost say, pun intended, that we have a certain shorthand, pun intended.
Akiva - Very good! Terrific stuff.
How easy can you bounce ideas off each other does one person rope the other one if they are going slightly off course?
Andy - Yeah it's a constant argument as you can imagine.
Akiva - And it's a three way argument, the third who is not on the phone with us right now.
And with Lonely Island you both acted and now Andy is the face of Hot Rod how did you decide who did what, who went on front of the camera and who went behind?
Akiva - Well Andy is on Saturday Night Live, it wasn't our decision, he was always more of the performer, him and Jorma, and Andy got on that show, I don't even know how far back this started but it was a foregone conclusion over here, it wasn't just the website to Hot Rod, there was a TV show that made Andy the face before the movie.
They offered the three of us auditions and Andy actually got the show, which was very neat because a lot of people auditioned. I didn't take the audition because I'm not that much of a performer and me and Jorma got put on the show as writers. Then we started making those shorts together as a team and then the movie really got offered to Andy and we got to continue what we do together on it.
I read that you (Andy) had never ridden a moped before so how much of the stunt work was done by you?
Andy - A good majority of the stuff on the moped is me any time there was something that was really really nasty there is a good chance it was another person with a big prosthetic nose. But I did as much as Paramount would let me but there was a certain point where they were like you could get hurt doing this and the whole production would shut down. I think luckily they didn't let me do as much as I would have liked.
How much training did you have to do prior to the beginning of filming?
Andy - I trained on the bike pretty much everyday for what a month before we started filming?
Akiva - Yeah just for a little bit.
Andy - And on the moped, I got pretty smooth on the moped, I even trained on the big actual motorcycle, although once you get in front of a thousand extras I didn't get too much time on the real motorcycle.
What was it like having Ian McShane as your father?
Andy - It was a dream come true (laughs)
And having him beat you up?
Andy - Well I will say this of McShane when he gets the fire in his eyes and starts doing an angry scene you forget how nice he is off set and you get a little bit frightened, that helped because I don't really have any acting technique so I really just felt fear for my life.
How different is producer Lorne Michaels to work with on a movie compared to working with him on Saturday Night Live?
Andy - I think a little more relaxed because you are shooting in the summer time, your show isn't going to be done and airing in under forty eight hours other than that it was pretty similar.
Akiva - Everything is just more relaxed on a movie that you are shooting over a month or two as opposed to a TV show were you have to make up ninety minutes of stuff in four days. And it was live, a movie is opposite of a live TV show you have all that time to edit.
And which do you prefer working under the pressure or the longer shoots?
Akiva - Oh I don't know what do you think Andy?
Andy _ I don't think that I have one set preference. The great thing about working on the show you get such an immediate payoff, it's really stressful and high in intensity, but then the show actually airs live and millions of people see it and you get that rush at the end of every week, it's like immediate payback. But with a movie you are able to control things much more and be more meticulous.
Akiva - The truth is you do things every week on SNL (Saturday Night Live) and if it comes out good it's amazing, because you only thought of it two days ago. If it comes out bad then it's kind of throw away and you get to come back next week.
On a movie, for anybody, things work and when things don't you have had to spend a year waiting and you have to wait another year or two before you can try something new. Where as the show is pretty great because you can try something new and redeem yourself immediately for things that you don't like or when something is good and does work out you didn't wait a year for it to be good you just thought it up a few days ago.
How great an influence did you have on the soundtrack?
Akiva - We pretty much decided that, completely. 100% control on that.
Andy - We got producer credit.
Akiva - We just really liked that Europe album, we liked every song on it, and we decided that would be the soundtrack.
Andy - I like to think that Hot Rod is the past year's Garden State soundtrack.
Akiva - You like to think that ha?
Andy - Well I like to, and why not I mean it's true. I also like to fly in my dreams.
Finally what is next for you?
Andy - Well we are on a writer's strike right now so we are not even really sure, we are hoping that this will end and we can go back to SNL.
Akiva - We are supposed to be working in the show right now, even this week we are supposed to have a show, but instead we are at Andy's apartment sleeping til noon.
Andy - But I think that I can say that we defintely want to do another movie at some point.
Hot Rod is out to own on DVD now.
FemaleFirst Helen EarnshawAndy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer have been friends since 7th grade and make up The Lonely Island comedy trio.They are currently part of the team behind Saturday Night Live with Samberg in front of the camera and Taccone and Schaffer part of the writing staff.But the trio have branched out onto the big screen with Hot Rod which follows Rod Kimble a wannabe stuntman.FemaleFirst caught up with Andy and Akiva to talk about their first cinema project and what lies in store for them next.
How much was the script changed from when it was a Will Ferrell project?
Andy - I will tell you, and this is just between us, he is actually still in there.
Akiva - It changed a little bit, since it was written for Will Ferrell we couldn't have Andy doing a Will Ferrell impression, it was very well written for Will Ferrell, which means you couldn't picture anyone else in because it was specifically written for his voice. So just as a matter of necessity, so Andy wasn't walking around saying big Will Ferrell lines, and then everything always changes on set when start making things up so it changed a little bit there too.
And was the eighties tone something you set out to capture or was it something that was caught by accident?
