WILL FERRELL and JON HEDER Interviewed – BLADES OF GLORY
3/26/2007
Posted by Frosty
How was the chase on dry land?
WF: That was really hard. We were saying in the other room, that was the first two days of filming, all of that chase and we hadn't really worked out being on those skates at all.
JH: Did you have covers at all or was it just straight metal blade?
WF: No, it was like a piece of wood that was painted silver on the side so it looked like a blade but it was still only about that much thickness that we were running around on. And it was the craziest way to begin a movie I've ever- - you felt really beat up after those first few days of all that physical stuff, but it was fun.
How important is the hair of the character?
JH: I loved it. I love hair. It's very important.
WF: I would say the same thing.
How does it help you find the essence?
JH: I think so much of the look, obviously including wardrobe, but the hair is a huge thing because it's basically the frame for your eyes and that's the window to your soul is what they say.
WF: I'm about to cry right now.

JH: I always love messing with my own hair. As much as I can, I don't normally like to wear wigs. If it's just scheduling reasons, but yeah, we did extensions and played around. It's always fun getting into that character that way.
WF: Plus, really very few of us have a job where you can get paid to come up with a crazy hairstyle. So it's always fun if you can add that extra dimension of your look and hair is a huge part of that.
Can you talk about the kiss you did with Jenna?
JH: Well, in the script, it was like a sweet innocent kiss, I think from what I remember. But we were just talking about the characters and how they both have neither ever had experience with the opposite sex, for good reasons. So when they get together, we just thought neither of them would know what they're doing and we should just make it like the most awkward kiss ever, where she's a little bit more excited, she gets into it a little bit more. Jimmy is still trying to go by what he watches on like Backstreet Boys videos. Like simple, beautiful and yeah, we didn't really rehearse it. But when we shot it, it was like all right, let's just kind of go for it and see what happens. It was really weird. There was a couple where she was like making moans like "Ahh ahh."
What is it like performing in the stadium with crowds, and how much did you really do?
JH: Well, the first part, it was kind of nervous. I'm used to now, started getting used to like, being in front of the camera is fine. In front of other people, there's always a small cast but this is the first movie where actually- - I remember the first time when we started shooting the skating stuff, to be out there where we have our routines planned, we know the routine but then you have all these extras. And it was like the real deal. I got up, I was nervous, I was like- -
WF: You don't want to mess up.
JH: I didn't want to mess up and like- - I mean , once you start going it's fine.
WF: We worked with this woman, Sarah Kawahara and she's like the big time skating choreographer, to the point where some of the other coaches who were former pros, actually you could see them get nervous around her. She does all the Disney on Ice, everything. You have these coaches who really wanted us to- - in your mind, you'd be like, "I nailed that" and they were like, "better."
JH: It was like real time coaches.
WF: "You're gonna get there. Yeah."

JH: They were like real coaches. The directors say, "Oh, great job. Now do it this way." And they were like, "Yeah, okay."
WF: "Make sure you point your toe." And the director would be like, "Looks fine." They were almost like, "Don't tell them that." But it was intense.
JH: And I tried to do as much skating as I could. Obviously, we had doubles to do the really cool spins and the jumps.
Any wires used?
JH: We got on some wires, yeah, we got on some wires. For any of the flying sequences. There was a few. But yeah, I really- -
WF: I flew at the end.
JH: That was wirework.
WF: But that actually was insane. We were like 100 feet up in the air above all these people going [forget the gesture]. I was like, "I hope these don't break."
Did you ever get to see the Korean film?
WF: We never got to see it. It wasn't mocked up so we just had to react to what we thought it would look like.
JH: Or the director going, "Now the head falls off."
WF: So we both thought it was super funny when we got to see it. It was very crudely done, you know. [OVERLAPPING] But then the head comes off.
JH: And when we shot the scene where his character's practicing off a mannequin and his double actually nailed the head. There was one time where he nailed it perfectly just at the right- - because they had it rigged so it would fall, but he hit it instead like right off.

Did you talk to Helen Mirren after the Oscar bit?
WF: No, I didn't get to- -
JH: There wasn't any talking.
WF: Not a lot of talking in my hotel suite.
Amy Poehler: Keep it down, we're trying to think out here.
WF: You are nothing but a dumb hillbilly.
AP: Son of a bitch.
What's coming up for you Will?
WF: I just started filming another sports comedy about the ABA which was this league in the '70s, a competing league with the NBA. So it's a basketball comedy. Semi Pro.
What’s your character?
WF: I'm this guy Jackie Moon. I'm the player/owner/coach of the Flint Michigan Tropics. And I was able to buy the team with the money from my single, my number one hit song Love Me Sexy. The true story part of it is the NBA and the ABA merge and they only took four teams. So we're trying to play for fourth place to make it to the NBA.
And what about you Jon?
JH: Surf's up and Mama's Boy. I don't know when that comes out but it's all done. I'm not working on anything right now.
And finally Will…I’m a huge fan of a sketch you did on SNL called Mr.Tartanian/ Angry Boss that featured Pierce Brosnan. Can you tell me how that sketch came about?
WF: Oh, it was the interview at the travel magazine one. Just Adam and I wrote it. We were talking about, we would sometimes just kick scenarios and write so we thought about just a job interview scene at a travel magazine and I end up stabbing Chris Parnell with a trident 100 times.


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