Playing in Theaters
Hearts Melt Like Butter for Yara
(from brinkzine.com 10/4/12)
Yara Shahidi, photo by DP
In Butter, Jim Field Smith's quirky political parody, Jennifer Garner gives an award-worthy performance as the too-proper, scheming Laura Pickler, who tries to replace her ineffectual, cheating husband Bob (Ty Burrell) as the champion butter-carver of Iowa, because she is afraid of losing her notoriety in the Hawkeye state. Her chief competitor is Destiny, an eleven-year-old African-American who has been adopted by a loving local couple, Jill (Alicia Silverstone) and Ethan (Rob Corddry). This role is played by charming young actress with the intriguing name of Yara Shahidi, and she holds her own playing opposite the veteran Garner (and others in a strong cast that includes Olivia Wilde, Twilight's Ashley Greene, and Hugh Jackman), just as Destiny does competing with the imposing Laura. In anticipation of Friday's opening, I had this brief conversation with one of the best kid actors around. It will be followed by a press conference with Yara and several other cast members, the director, and screenwriter.
Danny Peary: How many Yaras have you known?
Yara Shahidi: I haven't personally met another Yara. My mother knows one, my friends know one. It's a Brazilian name, it's an Armenian name, a Persian name...It has several different meanings.
DP: Why do you think your character is named Destiny in Butter?
YS: She doesn't know her path, she doesn't know where to go, she doesn't have resources because she's lived in different foster homes. She's adopted and she finally comes to a family that is excited about her being there after all these horrible, strange experiences in other homes. And she kind of finds this path--what she's good at, what she enjoys, who she loves, who is her family--and I think she sees that's her destiny.
DP: In the production notes, your director Jim Field Smith talks about how all the characters in the film are ambitious, but is Destiny ambitious?
YS: Once she figures out that she really loves butter carving, she does get a little ambitious. She's like, "I need to beat Laura Pickler! I'm going to do this." Especially after Laura says Destiny cheated in their first competition, she's like, "Okay, fine, I agree to a rematch, because I'm going to beat you again!" She doesn't like Laura Pickler at all.
DP: Do you think that's the only reason Destiny is so agreeable to a rematch? Or does she see something good in Laura that nobody else sees and thinks this is an opportunity to bring that out?
YS: I think Destiny wants to prove to herself that she can win again, that she is the best. At first she thinks Laura Pickler is a perfect person and that if she were adopted by Laura it would be a perfect world. Then she realizes Laura isn't as great as she says she is. She's more ambitious and crazy than she had thought. So at that point, Destiny doesn't like her whatsoever. Then she realizes that Laura is no different from anyone else. She has dreams and a lifestyle she doesn't want to lose it all.
DP: As you're now talking about how Destiny's vision of Laura Pickler changes as the movie progresses, I'm thinking that how Destiny sees Laura all along is how the audience is supposed to see Laura..
YS: Yeah! We go through phases. We say, "Oh, Laura's ambitious!" And then, "Oh, Laura's kind of crazy!" And finally, "Oh, wait, Laura's a good person who just doesn't want to lose all these things that matter to her." Laura is not so sure if her family loves her. She's having these doubts and can't manage what's going on.
DP: Is Laura a good person or a person with good in her?
YS: I think she's a good person but based on circumstances has gone a little crazy. It's like if I won a game every single time and then suddenly lose and go, "Wait! I should have won! I've always won!" There's a sense of confusion. I feel Laura is a good person but her family is stopping her from being that, there are all kinds of roadblocks. Her husband's stepping down from the position that brought them fame and allowed for their lifestyle, her stepdaughter doesn't like her at all.
DP: Destiny is the only character who acknowledges any goodness in Laura and changes here, at least temporarily.
YS: You can't really change a person, but you can change their attitude. She's always been in the spotlight, she is a politician within the community, everybody knows who she is. Of course she's going to run for a higher office or higher position if her husband isn't going to do it. She wants to take the position of being the top butter carver.
SPOILER ALERT
DP: I'm surprised Laura runs for office at the end because she seems reformed by Destiny's influence. She could join the Peace Corps instead.
YS: Yeah, there's so much that she could have done. But instead she becomes a politician.
END SPOILER ALERT
DP: In your acting career, I'm sure you've heard of the expression, "a fish out of water tale."
YS: Yes, it's when someone isn't in their own environment.
DP: Destiny is a young black girl coming to...
YS: Iowa! She's a little bit of an outsider but everyone around her accepts her! She finds that a little strange. Why are all these people smiling at her, especially in her classroom? One of the friends in the movie welcomes her but isn't aware that someone new to the town might find his comments offensive--just the way he phrases things.
DP: You were born in Minnesota but live in L.A.
YS: And I come back to visit every year.
DP: Do you go back to an African American community there? Or do you feel like a fish out of water because you see few African Americans there?
YS: I don't feel like a fish out of water but I as I get older I do notice there aren't a lot of people who have my skin color. I don't take offense or feel like an outsider because I basically know everyone there. I was raised with them and have good friends. It doesn't really matter to me. I don't really mind.
DP: Does Destiny feel different?
YS: She does. In the beginning she feels, "Everyone is crazy here. Am I the only one who is sane? Am I the only one who has doubts about the people here?" Then she realizes that they aren't so bad. They're not always crazy and not always smiling at her in a strange way. She realizes it's okay!
Danny Peary: How many Yaras have you known?
Yara Shahidi: I haven't personally met another Yara. My mother knows one, my friends know one. It's a Brazilian name, it's an Armenian name, a Persian name...It has several different meanings.
DP: Why do you think your character is named Destiny in Butter?
YS: She doesn't know her path, she doesn't know where to go, she doesn't have resources because she's lived in different foster homes. She's adopted and she finally comes to a family that is excited about her being there after all these horrible, strange experiences in other homes. And she kind of finds this path--what she's good at, what she enjoys, who she loves, who is her family--and I think she sees that's her destiny.
DP: In the production notes, your director Jim Field Smith talks about how all the characters in the film are ambitious, but is Destiny ambitious?
YS: Once she figures out that she really loves butter carving, she does get a little ambitious. She's like, "I need to beat Laura Pickler! I'm going to do this." Especially after Laura says Destiny cheated in their first competition, she's like, "Okay, fine, I agree to a rematch, because I'm going to beat you again!" She doesn't like Laura Pickler at all.
