Report on Q&A with ED HELMS & Director MIGUEL ARTETA after "CEDAR RAPIDS" film screening

Q&A held after the movie "CEDAR RAPIDS" with ED HELMS & Director MIGUEL ARTETA

After the advance screening of “CEDAR RAPIDS”, “CAPONE” from AICN introduced 2 people involved in MAKING the film--  star ED HELMS & Director MIGUEL ARTETA (who’d also done “YOUTH IN REVOLT” & “THE GOOD GIRL”)… 

…  When asked about the MAKING of the film, Ed commented that working with John C. Reilly was “INSPIRING on another level!”, & he very much enjoyed the experience…  As to certain scenes he himself was involved in, Ed said, it was somewhat unusual to work in a “literal and figurative NAKEDNESS” as he did…

…  As to various other episodes in the film, it was commented that, “Someone who’s earnest and upset…  is FUNNY—” when viewed by others…  Ed remarked about Sigourney Weaver that, he feels she is “staggeringly EXCELLENT!  Yeah, & I had a SEX scene with her!”, which is something to “remember”!...

…  Capone wondered if there had been a plan to make Ed’s character act as if he “wanted to be sensitive and affectionate”.  Ed (who spoke in a “careful”, reflective way during the Q&A) said, well, that was part of his role.  He said, he was born in Georgia, but went to school in OHIO, so he knows the “Midwestern” attitudes represented in the film, & also has a southern “civility” in him, & perhaps all that comes “together” in his acting in the film… 

…  Miguel said, he himself is from PUERTO RICO, & he saw this movie --  & especially Ed’s role -- as “a traditional ‘fish-out-of-water’ story”…  He feels Ed’s character of Tim “isn’t preachy”, & that helps him come across as a likeable character & brings out positive responses towards him from the other characters…

…  Continuing, Miguel said, he liked the idea of having Ed act as a “sweet” person in the midst of exceptionally “RAUNCHY” dialogue from others around him.  He volunteered the thought that actor Isiah was “a real FIND—”, & he did a wonderfully believable job, so different than the Senator he played on ‘THE WIRE” TV show…

…  Miguel added that, they were almost tempted to remove the line reference about that show from the script, but felt Isiah (who spent a lot of time in MN) so “inhabited” his role in this, people likely wouldn’t take it as an “in” joke & hurt credibility as to his character…

…  In response to a question asked, Miguel said, they mainly shot “EXTERIORS” in Iowa.  That state offers a 50% rebate for films shot there.  But, they discovered some people involved in their operation had unwisely spent that rebate money on getting unnecessary SUVs & the like, & thus they soon MOVED & shot most of it in MICHIGAN which offered even MORE financial benefits for filming there…

…  When someone asked Ed where his “sweet” side COMES from, he responded that, “I’m 100% UN-jaded—” & NOT a basically cynical person.  He said he “envies those who AREN’T” involved in “wishful fulfillment” for themselves.  He spoke of how his MOM was a very positive influence on him, being one of the “least judgmental” people he knows…

…  Ed kidded to one audience questioner that, “I don’t even LIKE you!”.  Someone asked, did Miguel feel it was “necessary” to have the characters dabble in HARD DRUGS?  He said, he himself had “no idea how to SHOW” such dabbling, it was in the script mainly to put Ed’s character in a completely “DIFFERENT” environment than he would have experienced before…

…  As someone in the audience pointed out, it’s sort of ironic that the film is set in CEDAR RAPIDS & deals in part with the use of cocaine, since that area was once the “CRYSTAL METH Capital of the country”… 

…  Miguel indicated, his WRITER was familiar with that general situation, & he himself loved how Ed was able to make his face look like it was “EXPLODING” when he supposedly “used” drugs for the first time…

… Ed himself asked Miguel, WHY did he make it look like the car he was riding in was going to CRASH after running away from the drug users?!  Ed said, he started to get “concerned” when he saw “lights” coming at him as he rode in the car!...

…  Miguel said, that was an INADVERTENT thing that just chanced to happen for a few seconds…  Ed said, that was good, because he was put in the midst of a “cinematic BRAIN FREEZE” for a while there!...

…  An audience member asked, what was Ed really LIKE when he was growing up?  Ed said no, he absolutely was NOT in any way a “class clown”, & “I’m gonna chalk that up to the fact I was wearing GLASSES!...  I envied the class clown…  I DIDN’T command a lot of attention!...  I wasn’t a very ‘charismatic’ kid…  I was very INSECURE…” 

…  As to possible FUTURE projects, Ed said yes, he has been working on “HANGOVER - Part 2”, in BANGKOK.  But, unfortunately, although people have been “analyzing” possible things re the sequel, he’s NOT allowed to give any “DETAILS” about it at this point.  Ed would say about Part 2 that, “it’s, at its heart, a mystery”…  He added, if he told us any more, “I’d have to ‘KILL’ you!”… 

…  When questioned about TV’s “THE OFFICE”, he said, the fact that Steve Carell is LEAVING the show will undoubtedly cause a number of CHANGES--  but the cast is still NOT fully informed on just WHAT might be happening re a replacement for him.  The management (including the writers) is ‘being very ‘coquettish’--  even to US!”…

…  Miguel commented on how, he himself DIRECTED one episode of that show [in 2006], + also worked on one “FREAKS & GEEKS”.  To a question from someone in the audience, he said there was “no conscious REFERENCE—” being made in “CEDAR RAPIDS” to the first “HANGOVER” movie…

…  An audience member pointed out one similar reference in the film, & Nick (a friend to my left) piped up with a 2^nd similarity, namely, the use of “TIGHTY WHITIES” (underwear) Ed wears, & Miguel & Ed said, they hadn’t “realized” that before, & Ed guesses it’s “becoming my ‘SIGNATURE’--!” nowadays… Miguel added, “You’ve just given him a trauma!”…

…  After some talk about how something was like a “spider monkey” from “TALLADEGA NIGHTS” that John C. Reilly was in, Capone brought the Q&A to a close…  As I left, I remarked to director Arteta that, “THANK YOU for stopping by [& holding the Q&A for us]!”, to which he graciously said, “Thank you for attending!...”

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