Video:Shorts Jimmy Bennett and Jolie Vanier Interviews

Transcript:Shorts Jimmy Bennett and Jolie Vanier Interviews

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the premiere of Warner Bros Pictures' Shorts.

Jimmy Bennett - 'Toe Thompson' in Shorts

This is a big load on your shoulders. How did you handle that?

Jimmy Bennett: "It was actually really easy. Robert [Rodriguez] helped me out with it a lot. When we had to do stuff with special effects, he would always show us sketches of stuff. So it was really easy."

Sketches are a lot different than having to imagine you're next to a 20 foot tall booger or something. How do you put yourself in that position?

Jimmy Bennett: "Well they also had this giant cardboard cut-out of a giant booger monster, and they put it in front of us. And then we kind of had to use our imagination and imagine all the goo dripping off of him and stuff."

That's disgusting.

Jimmy Bennett: "It's really cool."

So did you like this guy, this character you played? Is he someone you could really get into?

Jimmy Bennett: "Yeah. I mean he's a big dork. He's just trying to get along with everybody. He's trying to be cool but he can't. And every day he gets bullied by this girl, Helvetica, that he does secretly like."

I suppose in real life you've never been bullied by a woman, right?

Jimmy Bennett: "No, and if I did, I would probably try to stop it really quick. It's a little embarrassing."

Why do you think kids are really going to like this movie?

Jimmy Bennett: "Well, there's a lot of special effects and there's a booger monster, so that attracts a lot of boys."

What about the girls?

Jimmy Bennett: "The girls are probably going to like how Helvetica is mean to me and they're going to kind of try to relate to her a little bit, so yeah."

I heard Robert Rodriguez actually never sleeps. Did you ever see him fall asleep any time during this?

Jimmy Bennett: "I didn't. And when he was sleeping, he was probably working in his mind."

How do you think he does that? How does he handle all of this?

Jimmy Bennett: "It's crazy. I have no idea."

Is that something you'd want to do when you grow up? Be a director?

Jimmy Bennett: "Yeah, I want to be a director."

And have your own studio like he does - can you imagine? That's crazy.

Jimmy Bennett: "It's so cool in there. He has his own motorcycles in there and stuff. It's so cool."

Did you go tooling around on them?

Jimmy Bennett: "Yes. He started them up and they were in the middle of a scene on second unit. And he started them up and then he came and yelled at us. It was really funny."

What are you working on next?

Jimmy Bennett: "I'm doing a movie with Christopher Lloyd next. It's another kids' movie."

No more scary movies for you, right?

Jimmy Bennett: "Not for a while."

Jolie Vanier - 'Helvetica Black'

This was your first film so what was that experience like of being on the set?

Jolie Vanier: "It was kind of intimidating at first, but after like the first day everybody was just like so open, welcome arms. It just turned into a big family thing. I really felt like everybody felt like we were all in this together, and it was so much fun."

Now there's a lot of effects in this and a lot of stuff that you guys are acting against that's not there. What is that like?

Jolie Vanier: "It's fun. It's a little bit... Robert would actually show us a sketch of like the black box monster or something so we would know what things would look like."

Was it still tough to picture something being there?

Jolie Vanier: "It was still a little bit tough but after the first day we're like, 'Okay, so he's about that tall.' We kind of got the hang of it."

What was Robert like as a director?

Jolie Vanier: "He's so much fun. He's like a big kid himself, that's why everything was so great. Really laid-back set, and he always knew when we were about to get tired so it was just so much fun. That's why all his films turn out great, because he's so great with kids."

Why do you think kids are going to like this movie? What is it that's really going to catch them?

Jolie Vanier: "Oh my gosh, that is so hard. All the special effects, the aliens are so cute, the booger monster is absolutely gross. Every boy in America is going to love that - you know it. But I'm just so excited for it. It's about a wishing rock. Everybody always wishes like, 'Oh, I wish I didn't have to do homework.' Then you kind of picture, 'Oh, maybe I shouldn't wish for that.'"

So you're never going to personally wish for anything again, right?

Jolie Vanier: "Only if it's something good."

More on Shorts:

Shorts Photos

Shorts Poster, Credits, Trailer and Interviews