DP: Do you think that's the only reason Destiny is so agreeable to a rematch? Or does she see something good in Laura that nobody else sees and thinks this is an opportunity to bring that out?
YS: I think Destiny wants to prove to herself that she can win again, that she is the best. At first she thinks Laura Pickler is a perfect person and that if she were adopted by Laura it would be a perfect world. Then she realizes Laura isn't as great as she says she is. She's more ambitious and crazy than she had thought. So at that point, Destiny doesn't like her whatsoever. Then she realizes that Laura is no different from anyone else. She has dreams and a lifestyle she doesn't want to lose it all.
DP: As you're now talking about how Destiny's vision of Laura Pickler changes as the movie progresses, I'm thinking that how Destiny sees Laura all along is how the audience is supposed to see Laura..
YS: Yeah! We go through phases. We say, "Oh, Laura's ambitious!" And then, "Oh, Laura's kind of crazy!" And finally, "Oh, wait, Laura's a good person who just doesn't want to lose all these things that matter to her." Laura is not so sure if her family loves her. She's having these doubts and can't manage what's going on.
DP: Is Laura a good person or a person with good in her?
YS: I think she's a good person but based on circumstances has gone a little crazy. It's like if I won a game every single time and then suddenly lose and go, "Wait! I should have won! I've always won!" There's a sense of confusion. I feel Laura is a good person but her family is stopping her from being that, there are all kinds of roadblocks. Her husband's stepping down from the position that brought them fame and allowed for their lifestyle, her stepdaughter doesn't like her at all.
DP: Destiny is the only character who acknowledges any goodness in Laura and changes here, at least temporarily.
YS: You can't really change a person, but you can change their attitude. She's always been in the spotlight, she is a politician within the community, everybody knows who she is. Of course she's going to run for a higher office or higher position if her husband isn't going to do it. She wants to take the position of being the top butter carver.
SPOILER ALERT
DP: I'm surprised Laura runs for office at the end because she seems reformed by Destiny's influence. She could join the Peace Corps instead.
YS: Yeah, there's so much that she could have done. But instead she becomes a politician.
END SPOILER ALERT
DP: In your acting career, I'm sure you've heard of the expression, "a fish out of water tale."
YS: Yes, it's when someone isn't in their own environment.
DP: Destiny is a young black girl coming to...
YS: Iowa! She's a little bit of an outsider but everyone around her accepts her! She finds that a little strange. Why are all these people smiling at her, especially in her classroom? One of the friends in the movie welcomes her but isn't aware that someone new to the town might find his comments offensive--just the way he phrases things.
DP: You were born in Minnesota but live in L.A.
YS: And I come back to visit every year.
DP: Do you go back to an African American community there? Or do you feel like a fish out of water because you see few African Americans there?
YS: I don't feel like a fish out of water but I as I get older I do notice there aren't a lot of people who have my skin color. I don't take offense or feel like an outsider because I basically know everyone there. I was raised with them and have good friends. It doesn't really matter to me. I don't really mind.
DP: Does Destiny feel different?
YS: She does. In the beginning she feels, "Everyone is crazy here. Am I the only one who is sane? Am I the only one who has doubts about the people here?" Then she realizes that they aren't so bad. They're not always crazy and not always smiling at her in a strange way. She realizes it's okay!
DP: Again, she's our eyes. She is the outsider who comes into a setting that is always there. She is the one who gets to see what nobody there realizes is weird. Oddly, the butter carving isn't strange to Destiny or to you!
YS: Yeah. I knew what butter carving is before I was involved with Butter. I found it a little absurd but crazy and cool. I had gone to the Minnesota State Fair and Land O'Lakes Butter was sponsoring a butter carving competition. It wasn't like in the movie because there you got only a little block of butter to carve something out of it.
DP: And you made a truck?
YS: No, that was when I practicing for the movie. I didn't compete at the fair in Minnesota, I just watched. Some people made trucks, some people made hamsters, some made faces--one carve the mayor's face on a pedestal. It made an impression on me. It was really cool.
DP: So do you feel it was Destiny, like your name, that you'd be in a movie with butter carving?
YS: I didn't know about the movie then, so it turned out to be a crazy coincidence. I was the only person I knew in L.A. who knew anything about butter carving. Then I auditioned for this movie about butter carving--I never thought that would happen in a million years.
DP: When you got the script, you were a couple of years younger and I know your mother read it, presumably because of the language. Did anyone talk to you about the political aspects to the script?
YS: They did. There wasn't one person they were aiming for in regard to Destiny. But there is a speech she has to give, so I watched some political speeches just to see how they spoke, what their delivery was. I wanted to examine them so that Destiny could be confident.
DP: At the press conference, the screenwriter talked about Laura being the conservative and Destiny being the liberal. Did they talk to you at all about Destiny being a symbol?
YS: No, not much. But I understand from how they explained it now that she's a liberal character, someone new who is trying to make good out of what we have.
DP: At the press conference, all the actors were fighting over you. Who did you hang out with on the set?
YS: Everybody! There was one group of chairs and we'd all sit down whenever there was a break. There'd be scenes with almost everyone in the cast, so we'd all get to hang out together. It was a lot of fun because the actors playing the competitors had walkie-talkies in our butter-carving chambers and at the end of scenes we'd chat to each other and everyone would surround us.
DP: What is the importance of this film to you as an actress?
YS: This was a great role. I really love the part. It wasn't like anything I've done before. She's not a character you usually see. It was also a great experience. It was the first movie I've been on where there are mainly adults. I was often the only kid on the set. I do like working with adults. It was fun and cool.
DP: Would you prefer doing this film now that you're a couple of years older?
YS: It wouldn't have been different really. I'm glad that it happened with it did. It was perfect timing.
Press Conference with actors Yara Shahidi, Jennifer Garner, Olivia Wilde, Ty Burrell, Ashley Greene, and Rob Corddry, director Jim Field Smith and screenwriter Jason Micallef.
Q: What did you think when you read the script, a film about butter, and what was your role on this film?
