Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Hit & Run Interview
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Sunday, 19 August 2012 22:49
- Published: Sunday, 19 August 2012 22:49
- Written by Lupe Haas
Usually when you go to work, you leave your close friends and girlfriend at home. That wasn’t the case for writer and co-director of Hit & Run, Dax Shepard. Cinemovie got to sit down with Dax, Kristen Bell, Joy Bryant, and Tom Arnold to chat about what it was like having pre-established relationships on set.
Dax had the unfortunate job of having to direct all of his close friends as well as his wife-to-be, Kristen Bell. One upside was that Dax and Kristen got to carpool together to the shoot. They had an extra hour in transit to help each other learn lines. On the days they had to bring separate cars, Dax was stuck driving what he humorously called: the “piece-of-sh** Solstice,” since Kristin couldn’t drive a stick.The lovable pair have such a natural and engaging chemistry; audiences are sure to be captivated. Generally it’s risky for any movie-biz couple to spend countless hours working together, but apparently that wasn’t the case for these lovebirds. Kristen ultimately trusted Dax’s vision and wanted to help him execute it.
“We have jobs that separate us, he goes to Parenthood, and I go to House of Lies, and we’re separated for 15 hours a day. So to have a job that was spending time together all day and also having a common finish line, we both really wanted it to succeed. There was nothing really dramatic about it at all. It was very positive.”
“He’s working on a low budget as a first time director. He’s the producer, the writer, he’s also starring and his fiancée is co-starring in it. That is a recipe for horrible times. Kris is awesome though. She’s a great wife for Dax and a great person. If she wasn’t, it could have been horrible.”Since Dax personally knew his actors, he tried writing the characters as close to who they are in real life. Of course, he made Tom Arnold the loveable mess. When Tom and Dax met on the set of Punk’d in 2003 they instantly clicked and have been best pals ever since. Here’s what Tom had to say on taking direction from a close friend in Dax.
“I take what Dax says in consideration. I always felt confident that he knew what was going on because I had no clue. I tried to let the buddy thing slide a little. There were other friends in the movie to fight with, like Michael Rosenbaum.”
“He had this extra responsibility, one where he was a leader and doing a stellar job at it. When he sat behind the monitor looking very closely at the screen, doing the rolling sign, or yelling action or cut, or coming in and secretly giving notes to people, I was just overwhelmed with how adorable it was.”Dax then affectionately responded by saying, “It’s like when I watch her sing. Every time I see her sing, (Dax wipes his fake tears), I’m so proud.”
Joy Bryant, who co-stars with Dax on "Parenthood," added that most couples probably can’t work together, but if it’s a couple like Dax and Kristen then it’s safe. Bryant was pumped to embark on a project where a bunch of mutual friends got together and collaborated for Dax’s sake, despite low pay.
“It was a passion project and a labor of love. Dax wrote a really dope piece and we were psyched to be there and excited to bring his vision to life. The atmosphere was just f*ckin chill and fun.”Hit & Run races to theaters on August 22, 2012.