Video:Due Date Interviews - Todd Phillips and the Due Date Writers

Transcript:Due Date Interviews - Todd Phillips and the Due Date Writers

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the LA Premiere of Warner Bros Pictures' Due Date.

Due Date Writer/Director Todd Phillips

What's the appeal of road trip films?

Todd Phillips: "There's something to be said for putting your characters out there without a safety net, which is like without your friends, without your family, without your belongings. Something about the road is kind of appealing about traveling without a safety net."

Why did you want to work with Zach Galifianakis again?

Todd Phillips: "Because we were working on The Hangover and he's the best, so I wanted to work with Zach again right away."

And how did you get Robert Downey Jr to come onboard?

Todd Phillips: "Typically we sent him the script, I called him up, I told him what we wanted to do and how we wanted to add a little emotion to a comedy."

Due Date Writers Alan Cohen and Alan Freedland

Why do road trips make such good fodder for films?

Alan Freedland: "You know because you have people that are put into a situation where they're taken out of their comfort zone away from home. And in this case you've got two guys who are complete opposites and it's a highly stressful situation. And what happens is the pot boils over."

When you were writing it you didn't know who was going to be in the cast?

Alan Freedland: "We developed this with Todd Phillips and we knew we were writing the Ethan role for Zach Galifianakis and to get Robert Downey Jr... I mean, what more could you ask for?"

Did you change anything once they said Robert Downey Jr was onboard?

Alan Cohen: "Yeah, I mean you always do some rewrites to tailor to the actor. But the thing about Robert is that he brought so many more layers to it, both comedically and dramatically. And we changed some things, he changed some things. He just totally made the character his own. And the character that Robert plays is unlike anything you've ever seen. This is a guy with some serious, serious hang ups and you still are on his side. You're still rooting for him. I think only Robert could pull that off. "

Serious hang ups? Did you guys know people like this?

Alan Freedland: "Well, you know, look, first of all in Peter there's certainly a little bit of both Alan and myself. And we certainly knew people like Zach who are these man-child. They grow up to be, 'How did you make it this far and how are you getting through life on a daily basis?' So yeah, it's an amalgamation of people we know and experiences we had. These guys took it to a brand new level."

When Todd lets his actors do a lot of improv, which he always does, how do you guys feel about that as writers because they're changing your work?

Alan Cohen: "The way I answer that is it all depends on who's doing the improv. First of all you have somebody in charge of it, Todd, who is as good as anyone out there - he's a master of it. But when you have Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis improv'ing, you are really thrilled because hopefully you'll get credit for some of the stuff they come up with because it's genius."

What are you guys working on next?

Alan Freedland: "We're writing a movie for Brian Grazer and Imagine for Universal called The Reunion. So look forward to finishing writing that and maybe hitting your theaters next year."

Due Date Writer Adam Sztykiel

Tell me about working with Todd Phillips.

Adam Sztykiel: "It was amazing. The funny thing is when I was in film school Frat House, his documentary, and Road Trip both came out and so it was funny because in film school you're watching all these art films and I remember when Road Trip came out I thought, 'Those are really the kind of movies I want to be making.' So now it's kind of cool, all these many years later, to actually get to work with him. Watching him direct a movie is the best film school you'll ever go to. It was an amazing process and I'm really proud of the movie."

Well, talk about that process. How collaborative is he?

Adam Sztykiel: "He's very collaborative but he also definitely knows what he wants, which is kind of the best. That's what you want in a director is a guy who's confident enough to be open to suggestions but at the same time has a really clear vision for the movie and is going to sort of fight for that vision every step of the way. You see that in his movies and you know how rare it is that great comedies come out these days. He's a guy who's churned out some of the best comedies in the past 10 years."

You know what you're getting when you go to one of his movies.

Adam Sztykiel: "You certainly do."

As a writer how do you feel about all the improv that goes on?

Adam Sztykiel: "I love it. I mean, for me, I was an actor growing up so it's really cool to kind of see the script come alive. That's actually the best part of it is when you put something on the page and then Todd gets in there with Downey and Zach and sort of brings it alive. The funny thing is, you know, there's just stuff that when you're sitting in front of a computer by yourself you'll never come up with. You need real people and you need talented actors like those guys to come in and find those magic moments that in a million years sitting in front of the computer by myself I would never come up with."

How do you figure out what's funny? When you're writing, do you giggle at yourself?

Adam Sztykiel: "No. I mean, the thing is Todd sort of pushes everyone to do things we haven't seen before in comedies, and I think that's always a great challenge because there's been a lot of great things done before in comedies, his included. He's got some of the best comedy moments, like I said, in the past 10 years. That's always the challenge. I think you have those moments when you start hashing a scene out and Todd and I will be talking and we'll know when we hit on something that feels new and fresh. You know it. You have a lot of fun running with it."

What are you working on next?

Adam Sztykiel: "I'm writing a couple more movies for Todd and hopefully I'll continue to work with him in the future. They're good people and they make the best comedies, so as a comedy writer that's where you want to be."

Are you spoiled?

Adam Sztykiel: "I'm a little spoiled. Let's be honest, you've got the biggest comedy director, the best actor of our generation, the hottest comedy actor right now in your movie. For a writer, it doesn't get much better than that."

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