Ashley Greene: When I received the script it was on the Black List [of overlooked screenplays] so I knew it was going to be good. They said basically, "Look, it's about butter carving, it's a quirky, outrageous, brilliant script," and so I kind of went into it looking for a laugh, and I certainly got it. All the characters were really incredible and they kind of intertwined beautifully and each had their own arc. And I thought it was great that you could make a whole film centered around butter carving and make it hysterical and have it hit on so many different elements and so many different points. So I loved it and jumped on board.
Jason Micallef (deadpan): I thought the script was amazing. Rob was blown away the first moment he read the script. You cried, right?
Robb Corddry (deadpan): I was going through my own stuff at the time, but yeah. When I get any script immediately I count my lines. And then I count the dick jokes. There were no dick jokes, so that was an eyebrow raiser for me, an odd experience for me. So I said "Well, I'll be able to add some later." I was also aware of it from the Black List and I had read it before and was just very excited that it was happening. No real thought went into it in terms of should I or shouldn't I. And what I brought to the role? Baldness.
Jim Field Smith (deadpan): I didn't really like the script at all but I hadn't worked for a while and there wasn't much other stuff out there and I'm cheap. I loved the script and I didn't think I brought anything to it at all other than to point the camera around. But really, I loved the script and just felt very fortunate to be able to bring it to life, because it is kind of an oddball movie and not a lot of people are making these kinds of movies anymore.
RC: Jim, who did you play? I don't remember you at all.
JFS: I'm the little black orphan girl. Today I'm in makeup. That's my bit. You, Ty?
Ty Burrell: I don't have a bit. I will go out on a limb and say that I also loved the script. As far as my character, I guess I felt I've never played anybody this passive, so that would be kind of fun. I hadn't read anything like it. It was very funny and very different. I brought donuts every day for everyone.
Olivia Wilde: I loved the script from the moment I saw it and I wanted to fight for it and (joking) I was so thrilled when everybody else passed. I really loved it, I thought it was so funny and so smart, and then when I heard all these people were involved I couldn't get to it fast enough. I almost didn't get to it because I was stuck under the volcanic ash cloud in Vienna. I was willing to swim across the Atlantic to get there though, so I'm very happy it all worked out.
Jennifer Garner: My producing partner, Juliana Janes, and I got hold of this script before it was even on the Black List. I think the reason all of us are here, except perhaps Ty, is because the script let us do something different than what we'd been allowed to do before. That's why we have such an incredible cast, including Hugh Jackman. And I loved that kind of the hero of the movie was going to be this unknown young girl surrounded by all of us praise whores who were looking for a way to do something to stretch ourselves in some way. Really it comes down to this little lady. Little did I know we'd spend the next three years corrupting this sweet child. Here she is, Yara Shahidi.
Yara Shahidi: When I got the script my mommy read it first and then I read it, but there were some parts that I did have to skip over, I was 10 at the time. When I did read it I still had to skip over some parts. But I really loved it. Butter carving was something I'd heard of a year beforehand at the Minnesota State Fair, and I thought it was fascinating. I never thought there were be a script about butter carving. It was one of the most absurd thing I had heard of it. And what I brought to it-- shipped in chocolate from L.A.
Q:: For those of you who have mastered the art of butter carving I'd like you to talk about your training. Did get a chance to do the carving?
JG: We spent a day with one of the preeminent food sculptures in America. His name's Jim Victor, and he is known for carving anything. He can carve cheese, he can carve butter, pepperoni, chocolate, ice. Does he do ice? Ice might be a different thing.
JFS: Ice is beneath him.
TB: He'll literally handle all your carving needs though, for whatever you've got in the fridge.
JG: But he makes his living from it. And interestingly, he has a very ambitious wife, so that was kind of fascinating. And we all spent a day together with him.
TB: Well I actually spent this morning with Jim Victor. We woke up together. I did a talk show with him. With Jim "The Vic" Victor on Anderson Cooper. I had a butter carving contest with Anderson Cooper, and I'm just going to say I won. I'm still the worst butter carver on earth. He truly is incredible. I think he had about an hour on this talk show today to prepare these three cows that he was carving. It was ridiculous and amazing.
RC: Three cows an hour.
TB: Well that's his rate.
OW: I didn't have to actually carve anything. I did participate in the day of training though. I came and hung out and stuck my fingers in the butter. I made butter boobs, right?
RC: After about five minutes, you and I and Alicia and somebody else just kind of like backed away from the butter table. We were like alright, do your thing, because we don't touch the butter during the film.
OW: I can't remember; who made the giant butter burrito?
JFS: That was you.
OW: Oh that was me. Right.
JFS: I actually have a photo of that. I also have a photo of Rob just standing at the side of the room..
RC: I was super high.
YS: With the butter, the day of training was really cool. I made a truck and sent pictures to my class.
TB: I think you were the best, if memory serves. You actually were the best carver.
YS: I'm not very great at art. I learned that you really just need to let the people that know what they're doing do it for you and then teach you how to act like you're doing it.
JFS: Jim Victor is actually a food sculptor and showed the cast, but then we also had this amazing team of sculptors in L.A. who were building the butter sculptures that you see in the movie, because believe it or not, they're not actually made out of butter. Spoiler alert! These incredibly talented sculptors made them out of foam and then coated them in this wax that was actually called butter wax just by total coincidence. And that enabled the actors to interact with the sculptures on set.
YS: Yeah. I knew what butter carving is before I was involved with Butter. I found it a little absurd but crazy and cool. I had gone to the Minnesota State Fair and Land O'Lakes Butter was sponsoring a butter carving competition. It wasn't like in the movie because there you got only a little block of butter to carve something out of it.
DP: And you made a truck?
YS: No, that was when I practicing for the movie. I didn't compete at the fair in Minnesota, I just watched. Some people made trucks, some people made hamsters, some made faces--one carve the mayor's face on a pedestal. It made an impression on me. It was really cool.
DP: So do you feel it was Destiny, like your name, that you'd be in a movie with butter carving?
YS: I didn't know about the movie then, so it turned out to be a crazy coincidence. I was the only person I knew in L.A. who knew anything about butter carving. Then I auditioned for this movie about butter carving--I never thought that would happen in a million years.
DP: When you got the script, you were a couple of years younger and I know your mother read it, presumably because of the language. Did anyone talk to you about the political aspects to the script?