Andy - Yeah we kind of imagined that these dudes were kind of stuck, along with their emotional growth, and their interest in popular culture had probably stunted around the same time so we wanted to seem like they had stopped growing up 1988. They had stopped gaining new interests so we wanted the things around them to reflect that.
How much easier was to shoot your first feature length movie having known each other so long?
Akiva - I imagine it made it much easier because it was the three of us, we have never done it the other way.
Andy - What other way is there really once you have done this?
Akiva - Exactly it's just conjecture at this point.
What did you learn from making your shorts that you were able to apply when making Hot Rod?
Akiva - I don't know. But the three of us working together doing the shorts and then doing a movie the day to day of setting up a shot and doing what is necessary for that shot that's not that big of a difference, when you have a hundred people around you or a few, the core people are the same basically. It just ends up looking better, or the explosions are real instead of paper mache or animated, everything gets bigger but it's not that different from a creative stand point.
Andy - You could almost say, pun intended, that we have a certain shorthand, pun intended.
Akiva - Very good! Terrific stuff.
How easy can you bounce ideas off each other does one person rope the other one if they are going slightly off course?
Andy - Yeah it's a constant argument as you can imagine.
Akiva - And it's a three way argument, the third who is not on the phone with us right now.
And with Lonely Island you both acted and now Andy is the face of Hot Rod how did you decide who did what, who went on front of the camera and who went behind?
Akiva - Well Andy is on Saturday Night Live, it wasn't our decision, he was always more of the performer, him and Jorma, and Andy got on that show, I don't even know how far back this started but it was a foregone conclusion over here, it wasn't just the website to Hot Rod, there was a TV show that made Andy the face before the movie.
They offered the three of us auditions and Andy actually got the show, which was very neat because a lot of people auditioned. I didn't take the audition because I'm not that much of a performer and me and Jorma got put on the show as writers. Then we started making those shorts together as a team and then the movie really got offered to Andy and we got to continue what we do together on it.
I read that you (Andy) had never ridden a moped before so how much of the stunt work was done by you?
Andy - A good majority of the stuff on the moped is me any time there was something that was really really nasty there is a good chance it was another person with a big prosthetic nose. But I did as much as Paramount would let me but there was a certain point where they were like you could get hurt doing this and the whole production would shut down. I think luckily they didn't let me do as much as I would have liked.
How much training did you have to do prior to the beginning of filming?
Andy - I trained on the bike pretty much everyday for what a month before we started filming?
Akiva - Yeah just for a little bit.
Andy - And on the moped, I got pretty smooth on the moped, I even trained on the big actual motorcycle, although once you get in front of a thousand extras I didn't get too much time on the real motorcycle.
What was it like having Ian McShane as your father?
Andy - It was a dream come true (laughs)
And having him beat you up?
Andy - Well I will say this of McShane when he gets the fire in his eyes and starts doing an angry scene you forget how nice he is off set and you get a little bit frightened, that helped because I don't really have any acting technique so I really just felt fear for my life.
How different is producer Lorne Michaels to work with on a movie compared to working with him on Saturday Night Live?
Andy - I think a little more relaxed because you are shooting in the summer time, your show isn't going to be done and airing in under forty eight hours other than that it was pretty similar.
Akiva - Everything is just more relaxed on a movie that you are shooting over a month or two as opposed to a TV show were you have to make up ninety minutes of stuff in four days. And it was live, a movie is opposite of a live TV show you have all that time to edit.
And which do you prefer working under the pressure or the longer shoots?
Akiva - Oh I don't know what do you think Andy?
Andy _ I don't think that I have one set preference. The great thing about working on the show you get such an immediate payoff, it's really stressful and high in intensity, but then the show actually airs live and millions of people see it and you get that rush at the end of every week, it's like immediate payback. But with a movie you are able to control things much more and be more meticulous.
Akiva - The truth is you do things every week on SNL (Saturday Night Live) and if it comes out good it's amazing, because you only thought of it two days ago. If it comes out bad then it's kind of throw away and you get to come back next week.
On a movie, for anybody, things work and when things don't you have had to spend a year waiting and you have to wait another year or two before you can try something new. Where as the show is pretty great because you can try something new and redeem yourself immediately for things that you don't like or when something is good and does work out you didn't wait a year for it to be good you just thought it up a few days ago.
How great an influence did you have on the soundtrack?
Akiva - We pretty much decided that, completely. 100% control on that.
Andy - We got producer credit.
Akiva - We just really liked that Europe album, we liked every song on it, and we decided that would be the soundtrack.
Andy - I like to think that Hot Rod is the past year's Garden State soundtrack.
Akiva - You like to think that ha?
Andy - Well I like to, and why not I mean it's true. I also like to fly in my dreams.
Finally what is next for you?
Andy - Well we are on a writer's strike right now so we are not even really sure, we are hoping that this will end and we can go back to SNL.
Akiva - We are supposed to be working in the show right now, even this week we are supposed to have a show, but instead we are at Andy's apartment sleeping til noon.
Andy - But I think that I can say that we defintely want to do another movie at some point.
Hot Rod is out to own on DVD now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Andy Samberg