With We’re The Millers set to be released in Dubai on September 9, we find out from its two stars, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis about the film’s gross-out brand of comedy.
What was it about We’re The Millers that drew you in and made you want to do the movie?
Jennifer Aniston: It felt like a fun road trip movie and the idea of playing a dancer was intriguing.
When you first read the script, was there anything in there that shocked you because of how outrageous the comedy was?
JA: Not really, I have to say. If anything, we wanted it to be pushed a little more.
Jason Sudeikis: Yep. You could definitely go darker when you have a homeless kid and a dancer.
What did you like most about Rose and David? What were your ways into these characters? Jennifer, Rose is a very tough woman, which is kind of a departure for you, isn’t it?
JA: Well, she’s tough, but, at the same time, there’s the very vulnerable person inside. I think where she has ended up in her life is certainly not where she expected to.
JS: Yeah. I would say for me, as David, I viewed him as a guy who kind of gave up for one reason or another. The whole movie’s informed by him because he sort of grows up a little bit over the course of it.
The movie is obviously a comedy, but it also has a generous heart towards these characters. When you were making the movie, how did you balance being funny with making it real and finding the heart in it?
JA: We just played everything as real as possible, even poking fun at ourselves. Even our attempt to escape or save the day didn’t take itself too seriously. I mean, there is the Flashdance scene.
Jennifer, speaking of the Flashdance scene, what was it like for you to do those dancing scenes? How did you prepare for that?
JA: Well, I prepared a lot. Training, first of all and I had an amazing choreographer. But I’ve never quite danced like that before. I belly-danced as a kid. [Laughs] But that was pretty much the extent of me trying to publicly seduce someone, like in the dance.
JS: Yeah, I received that. It’s very believable, having been forced into those situations in my life.
Did you surprise yourself? When you saw yourself on camera, were you like, ‘Wow, that’s me’?
JA: No, I kind of was like, ‘Oh, yeah.’
Do each of you have a favourite sequence of the other? Something that made you laugh or was particularly memorable?
JS: The funniest thing for me was the smallest thing. It’s when Jen is looking through the manual, when she’s sitting next to me in the RV. You’re just looking at it and just considering what this button does and what that button does. Every time I looked over, while the camera’s starting to roll – because it was always at the beginning of the scene – it made me laugh. You were so in it, just figuring out how it all works.
JA: I have to say – for me watching Jason – there are so many things that make me laugh, I can’t even name them. But it’s the scene where he basically yells at all of us after we all yell, ‘Fireworks, fireworks!’ He tells us that we’re not a real family, and he’s Marky Mark.
JS: Yeah, ‘I’m Marky Mark and you’re the Funky Bunch.’
What do you think your characters find that they didn’t expect from this road trip that they take together?
JA: Family. One hundred percent. They find their family.
JS: I think it is that family is the answer. That’s what we get that we always needed, which we didn’t know we want. It’s a really good movie, huh?
We’re The Millers is released in cinemas on September 9. Read the review at www.timeoutdubai.com/film