YS: They did. There wasn't one person they were aiming for in regard to Destiny. But there is a speech she has to give, so I watched some political speeches just to see how they spoke, what their delivery was. I wanted to examine them so that Destiny could be confident.
DP: At the press conference, the screenwriter talked about Laura being the conservative and Destiny being the liberal. Did they talk to you at all about Destiny being a symbol?
YS: No, not much. But I understand from how they explained it now that she's a liberal character, someone new who is trying to make good out of what we have.
DP: At the press conference, all the actors were fighting over you. Who did you hang out with on the set?
YS: Everybody! There was one group of chairs and we'd all sit down whenever there was a break. There'd be scenes with almost everyone in the cast, so we'd all get to hang out together. It was a lot of fun because the actors playing the competitors had walkie-talkies in our butter-carving chambers and at the end of scenes we'd chat to each other and everyone would surround us.
DP: What is the importance of this film to you as an actress?
YS: This was a great role. I really love the part. It wasn't like anything I've done before. She's not a character you usually see. It was also a great experience. It was the first movie I've been on where there are mainly adults. I was often the only kid on the set. I do like working with adults. It was fun and cool.
DP: Would you prefer doing this film now that you're a couple of years older?
YS: It wouldn't have been different really. I'm glad that it happened with it did. It was perfect timing.
Press Conference with actors Yara Shahidi, Jennifer Garner, Olivia Wilde, Ty Burrell, Ashley Greene, and Rob Corddry, director Jim Field Smith and screenwriter Jason Micallef.
Q: What did you think when you read the script, a film about butter, and what was your role on this film?
Ashley Greene: When I received the script it was on the Black List [of overlooked screenplays] so I knew it was going to be good. They said basically, "Look, it's about butter carving, it's a quirky, outrageous, brilliant script," and so I kind of went into it looking for a laugh, and I certainly got it. All the characters were really incredible and they kind of intertwined beautifully and each had their own arc. And I thought it was great that you could make a whole film centered around butter carving and make it hysterical and have it hit on so many different elements and so many different points. So I loved it and jumped on board.
Jason Micallef (deadpan): I thought the script was amazing. Rob was blown away the first moment he read the script. You cried, right?
Robb Corddry (deadpan): I was going through my own stuff at the time, but yeah. When I get any script immediately I count my lines. And then I count the dick jokes. There were no dick jokes, so that was an eyebrow raiser for me, an odd experience for me. So I said "Well, I'll be able to add some later." I was also aware of it from the Black List and I had read it before and was just very excited that it was happening. No real thought went into it in terms of should I or shouldn't I. And what I brought to the role? Baldness.
Jim Field Smith (deadpan): I didn't really like the script at all but I hadn't worked for a while and there wasn't much other stuff out there and I'm cheap. I loved the script and I didn't think I brought anything to it at all other than to point the camera around. But really, I loved the script and just felt very fortunate to be able to bring it to life, because it is kind of an oddball movie and not a lot of people are making these kinds of movies anymore.
RC: Jim, who did you play? I don't remember you at all.
JFS: I'm the little black orphan girl. Today I'm in makeup. That's my bit. You, Ty?
Ty Burrell: I don't have a bit. I will go out on a limb and say that I also loved the script. As far as my character, I guess I felt I've never played anybody this passive, so that would be kind of fun. I hadn't read anything like it. It was very funny and very different. I brought donuts every day for everyone.
Olivia Wilde: I loved the script from the moment I saw it and I wanted to fight for it and (joking) I was so thrilled when everybody else passed. I really loved it, I thought it was so funny and so smart, and then when I heard all these people were involved I couldn't get to it fast enough. I almost didn't get to it because I was stuck under the volcanic ash cloud in Vienna. I was willing to swim across the Atlantic to get there though, so I'm very happy it all worked out.
Jennifer Garner: My producing partner, Juliana Janes, and I got hold of this script before it was even on the Black List. I think the reason all of us are here, except perhaps Ty, is because the script let us do something different than what we'd been allowed to do before. That's why we have such an incredible cast, including Hugh Jackman. And I loved that kind of the hero of the movie was going to be this unknown young girl surrounded by all of us praise whores who were looking for a way to do something to stretch ourselves in some way. Really it comes down to this little lady. Little did I know we'd spend the next three years corrupting this sweet child. Here she is, Yara Shahidi.
Yara Shahidi: When I got the script my mommy read it first and then I read it, but there were some parts that I did have to skip over, I was 10 at the time. When I did read it I still had to skip over some parts. But I really loved it. Butter carving was something I'd heard of a year beforehand at the Minnesota State Fair, and I thought it was fascinating. I never thought there were be a script about butter carving. It was one of the most absurd thing I had heard of it. And what I brought to it-- shipped in chocolate from L.A.
Q:: For those of you who have mastered the art of butter carving I'd like you to talk about your training. Did get a chance to do the carving?
JG: We spent a day with one of the preeminent food sculptures in America. His name's Jim Victor, and he is known for carving anything. He can carve cheese, he can carve butter, pepperoni, chocolate, ice. Does he do ice? Ice might be a different thing.
JFS: Ice is beneath him.
TB: He'll literally handle all your carving needs though, for whatever you've got in the fridge.
JG: But he makes his living from it. And interestingly, he has a very ambitious wife, so that was kind of fascinating. And we all spent a day together with him.
TB: Well I actually spent this morning with Jim Victor. We woke up together. I did a talk show with him. With Jim "The Vic" Victor on Anderson Cooper. I had a butter carving contest with Anderson Cooper, and I'm just going to say I won. I'm still the worst butter carver on earth. He truly is incredible. I think he had about an hour on this talk show today to prepare these three cows that he was carving. It was ridiculous and amazing.
RC: Three cows an hour.
TB: Well that's his rate.
OW: I didn't have to actually carve anything. I did participate in the day of training though. I came and hung out and stuck my fingers in the butter. I made butter boobs, right?
RC: After about five minutes, you and I and Alicia and somebody else just kind of like backed away from the butter table. We were like alright, do your thing, because we don't touch the butter during the film.
OW: I can't remember; who made the giant butter burrito?
JFS: That was you.
OW: Oh that was me. Right.
JFS: I actually have a photo of that. I also have a photo of Rob just standing at the side of the room..
RC: I was super high.
