Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Interviews
'Harold' of 'Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay' joined the writer/directors to discuss the second film to follow the adventures of two stoner buddies who always take a bizarre route to get to wherever they're going.
Transcript: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Interviews
Interview with Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay star John Cho and writer/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg.So what took so long to get this back, get the Harold and Kumar thing going?
Jon Hurwitz: "It was really about…it took that much time for the fan base to convince the studio, more or less."
Really?
Jon Hurwitz: "Yeah, because we've been eager to do a sequel for a very long time. All of us had a really fun time working on the first movie. And, you know, it was a moderate success at the box office the first time around but it was really the fans buying the DVDs and showing their support, and constantly pushing the studio to make the film, that eventually they came around and they thought it would be a wise investment on it."
And how easy is it to get back into the character and back into that whole chemistry between the two of you?
John Cho: "Shockingly easy, I think. We've all stayed in touch and it was just like dusting off an old suit. I felt like it was fine – an old, gorgeous tuxedo. What? That's the name of my band – Old Gorgeous Tuxedo. But it was easy. Kal [Penn] and I just slipped back into it, back into our old shenanigans and it was great."
And the whole terrorism theme that goes through this…was that touchy with the studio or did they say to just go for it?
Hayden Schlossberg: "They've always been cool with whatever we've come up with. I think that there's been a lot of talking in media about that subject, so it's the type of thing that if you do it the right way and it's clear that you're coming from a point of view that's not saying that terrorism is good – which we're not in this movie – it's not that big a deal. It's really just kind of making fun of how paranoid we can get sometimes."
Jon Hurwitz: "As soon as we handed in the first script, they were like, 'We're going ahead and making this thing.' They were very, very excited. They didn't have us pull back in any way. You know, the two of us put a lot of thought into it. We knew that we were delving into something that is a sensitive topic and we certainly don't want to be disrespectful to anybody in this film. And, you know, I think we have a pretty good grasp on how to make the right jokes, speak to the universal truths in a really funny way."
John, how easy is it for you to do improv or change the lines when you've got the writers working with you?
John Cho: "Actually, we didn't have a whole lot of time for improv but they're amenable to that, more than most I'd say."
Jon Hurwitz: "John and Kal and most of the cast members that we have in this film are really, really talented from an improv standpoint. Some of it was improv'ing on the set, and some of it was just getting together each day and discussing the scenes well in advance. These guys came in with a lot of ideas so at the beginning of the day, they'd say, 'How about we say this? How about we do this?' A lot of times we'd put that into action."
So it's easy for you and Kal to work off of each other?
John Cho: "Yeah, he's a friend of mine and we're close so it just is not… It's a… I had a lot of vodka this morning. I probably had three more than I should have. I feel like it's real easy to bounce off of Kal. He's a real funny guy on his own. He's really intelligent and so it's just not a problem whatsoever."
Where would you like to see them go next, if there's another one?
John Cho: "Space."
What would you have them do there?
John Cho: "Meet God."
And what would they say?
John Cho: "Forgive me."
Where would you guys like to go if you get to do a number 3?
Hayden Schlossberg: "Barbados. Something really nice, like Ibiza maybe. Harold and Kumar Go to Ibiza."
More on Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay: