Video:Kristin Chenoweth and Mary Steenburgen on Four Christmases
with Rebecca MurrayMary Steenburgen and Kristin Chenoweth play mother and daughter in the Warner Bros Pictures holiday comedy 'Four Christmases.' Both ladies looked absolutely radiant on the red carpet at the film's world premiere as they talked up the comedy movie.
Transcript:Kristin Chenoweth and Mary Steenburgen on Four Christmases
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the World Premiere of Four Christmases.
Kristin Chenoweth – 'Courtney' in Four Christmases
Tell me about playing sisters with Reese Witherspoon. You are both beautiful blondes – and short.Kristin Chenoweth: "I know, what happened to us? It was so fun. She is such a doll. Being around her is just like being around one of my family members. We're very similar in a lot of our outlooks on life and the way we were brought up. So it was very fun, very easy."
It was easy to do the family bonding.
Kristin Chenoweth: "Yeah, totally. What wasn't easy was always giving her those little kind of passive-aggressive zingers. I didn't like that."
What about improv on this? Did you stick to the script or did you go off?
Kristin Chenoweth: "Oh, no, no, no. I don't even know what the script was. We did a lot of improv and you know luckily for me, Vince [Vaughn] and Reese were very, very trustworthy and said, 'Go for it. Just have fun.' And some of it is in the movie. It's really fun."
One last question – why should people see this movie?
Kristin Chenoweth: "I think a lot of people will be able to relate to it because everybody… It seems like there's a lot of split families now and there's not been a movie about it – so here it is."
Mary Steenburgen – 'Marilyn' in Four Christmases
You play two very hot mothers this year. How much fun is that role?Mary Steenburgen: "Well I don't know about them being hot. But in two very silly comedies I got to be the mom, that's for sure. It's been a wonderful year. I've had a great time. I got to do really fun things with fun people. And I did three other movies that were some of them little indies and some of the bigger movies, and I've just had a great, fun year."
When you're sitting around as a family, how much of that was improv?
Mary Steenburgen: "You know, quite a bit actually. Yeah, and more so in some of my little moments with Vince, because Vince and I both love to improv so a lot of our stuff was improv'd and we just made stuff up. Some of the scenes sitting around, they were scripted or we kind of worked on them together. It was fun. It was just a great bunch of actors who are really good at all this stuff so I was in very good company."
Was it different working for a director who comes from the world of documentary films?
Mary Steenburgen: "You know, he was so wonderful and willing, and I was such a fan of King of Kong. I love that movie. It's just such a wonderful film. He just was an incredible part of the whole thing and if he had any reservations about any of us, he didn't show it."
How many of these experiences in the film could you actually relate to in your personal life?
Mary Steenburgen: "Well it kind of is my personal life. It is in that, you know, I had two parents and a sister and we had the little perfect family and I always pictured that. Then I grew up, I got divorced. Luckily I'm still friends with my ex-husband. He and his wife and their little boys will probably end up at my house on Christmas. But my kids if they're dating someone who's divorced, they've had four Christmases. So, I understand it very well. And in like in the family, we actually have enough love to go around to everybody."