YS: With the butter, the day of training was really cool. I made a truck and sent pictures to my class.
TB: I think you were the best, if memory serves. You actually were the best carver.
YS: I'm not very great at art. I learned that you really just need to let the people that know what they're doing do it for you and then teach you how to act like you're doing it.
JFS: Jim Victor is actually a food sculptor and showed the cast, but then we also had this amazing team of sculptors in L.A. who were building the butter sculptures that you see in the movie, because believe it or not, they're not actually made out of butter. Spoiler alert! These incredibly talented sculptors made them out of foam and then coated them in this wax that was actually called butter wax just by total coincidence. And that enabled the actors to interact with the sculptures on set.
Q: Jennifer and Olivia, you seem like lovely people, so I was just wondering how you got in touch with your inner bitches for this movie. And also, if you could just relate to these women, whether it's through obsession or rivalry, that kind of thing.
OW: I thought Brooke was such a smart character. I was really excited to play her. I didn't see her as a bitch, and it was not easy to be cruel and bitchy to Jenn Garner. It was not something I would ever do in real life, but it was so much fun. Like Jen said, it was something that I hadn't been able to do before, to play this type of character, but I just thought she was the most fun. It's absolutely my favorite role, hands down, and I would do ten sequels, which I'm hoping to hear about today.
JM: Yes, I am writing them right now. "Butter 2."
JG: I play a lot of pretty girl next door characters and I am a girl next door in real life, and I am sick of myself! I am so over it. I don't want to see another simpering smile. I'm done. So this to me was heaven on earth, except that Laura is not to be emulated in any way because she's a heinous person. But as far as relating to the ambition and the competitiveness, I think it stretches it for me. I don't think that I am ambitious in this way really. But I will tell you, there's a moment in the movie where Olivia looks at me and she goes "I'm going to cut you." And every time she did it, I kid you not, I had a "fight or flight" thing in my body where I felt like running! She was terrifying! And she may say "Oh it was really hard for me to do." It wasn't hard for her to do. She went right for it and she could have killed me in that moment and many others.
OW: I think that was also our first day of shooting, so it really set the tone.
Q: Jennifer, there was an interesting review in, I believe, the "Village Voice" saying that this movie presented the adversaries as stand-ins for Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. And obviously you've been a very public supporter of Obama, involved in the campaign, fundraising, etcetera. What are your thoughts on that and what have you observed in your own personal experience about these presidential campaigns that made you appreciate the satire in this film? I know it's not a partisan film, but I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.
JG: I think we'll start with Jason, because I am asked this stuff a lot, but what did you mean? Did you see it as a Barack/Hillary?
JM: I think that the specific people are not really important. I think what's important is that they are representatives of certain ideologies. I've read that Laura was so many different people, Michele Bachman, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin. When I wrote the script I had no idea who Sarah Palin was. She was just the governor of Alaska, so that kind of proves that theory wrong. What's more important is not the specific people but that to me Jennifer's character represents the conservative ideology, and Yara's character represents more of the liberal ideology. And what we found is that both sides really love it. Because I think that while Jennifer plays the villain she sort of comes around in the end, and I think that her character represents conservatives who feel that our country was great and is now going in the wrong direction. And I think perhaps liberals, maybe represented by Yara's character, look forward while feeling that the country could be better. And whether you agree with either of those isn't the issue, it's just that's how I sort of track those two character arcs. So with Jenn's character you see she feels like things are being taken from her.. That's sort of how I approached it. The specific people are not important.
JG: When we made it, much more than watching any politicians, the people that I obsessed over watching were Iowa, Kansas, and middle of the country beauty queens and first ladies. I watched them on YouTube for hours.
Q: What is it about the political process that you personally observed that made you appreciate the satire of this film?
JG: Everyone's self-righteousness and faith and belief that there is only one side to a story and it's their side.
JFS: I'm British--I'm not just speaking with a weird voice--and when I read the script I read it very much as an outsider. I've spent a lot of time in America and all over the country, but I really saw it first and foremost as this smart and weird and outrageous comedy. But I also saw it as not being about specific to any one person but being about politics as a whole. And there are many themes in the movie that are just as relevant to politics in the UK and Europe and Australia and all over the place, and I think as Jason and Jenn both said, it very much is looking at ideologies rather than character types. And so rather than us having a sort of sniper rifle and picking off individual targets we just kind of carpet bombed the whole world of politics I guess. That was my kind of approach to it.
Q: Watching the film there were certainly times whene I was saying wow, this would be great for my family, and there were certain points where I said wow, I have little kids and I can't take them to this. Jason where did you see the film landing in terms of market and who you were aiming for?
JM: As a writer I just write the story I want to write and then other people shape it into what works for the market. I just thought the story was interesting. How old are your kids?
Q: My oldest is ten.
JM: Oh, ten is a little young. I have nieces and nephews that are like fifteen and they're going to see it. They know all these worlds.
Q: I think it's inspirational and cute, but then there's a lot of strong language and sex.
JM: Yeah, without a doubt.
JFS: That's politics.
JM: I love Brooke, the character played by Olivia, but you can't have a stripper not swear. I mean it's just not correct, it's just not right. So you know I think that with any film you have to make those decisions. I just write the story and then other people handle that.
RC: You weren't thinking about global sales when you were working on the second act?
OW: I thought Brooke was such a smart character. I was really excited to play her. I didn't see her as a bitch, and it was not easy to be cruel and bitchy to Jenn Garner. It was not something I would ever do in real life, but it was so much fun. Like Jen said, it was something that I hadn't been able to do before, to play this type of character, but I just thought she was the most fun. It's absolutely my favorite role, hands down, and I would do ten sequels, which I'm hoping to hear about today.
JM: Yes, I am writing them right now. "Butter 2."
JG: I play a lot of pretty girl next door characters and I am a girl next door in real life, and I am sick of myself! I am so over it. I don't want to see another simpering smile. I'm done. So this to me was heaven on earth, except that Laura is not to be emulated in any way because she's a heinous person. But as far as relating to the ambition and the competitiveness, I think it stretches it for me. I don't think that I am ambitious in this way really. But I will tell you, there's a moment in the movie where Olivia looks at me and she goes "I'm going to cut you." And every time she did it, I kid you not, I had a "fight or flight" thing in my body where I felt like running! She was terrifying! And she may say "Oh it was really hard for me to do." It wasn't hard for her to do. She went right for it and she could have killed me in that moment and many others.
