Adventureland : Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart Interview





INTERVIEWER
I'm always fascinated with actors, what the initial spark for tackling a character is. So can both of you talk about, for "Adventureland," what was interesting for you about your character?

KRISTEN STEWART
Um, I, I put a lot of faith in her, because she's so closed down, um. I feel like, I saw in her what I see in, maybe, a couple people that I know in my real life, that you feel like they're the greatest. And if they knew that, then they could have everything that they deserve and feel like they are, like, worthy of it. I feel like these two are so wracked with their own insecurities that they can't just, sort of, live, um, without everything just getting so complicated. And, uh, for a summer, you see that, you can see through that. I mean, it doesn't drift away completely. It's not like he, you know, (laughs), he saves her and makes her, like, a perfectly well-rounded person. But you see, like, you know, you see, like, the hole in the armor, and so you're like, "Okay, you have that in you". And it's, like, nice to see her smile once or twice.

JESSE EISENBERG
Um, yeah, I felt, I loved mostly about this character, like, his earnestness, like, this, just complete, like, he's just, he's so concerned with how other people are feeling about him, and to, to make sure that he doesn't step on any toes. And like, um, like, for example, he goes out on a date in the movie that shouldn't be on, because he supposed to be, kind of, being faithful to Kristen's character. And the whole time he's on the date, he's just explaining away that he really shouldn't be here and just making sure she doesn't tell anybody. And it's just such a sweet quality. But it's not over the top, it's just done with extreme, like, it's just so realistically, like, uh, sincere. And I thought it was just really funny and sweet.

INTERVIEWER
There've been a lot of movies in cinematic history that have dealt with first love. And I thought was really interesting about this is that there was kind of a, a, a sensitive, a sweet side to it, that it, it, didn't, it wasn't riddled with cliché. And I was wondering, from an actor's perspective, as you inhabited these characters, how different, how fresh was it for you to approach it from this angle?

JESSE EISENBERG
Yeah, of course, it's much easier to do this than to do something that is, like, uh, ster-, uh, cliché, because with something that's, you know, kind of, derived from stereotypes or formulas, you have to find it in you to, kind of, make it fresh and emotionally honest and that's almost impossible. Whereas something like this, the script was so, the script was so authentic and personal that it felt, that it was much more easy and at the same time you also felt the responsibility to make it as good as the script was.

KRISTEN STEWART
Um, yeah. It’s, like, you never felt, like, you were just, sort of, the placeholder. You know, a lot of movies, I'm just, um, I, I would, I would just be the girl. And, it's like, "Okay, so there's, uh, they're going to kiss at some point, right?" Um, it never, I never felt that way about this, ever. Um, I mean an-anytime, anytime you feel like you know the person, like, they're real, and you feel, like, responsible for them, it's, it's like, the only way that I can work, is you just feel so absurd. It's like, unless you're doing something real, um, I mean, I'm not, like, a performer. I'm not, you know, it's, it's a different thing.

INTERVIEWER
And can you talk a little bit about Greg as a director, because there seems to be an effervescence about him. I mean, there is just, he's almost like a kid, too. There is just something so youthful and exuberant. How does that lend itself to filming?

JESSE EISENBERG
It's great. I, the first time I met with him, I didn't even have the part and I, you know, I mean, uh, I mean, it was, like, six months before the movie was even, uh, in production. And I had, like, an idea about the script, and he said, "Okay, yeah. I'll try to change that tonight". I was, like, "He's going to, like, go home and put my, like, bad idea in his script".

KRISTEN STEWART
(chuckles)

JESSE EISENBERG
And so, um, um, he, uh, he's just, I mean, it's similar to the character in the movie. He's just, like, such a sincere, earnest person. And it comes across in the movie, um, his personality, just the way he views people as, like, ultimately good. So even, like, the characters that you really are not supposed to like...

KRISTEN STEWART
You understand them.

JESSE EISENBERG (overlapping)
...they're ultimately good. Yeah, exactly.

KRISTEN STEWART
Yeah, it's like he, he has to explain why they're doing everything. It's, like, he can't just write a, a bad guy. He, he's, like, he feels for the bad guy, obviously and has to, like, justify everything that he does.

INTERVIEWER
With this movie, sometimes as actors, you're on a soundstage. And it's, kind of, very, you know, claustrophobic. What was it like? What did it lend itself to you, working at an actual amusement park?

JESSE EISENBERG
Uh, the amusement park, kind of, has its own obstacles, like, like, for example, if there's, like, a close-up of somebody, if there's, like, a ride in the background, twenty people have to be on the ride, and it has to be, like, moving. So it, it, kind of like, you know, even though it, kind of like, seems like this really fun place to work, you know....

