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Report on Q&A with TOPHER GRACE & DEMETRI MARTIN
After the advance screening of “TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT”, AICN’s “CAPONE” introduced 2 people involved in the film-- DEMETRI MARTIN (as an actor) & TOPHER GRACE (the lead actor & also an Executive PRODUCER + involved in developing the story-line ideas)… Demetri walked in first, & Topher graciously led a “cheering” section for him verbally…
… Capone started asking QUESTIONS of the 2 visitors. Topher said at one point that it took like 4 YEARS (since 2007) to get the film made & finally released-- partly because of some difficulties in FUNDING, but also due to some problems in getting a proper backing studio that would allow them to make the movie the way they WANTED it made…
… When asked about the fine MUSIC used in the film, Topher related that music was actually the FIRST thing that was done in producing the film, & it was based on a 1980’s “MIX” he & others had done years ago… He said, they wanted to make a movie ABOUT the 80’s, not just “SPOOFING” & making “FUN” of the period…
… Demetri volunteered the thought that, the movie is actually “about FREEDOM” for the people in their lives in the film… When asked how “close” TOPHER’s character was to him in reality, Topher said, “I actually was a LOSER in high school, too!”, & thus it did mirror his inherent SHYNESS to a large degree-- tho he never actually DID things like he does in the film…
… Demetri & Topher spoke of how they spent 4 weeks shooting in the SAME house (used for Chris’ “party”), & thus they had to keep wearing the same clothes & “blocking” things the same way over & over again until they could get things “right”…
… Topher related that, like his character in the film, he DID actually work in a SUNCOAST VIDEO store at some point, for 2 years. In filming the movie, they had some problems in getting “enough” VHS tapes to STOCK the store scenes, & mainly just used JACKETS from them. He felt the chain was probably “gone” now-- but someone in the audience pointed out that we still HAVE at least 1 in the Chicago area…
… Demetri at one point said, he only worked for like 2 days on the film, & no, having the wheelchair was NOT his idea, he just used it when given it for his scenes, he didn’t carry one “WITH” him for the role! But, as confirmed by Topher, he did do a bunch of IMPROVISING in various takes of his scenes…
… The guys were asked about the scene where Topher rides in a metal BALL. Demtri himself was once in a small “Money Ball” (tho it didn’t really “roll” much of anywhere)… Topher had once seen someone who had a general ball somewhat like that metal one which was dropped off a truck. So, since he liked that idea as a “test” for someone, they BUILT one…
… He DID ride inside it at certain points, & the only really scary part was when it rolled into the POOL, which was really somewhat frightening as there was no “easy” way to get OUT of it in the water, tho there were “helpers” around the pool in case anything went wrong…
… At one point, Topher spoke of some of his PAST work. He said, although he played himself in “OCEANS 11”, he couldn’t do the “12” version as he was occupied with something else…
… Demetri also spoke of some of HIS past work. The reason he “left” doing standup comedy to do “TAKING WOODSTOCK” was because, “They CALLED me!” & OFFERED the role!... Actually, while he likes comedy, he also wanted to “BRANCH-OUT” & try doing MORE than just that, to do “scenes” rather than just funny lines…
… At one point, Capone asked, weren’t there a number of NEW scenes in the version we just saw of “TAKE ME OUT TONIGHT” compared to the one he saw a while back? Topher said yes: the original people who were going to help release the film felt very UNCOMFORTABLE with having DRUGS involved in it, so such scenes were REMOVED in the one Capone had seen previously…
… When they were able to get a younger, more “open-minded” group interested in the film [namely, Ron Howard & Brian Grazer who run “IMAGINE Entertainment”], they ADDED BACK the “COCAINE” scenes that had been taken OUT of the earlier version. As Demetri pointed out, it was not done to “GLORIFY” drug-use in any way, rather, to reflect the “TIMES” being shown in the film…
… Topher spoke more of the MAKING of the film. Yes, he DID look at a number of the “top” movies FROM the 1980’s, to get a good “FEEL” of the period for helping create things for his movie. In certain ways, there are some homages to JOHN HUGHES’ films, such as the use of the high school name of “SHERMER” in “TAKE ME”, which was a school name used in all the HUGHES’ movies…
… Topher spoke of studying how some Conventions are done, & how he’s “a big fan” of the BACK TO THE FUTURE” films from the 1980’s… As he commented, “I’m half doing Michael J. FOX—” in some of the scenes in this “TAKE ME” film… He worked hard to get the RIGHTS to the 80’s songs used in his film, & it cost a LOT of money to get them overall…
… Topher pointed out how he’d used some WRITERS from the “THAT ’70’s SHOW’ (Jackie & Jeff Filgo), because he so much liked work they’d done before… When asked, was he “worried” upon learning that the movie “HOT TUB TIME MACHINE” was to be released before his film, covering the same general time period?, Topher kidded, “Yeah-- after it ‘won’ all those ‘AWARDS’--!...”
… Demetri spoke of how he himself did scenes as written, & then was allowed to “AD-LIB” some as “a guy who exists in a certain era”, & they sort of “combined” ideas from the two types for the [possibly “uncredited”] role he plays in it… [In the copy we saw, the “Credits” all read as “TBD”]…
… Topher remarked on how hard it was for him to keep from BREAKING-UP laughing at Demetri’s antics, since he “went APE shit—” in a number of his improvised takes. Topher usually likes highly SCRIPTED scenes, being accustomed to doing takes in front of LIVE audiences in TV shows-- but, for doing the movie, it was ENJOYABLE to try-out other ways like Demetri did…
… Demetri commented, he originally tried out for the role that DAN FOGEL eventually got (as Topher’s friend “Barry”)-- but, after he saw Dan’s work, he felt Dan was really BEST for that role, he feels he did a WONDERFUL job in it…
… Showing an interest in “Capone” (Steve Prekopy), Demetri at one point asked him , how MANY films did he see in a year? He replied, he saw like 450 in the past year!, which Demetri commented was amazing…
… At one point, Topher spoke a bit of his past work (such as in “PREDATORS” in 2010), & upcoming work. [He’s filming a TV movie “TOO BIG TO FAIL”, & completed work in “THE DOUBLE” scheduled for release later this year, & “THE GIANT MECHANICAL MAN” which is also in post-production for a 2012 release]…
… I was IMPRESSED with the relaxed, “down-to-earth” attitudes & periodically funny comments by both Topher & Demetri, who seemed to ENJOY interacting with “Capone” & the spectators. They were gracious & seemed to really “listen” to what was said, after which they responded straightforwardly (all of which is a pleasure for the audience to experience)…
[… A couple bits of trivia: Topher’s given name is really “Christopher”, but he disliked being called “Chris”, so he adopted the LAST part of his given name… He first started professional acting at age 20, in the role of Eric Forman in “THAT ’70’s SHOW”, which ran thru 2006. He was chosen by the creators after seeing him in a play at a high school their daughter attended-- so, it was a matter of being in the “Right place, right time”!... ]
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