OW: I think that was also our first day of shooting, so it really set the tone.
Q: Jennifer, there was an interesting review in, I believe, the "Village Voice" saying that this movie presented the adversaries as stand-ins for Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. And obviously you've been a very public supporter of Obama, involved in the campaign, fundraising, etcetera. What are your thoughts on that and what have you observed in your own personal experience about these presidential campaigns that made you appreciate the satire in this film? I know it's not a partisan film, but I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.
JG: I think we'll start with Jason, because I am asked this stuff a lot, but what did you mean? Did you see it as a Barack/Hillary?
JM: I think that the specific people are not really important. I think what's important is that they are representatives of certain ideologies. I've read that Laura was so many different people, Michele Bachman, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin. When I wrote the script I had no idea who Sarah Palin was. She was just the governor of Alaska, so that kind of proves that theory wrong. What's more important is not the specific people but that to me Jennifer's character represents the conservative ideology, and Yara's character represents more of the liberal ideology. And what we found is that both sides really love it. Because I think that while Jennifer plays the villain she sort of comes around in the end, and I think that her character represents conservatives who feel that our country was great and is now going in the wrong direction. And I think perhaps liberals, maybe represented by Yara's character, look forward while feeling that the country could be better. And whether you agree with either of those isn't the issue, it's just that's how I sort of track those two character arcs. So with Jenn's character you see she feels like things are being taken from her.. That's sort of how I approached it. The specific people are not important.
JG: When we made it, much more than watching any politicians, the people that I obsessed over watching were Iowa, Kansas, and middle of the country beauty queens and first ladies. I watched them on YouTube for hours.
Q: What is it about the political process that you personally observed that made you appreciate the satire of this film?
JG: Everyone's self-righteousness and faith and belief that there is only one side to a story and it's their side.
JFS: I'm British--I'm not just speaking with a weird voice--and when I read the script I read it very much as an outsider. I've spent a lot of time in America and all over the country, but I really saw it first and foremost as this smart and weird and outrageous comedy. But I also saw it as not being about specific to any one person but being about politics as a whole. And there are many themes in the movie that are just as relevant to politics in the UK and Europe and Australia and all over the place, and I think as Jason and Jenn both said, it very much is looking at ideologies rather than character types. And so rather than us having a sort of sniper rifle and picking off individual targets we just kind of carpet bombed the whole world of politics I guess. That was my kind of approach to it.
Q: Watching the film there were certainly times whene I was saying wow, this would be great for my family, and there were certain points where I said wow, I have little kids and I can't take them to this. Jason where did you see the film landing in terms of market and who you were aiming for?
JM: As a writer I just write the story I want to write and then other people shape it into what works for the market. I just thought the story was interesting. How old are your kids?
Q: My oldest is ten.
JM: Oh, ten is a little young. I have nieces and nephews that are like fifteen and they're going to see it. They know all these worlds.
Q: I think it's inspirational and cute, but then there's a lot of strong language and sex.
JM: Yeah, without a doubt.
JFS: That's politics.
JM: I love Brooke, the character played by Olivia, but you can't have a stripper not swear. I mean it's just not correct, it's just not right. So you know I think that with any film you have to make those decisions. I just write the story and then other people handle that.
RC: You weren't thinking about global sales when you were working on the second act?
Jennifer Garner
Q: Setting the film around something as simple as butter, one of the most compelling things I found about the movie is that I would say with the exception of Destiny's family, all the characters in the movie have these dark sides and do these really horrible things. So Jason, I want to know what was it like crafting these characters with dark sides and justifying their actions. And, Jenn, you touched on it a little bit, but what was it like going in and playing these characters with these horrible, horrible habits?
JM: It's weird, I don't think of them as that bad. Like Jenn's character, whom I love, and I love what she did with the part because she added so much more. I know she's the villain but I totally understand everything she does. She kind of goes off the rails, but I feel it's understandable. I feel like people do all kinds of stuff in real life. Brooke is a stripper but I think she's one of the stellar people in the movie. I think she's a good person; she has a good sense of honor. Someone owes her $600 and they should pay it. That's a great moral center. And then at the end she even gives that up for this little girl to win. So it's just a matter of perspective.
TB: When you're trying to make a movie PG13 is that's what gets lost is the dark side, and you have an incomplete character. And what's fun about this movie and doing movies like this is you get to play the entirety of a person, which is part of why I think so many of us love the script.
Q: What about the film will really resonate with the audiences that are going to see it?
JM: It's an outrageous comedy.
RC: I would say honestly that it's very, very funny. We've been talking a lot about the politics of it and everything, but it might be embarrassing for me to admit that I had no idea when I read this that there was any satire involved at all. I just thought it was hilarious and well written with perfectly constructed jokes. What I think is the most valuable thing about this movie is how hilarious it is.
JFS: It will be interesting seeing how it resonates with audiences and with the press and so on because, as Rob says, on set we were just having a great time making this really weird and funny comedy. And so everyone comes out and talks about the politics of it all, and I think that's great and it's up to people to take away from a movie whatever they want to take away from it. If people want to watch it and say oh hey he's this guy and she's this person and so on that's cool, but that's certainly wasn't my driving ambition to make the film. I always just want to make things that are funny and have heart and characters yeah that are down and dirty but also are relatable. Weirdly, I think Laura Pickler, and this is a huge amount due to Jenn's portrayal of the character, is an incredibly relatable character. I know she's awful, but she's driven by very understandable goals. She's a big fish in a small pond and she's about to have her life taken away from her. And actually she's doing a lot of things right. She's trying to keep her family together, she's trying to be a good mum to her stepdaughter, played by Ashley, and as Jason said, it's Bob who's the bad guy in the relationship. And Jason very cleverly structured the movie so that Jen's character is actually the hero and Destiny is the villain. You wouldn't necessarily think that to watch it but kind of in classic movie structure that's how it plays out. And you're meant to sympathize with Laura Pickler. And I hope that comes across in the movie, you're meant to understand, not necessarily agree with, but you're meant to understand why she does what she does in the movie.
JM: Also people will go see it because Ashley and Olivia make out.