KRISTEN STEWART
Logistically, very complicated movie to make.

JESSE EISENBERG
Yeah, exactly.

INTERVIEWER
And part of the heart and soul of this movie is the music. Now, most, the both of you were not really buying music in nineteen eighty-seven. But what was interesting for you? Did you discover new things about, uh, in the time period, the clothes? Was there something about the eighties that was intriguing to you?

KRISTEN STEWART
Yeah, all the music was really great, especially, it was written into the script. So it was really deliberate. Uh, he would play, Greg would play the music over scenes that we didn't have to speak in, and then if we did have to speak, he would play them right before we would roll. And it would, sort of, inform the tone. It's so you can control, I mean, it's like, the emotional backbone of every movie. I mean, whether it be silence or, you can control pacing. It's crazy how much, how much music has to do with...

JESSE EISENBERG
Mm-hm.

KRISTEN STEWART
... with the scene.

INTERVIEWER
And watching this film, too, I thought, one of the, another aspect of the sweetness was that these people, in a sense, are outcasts, that they're all fragile, they're vulnerable, and that, it, it's reflective of about, in some way, each one of us is going through something, too. But we only see glossy images, kind of, onscreen. So I was wondering if you could just talk a little about that with your characters, that is something underneath that we all, there is, there's a hurt that we're all trying to feel and we all want to be loved.

JESSE EISENBERG
Yeah.

KRISTEN STEWART
Of course.

JESSE EISENBERG
Yeah, I mean, the characters go into these jobs, thinking that this is going to be, you know, like, the terrible job that's beneath them, disappointed that they have to take them. Um, but then you end up taking, everybody takes solace in that and, kind of, commiserates. So you end up, you know, looking for something redeemable about it so, uh, the characters, kind of, bond more closely.

INTERVIEWER
And, for Kristen, for you?

KRISTEN STEWART
Um, I feel like, Em tries to feign, like, real self-sufficiency and experience. And I think, of all the characters in the whole movie, she's probably the most emotionally immature and, um, inexperienced person. Uh, and it's just all overcompensation. Um, and that's, like, so awful to see. It's, like, you know, it's just sad. Uh, and, like, you know, she, she does, she, she, she does, like, break down, which is good, I mean, like, and, and I'm glad not entirely, too. It's not, like, all of a sudden she just turns into a different person. Um, but, but, uh, but it would have been, like, too tragic if, if, if she just stayed the way that she was the whole time. It would have been, like, like, I'm saying, like, I really feel for her, that never, it's, it's rare that you actually feel, like, like, by the end of the story, unless it turns out the way you want. Like, like, even at the end, it's like, all very seemingly perfect. They end up kissing. But I know it's going to fall apart because I know her so well.

JESSE EISENBERG
Right.

INTERVIEWER
(laughs)

KRISTEN STEWART
I know that she's going to ruin it for herself in the end, like, it's just, like, that's not where it ends. So she's complicated.

INTERVIEWER
And just a last quick question.

KRISTEN STEWART
Yeah.

INTERVIEWER
Most actresses or actors want to play younger, and you, in this movie, played older. Is, is it refreshing that Hollywood, kind of, is not looking at all those outside parameters, that it's, if you're right for the part, you're right for the part and age doesn't really mean that much?

KRISTEN STEWART
Um....

INTERVIEWER
Or do you have to think older? Is it difficult to play older?

KRISTEN STEWART
It's totally difficult to play older because you have no reference, you know, you have no, you're just not there yet. Um, but I feel like she's, sort of, emotionally regressed. She's not, she's sort of, I mean, she stopped, maybe, at, like, age sixteen and, sort of, refused to go any further. And, uh, I feel like, at the end, you, sort of, pick up where she's going to continue that. Um, so if I was playing somebody who was, like, very worldly, and, you know, sophisticated, I might, I might not have done it. But I felt like it was appropriate. Um, because people play other ages all the time. I mean, I feel like, I feel like Hollywood, I mean, they cast, you know....

JESSE EISENBERG (overlapping)
Yeah. Look at "Seinfeld". They were....

KRISTEN STEWART
(laughs)

INTERVIEWER
Or "Grease".

JESSE EISENBERG
Yeah.

KRISTEN STEWART
Yeah.

INTERVIEWER
Well, congratulations, guys. Wonderful movie...

JESSE EISENBERG (overlapping)
Oh, thanks a lot.

INTERVIEWER
... really terrific.

JESSE EISENBERG
Thanks.

KRISTEN STEWART
Thanks.

INTERVIEWER
Best of luck. Good to see you