Adam Brody dishes on career, TV habits

Dunst talks reboots

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Brody

LOS ANGELES:

By Alicia Rancilio

new movie “Ready or Not”, in theaters Wednesday, he’s part of an ultra-rich family with an odd marriage ritual: When someone marries into the family, that person must pick a card to play a random game on their wedding night. The catch: The game may be deadly. While it’s a horror film, the movie is also funny and Brody’s character Daniel adds to that levity.

“He’s pretty disgusted with his family – including his wife. And himself. And the ritual. He does undercut the stakes or the seriousness every chance he can get,” Brody said. Brody, whose big break was on the Fox soapy drama “The OC” from 2003 to 2007, has been steadily working in recent years. Earlier this year, he appeared in “Shazam!” and will soon begin filming the first season of the FX anthology series “Mrs America” and the indie film “Kid Detective”.

Brody also talked about working with his wife and their TV habits and more on filming “Ready or Not” with The Associated Press. The comments have been edited for clarity and length.

“Ready or Not” is a funny horror movie. What was the mood on set?

We were all sitting in a room between setups on our phones and talking and getting to know each other in the middle of the night and all hours of the day, so you get sort of punchy. I do think a lot of people who sort of specialize in that dark stuff on screen are some of the lightest people. And then you go on something you think is gonna be a fun comedy and you’re like, ‘Why is this guy so’” stressed?

You appeared in the season finale of your wife Leighton Meester’s comedy series ‘Single Parents’ as her ex, and you’re returning for season two. Did you like the idea of playing a not-so-nice guy on the show?

It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I’d want. I get to work with her. I get to be the father of her child, but I’m also an idiot. I just want to be a character. I don’t want to go in there and be like a straight man, romantic guy. I want to be a dummy (laughter).

Are there any TV shows that you two have to watch together?

‘Real Time with Bill Maher’. We always watch Bill Maher together. That’s hard because it’s topical and I lose interest if we get to another news cycle and we haven’t seen it yet. ... I love the show. I think it’s one of the more honest conversations. First of all, it’s funny, it’s entertaining, but also I think because of the air of humor and also you can be off-color and can cuss, you get at a greater truth.

What about any reality TV like ‘The Bach

We did do a few seasons of ‘The Bachelor’ and liked it. We had our fun with it. I get it on one hand, and on the other hand, they bleach it of all humanity which is weird. I’m not saying they find the most interesting people but they’re going in a helicopter to the top of a mountain, I’m sure something was said that’s funny, you know? Or some interesting observation. Or something about the backstory of somebody’s life. They really whittle it down. It’s still a big hit so if it’s not broke don’t fix it, but I do feel like, you must work so hard to scrub it of any of the personality that’s probably there. Are you comfortable watching your work?

Yeah, but I’d find it so depressing if you asked me to put my best three scenes on something. I’d go, ‘I can’t believe this is the best I’ve done.’ But, I can definitely watch myself. To me, acting on screen in so piecemeal. You do it out of order, you do a line here, a look here. I’m so curious about the final product. I’m into the script. I’ve watched the director’s other movies. What music’s gonna be in it? I want to see it. I very much love (when) the whole things come together and there’s the premiere, let’s go watch and see what we all made collectively.

Also:

was just 11 years old when she skyrocketed into stardom as Claudia in “Interview with a Vampire”, but now Dunst says her age is the only thing keeping her from reprising the role in a hypothetical reboot.

“I mean I’m too old, right?,” she told Variety at the premiere of “On Becoming a ... in Central Florida”. “I was a child stuck, so I don’t know how that would work. It would be kind of sad, me in a curly wig. No one wants to see that.”

Dunst was far more excited about another one of her childhood roles getting a reboot, “Little Women”. With adaptation on the horizon, Dunst said she’s excited to see the film return to theaters once again.

“It’s so nice; each generation I feel like it’s such a classic,” she said. “It’s nice to see someone else’s take on it.”

As for her current role in “On Becoming a ... in Central Florida”, Dunst is taking on some more modern themes. As the braces-wearing housewife Krystal Stubbs, Dunst finds herself in hot water after her husband leaves her with a terrifying amount of debt following his involvement in a home goods pyramid scheme. Set in the nineties, Dunst also sports an eclectic wardrobe of questionable fashion choices that includes “a lot of good denim on denim,” leather cut-outs and rhinestones.

“The worse it got, the better it was,” Dunst said about her outfits, which only serve to compliment her character’s intense spray tan, long fake nails and eye-catching mouth gear that’s just as uncomfortable as one might think.

“I’d just take off, and there would be a line of saliva coming off,” Dunst said. “They’re kind of nauseating to wear, so I was just grossing everyone out.” (Agencies)