RC (joking): And Ty and I make out. Not quite as relatable.
TB: But beautiful.
DP: Jennifer, talk about the non-villainous side of your character, because by the end we're kind of liking her, and that I guess was your intention.
JG: Thank you, I hope so. Like Jim said, this is a woman who has structured her entire life to be the queen bee of her world. And whenever you have a movie about a certain world, whether it's butter carving or bird watching or whatever it is, it's always just a little microcosm and everyone is ultimately very universal, and Laura Pickler is no different. She's somebody who has fought like crazy; she's pushed her husband as hard as she can push him to be something that he didn't necessarily want to be. Which is why he's acted out probably the way he has, but we don't need to get into all that. But anyway, she's pushed him very hard to be the king of butter carving, and then when that's taken away from her she's losing her entire identity. There's nothing left, there's no way that she's been at the top. And so she has to go crazy to maintain her sense of self. She really is somebody who's on the brink; she's kind of losing it. So she is trying to work as hard as she can the only way that she knows how, and if somebody gets in her way it just makes absolute sense to her to squash them.
Q: One of my favorite scenes is the one in which Destiny's in the car with Rob's character Ethan and she's having second thoughts about signing up for the competition and they describe scary scenarios. I was wondering about putting that scene together and how you guys worked it out.
YS: That was fun. It was a lot of improv. Every time we'd do it we'd have completely different thoughts; it was completely different what we would say. It was really funny.
RC: That was definitely my favorite scene to shoot because there was a lot of improv, but in a way that was so collaborative. Like Jim was throwing out a lot of lines, Jason was throwing out some lines, we were both coming up with lines. It was really fun to think of the scariest thing possible. The scariest yet silliest thing possible. And also it's just not hard to act with Yara. It's very easy to do a scene with her.
YS: Thank you.
JFS: Often you're doing improv because this is bad and you try to find something funny. And it certainly wasn't the case because it was all down on the page. You think well here we're going to be able to have a little bit of fun. And I really wanted to push the chemistry between Yara and Rob's characters. It a lot of fun to shoot. Shooting movies can be tough at times, but that was not, that was a fun day.
JG: We all competed with each other for Yara's attention. If Yara ever had anything to say we would all say "Oh, Yara's speaking." And it's obviously still very much that way. But now I am sitting next to her!
JM: It's weird, I don't think of them as that bad. Like Jenn's character, whom I love, and I love what she did with the part because she added so much more. I know she's the villain but I totally understand everything she does. She kind of goes off the rails, but I feel it's understandable. I feel like people do all kinds of stuff in real life. Brooke is a stripper but I think she's one of the stellar people in the movie. I think she's a good person; she has a good sense of honor. Someone owes her $600 and they should pay it. That's a great moral center. And then at the end she even gives that up for this little girl to win. So it's just a matter of perspective.
TB: When you're trying to make a movie PG13 is that's what gets lost is the dark side, and you have an incomplete character. And what's fun about this movie and doing movies like this is you get to play the entirety of a person, which is part of why I think so many of us love the script.
Q: What about the film will really resonate with the audiences that are going to see it?
JM: It's an outrageous comedy.
RC: I would say honestly that it's very, very funny. We've been talking a lot about the politics of it and everything, but it might be embarrassing for me to admit that I had no idea when I read this that there was any satire involved at all. I just thought it was hilarious and well written with perfectly constructed jokes. What I think is the most valuable thing about this movie is how hilarious it is.
JFS: It will be interesting seeing how it resonates with audiences and with the press and so on because, as Rob says, on set we were just having a great time making this really weird and funny comedy. And so everyone comes out and talks about the politics of it all, and I think that's great and it's up to people to take away from a movie whatever they want to take away from it. If people want to watch it and say oh hey he's this guy and she's this person and so on that's cool, but that's certainly wasn't my driving ambition to make the film. I always just want to make things that are funny and have heart and characters yeah that are down and dirty but also are relatable. Weirdly, I think Laura Pickler, and this is a huge amount due to Jenn's portrayal of the character, is an incredibly relatable character. I know she's awful, but she's driven by very understandable goals. She's a big fish in a small pond and she's about to have her life taken away from her. And actually she's doing a lot of things right. She's trying to keep her family together, she's trying to be a good mum to her stepdaughter, played by Ashley, and as Jason said, it's Bob who's the bad guy in the relationship. And Jason very cleverly structured the movie so that Jen's character is actually the hero and Destiny is the villain. You wouldn't necessarily think that to watch it but kind of in classic movie structure that's how it plays out. And you're meant to sympathize with Laura Pickler. And I hope that comes across in the movie, you're meant to understand, not necessarily agree with, but you're meant to understand why she does what she does in the movie.
JM: Also people will go see it because Ashley and Olivia make out.
RC (joking): And Ty and I make out. Not quite as relatable.
TB: But beautiful.
DP: Jennifer, talk about the non-villainous side of your character, because by the end we're kind of liking her, and that I guess was your intention.
JG: Thank you, I hope so. Like Jim said, this is a woman who has structured her entire life to be the queen bee of her world. And whenever you have a movie about a certain world, whether it's butter carving or bird watching or whatever it is, it's always just a little microcosm and everyone is ultimately very universal, and Laura Pickler is no different. She's somebody who has fought like crazy; she's pushed her husband as hard as she can push him to be something that he didn't necessarily want to be. Which is why he's acted out probably the way he has, but we don't need to get into all that. But anyway, she's pushed him very hard to be the king of butter carving, and then when that's taken away from her she's losing her entire identity. There's nothing left, there's no way that she's been at the top. And so she has to go crazy to maintain her sense of self. She really is somebody who's on the brink; she's kind of losing it. So she is trying to work as hard as she can the only way that she knows how, and if somebody gets in her way it just makes absolute sense to her to squash them.
Q: One of my favorite scenes is the one in which Destiny's in the car with Rob's character Ethan and she's having second thoughts about signing up for the competition and they describe scary scenarios. I was wondering about putting that scene together and how you guys worked it out.
YS: That was fun. It was a lot of improv. Every time we'd do it we'd have completely different thoughts; it was completely different what we would say. It was really funny.
RC: That was definitely my favorite scene to shoot because there was a lot of improv, but in a way that was so collaborative. Like Jim was throwing out a lot of lines, Jason was throwing out some lines, we were both coming up with lines. It was really fun to think of the scariest thing possible. The scariest yet silliest thing possible. And also it's just not hard to act with Yara. It's very easy to do a scene with her.
YS: Thank you.
JFS: Often you're doing improv because this is bad and you try to find something funny. And it certainly wasn't the case because it was all down on the page. You think well here we're going to be able to have a little bit of fun. And I really wanted to push the chemistry between Yara and Rob's characters. It a lot of fun to shoot. Shooting movies can be tough at times, but that was not, that was a fun day.
JG: We all competed with each other for Yara's attention. If Yara ever had anything to say we would all say "Oh, Yara's speaking." And it's obviously still very much that way. But now I am sitting next to her!
Yara Shahidi and Olivia Wilde
RC: Yeah but we get to switch seats halfway through you said.
Q:Lady: One of my favorite messages in the movie was about the passion that they have for such a seemingly weird or odd hobby. And I'm curious if you could speak to any passions that you may have that the public isn't aware of.
JG: Clogging. I'm from West Virginia. If you played "Rocky Top" I could clog right now.
Q: Can you discuss some of the difficulties in making this film?
JFS: Not enough time, not enough money, not enough days in the week.
OW: Volcano.
JFS: Actors being caught in Europe underneath a volcanic ash cloud. Shooting in 95% humidity in Louisiana, which is just tough at times. One of the biggest challenges for me in pre-production was figuring out how too do the butter sculptures, and to figure out how to make that look real. I was very, very keen to not feel like we just dumped some amazing sculptures there, as Ty said, and have the actor go tah dah! I wanted it to feel like they were actually creating the sculptures, so we spent a lot of time working on stages of the sculptures. We had a lot of fun working with Jason and with the sculpting team on what their sculptures were. I wanted to pick things that were, like I said, very important to the characters. So for example, Laura carves a family dinner scene. To her that seems to be the most important, sort of moral image that she wants to create. Whereas Destiny tends to create more emotional and slightly more symbolic things. That's very much a theme in the movie that Laura tends to pick things that she thinks have to do with values and being an American, and Destiny tends to pick things that are much more from her heart and much more idealistic. And that's kind of why Destiny seems to have the upper hand with the judges and with the audiences, because she seems to pluck at the heart strings. In terms of challenges that was definitely a real challenge. And then also just working with Rob Corddry, who's a real pain in the ass.
RC: I want what I want when I want it.
Q: What advice does the cast have for aspiring actors.
TB: Don't have any skills or the ability to do anything else for a living.
OW: No backup plan.
RC: Because you will fall back on it. If you have to have a temp job or a table waiting job or something like that to pay the bills, don't stay too long. Quit after a year. Get yourself fired because then you can collect unemployment.
TB (joking): Yeah that's why I got fired. Strategically.
JG: Work for free. Do anything you can just to get credits on stage. You can in student productions just to get a reel; and work in a theater to get credits and the experience.
OW: I would say take risks and take your clothes off. Even if they don't ask. Leave your comfort zone.
JFS: Brooke wasn't actually a stripper.
OW: Sorry guys. I already had that big tramp stamp tattoo, so it worked out.
AG: Yeah I think it's about going outside of your comfort zone and not giving up and kind of just always working and always moving forward and not allowing yourself to kind of feel comfortable anywhere. I think if you feel comfortable then you're not doing your job and you're not where you're supposed to be--because you should always kind of have this adrenaline rush. You should always be moving, always be going, and always be doing something different.
YS: Be yourself. Don't let anything change about you.
Q:Lady: One of my favorite messages in the movie was about the passion that they have for such a seemingly weird or odd hobby. And I'm curious if you could speak to any passions that you may have that the public isn't aware of.
JG: Clogging. I'm from West Virginia. If you played "Rocky Top" I could clog right now.
Q: Can you discuss some of the difficulties in making this film?
JFS: Not enough time, not enough money, not enough days in the week.
OW: Volcano.
JFS: Actors being caught in Europe underneath a volcanic ash cloud. Shooting in 95% humidity in Louisiana, which is just tough at times. One of the biggest challenges for me in pre-production was figuring out how too do the butter sculptures, and to figure out how to make that look real. I was very, very keen to not feel like we just dumped some amazing sculptures there, as Ty said, and have the actor go tah dah! I wanted it to feel like they were actually creating the sculptures, so we spent a lot of time working on stages of the sculptures. We had a lot of fun working with Jason and with the sculpting team on what their sculptures were. I wanted to pick things that were, like I said, very important to the characters. So for example, Laura carves a family dinner scene. To her that seems to be the most important, sort of moral image that she wants to create. Whereas Destiny tends to create more emotional and slightly more symbolic things. That's very much a theme in the movie that Laura tends to pick things that she thinks have to do with values and being an American, and Destiny tends to pick things that are much more from her heart and much more idealistic. And that's kind of why Destiny seems to have the upper hand with the judges and with the audiences, because she seems to pluck at the heart strings. In terms of challenges that was definitely a real challenge. And then also just working with Rob Corddry, who's a real pain in the ass.
RC: I want what I want when I want it.
Q: What advice does the cast have for aspiring actors.
TB: Don't have any skills or the ability to do anything else for a living.
OW: No backup plan.
RC: Because you will fall back on it. If you have to have a temp job or a table waiting job or something like that to pay the bills, don't stay too long. Quit after a year. Get yourself fired because then you can collect unemployment.
TB (joking): Yeah that's why I got fired. Strategically.
JG: Work for free. Do anything you can just to get credits on stage. You can in student productions just to get a reel; and work in a theater to get credits and the experience.
OW: I would say take risks and take your clothes off. Even if they don't ask. Leave your comfort zone.
JFS: Brooke wasn't actually a stripper.
OW: Sorry guys. I already had that big tramp stamp tattoo, so it worked out.
AG: Yeah I think it's about going outside of your comfort zone and not giving up and kind of just always working and always moving forward and not allowing yourself to kind of feel comfortable anywhere. I think if you feel comfortable then you're not doing your job and you're not where you're supposed to be--because you should always kind of have this adrenaline rush. You should always be moving, always be going, and always be doing something different.
YS: Be yourself. Don't let anything change about you.
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