FILM BUZZSCENE: 'WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING' RED CARPET

Lopez, Diaz and Full Star Ensemble Cast Come To Celebrate the Outrageous Comedy.

What to Expect When You're Expecting has long been the ultimate guide for parents-to-be. Now a full-length motion picture, What to Expect When You're Expecting takes a look at the ups and downs of parenthood - from a multitude of perspectives. This star-studded  cast includes Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro, and a number of other talented actors as newlyweds, fathers, mothers, dealing with huge changes. Buzzine's Nicole Rayburn lit up the red carpet and got a chance to speak to the cast and crew of this ensemble comedy.

 

 

Rodrigo Santoro

 

Nicole Rayburn: You seem to really love these ensemble comedies – how was your experience filming What to Expect When You’re Expecting?

 

Rodrigo Santoro: It was amazing; I had a great time. I got a chance to work with amazing people. My character was sent to what we call the dudes group. Have you heard about the Dude’s group?

NR: No, but please tell us!

 

RS: Dude’s group... oh, they are not here... Dude’s group is a bunch of dads that hang out in the park with their little kids and they will try to teach my character, Alex, how to become a good parent; how to understand parenthood; but the leader of the dudes group is Chris Rock -- and Tom Lennon and all these amazing stand up comedians, so I had a blast, to be honest. 

 

Elizabeth Banks

 

Nicole Rayburn: This film is all about the unexpected in becoming a parent. What was the one thing you didn't expect from motherhood?

 

Elizabeth Banks: The most unexpected thing, for me, about becoming a mom was just my capacity for joy just being exploded open. It’s very hard to put into words how deeply you feel the highs and lows of life suddenly, when there’s someone else relying on you every minute. It’s crazy to see your DNA go on.

 

Anna Kendrick

 

Nicole Rayburn: Which scenes were your favorite to shoot?

 

Anna Kendrick: Well, we had a lot of fun on the day when we got to shoot with the dudes group -- there was only one day where we got to do that. All those guys are just so funny and we had such a good time.

 

Cameron Diaz

 

Nicole Rayburn: Your character, Jules, is pregnant in the movie. Can you tell us about your experience using a prosthetic baby bump?

 

Cameron Diaz: The prosthetic was amazing. That was such a cool process because they create a cast of your body and then they sculpt the bump onto your body as if ti were yours. The dimensions are perfect. And then to put it on is quite a process, you’re standing there naked and you’ve got a few people gluing this thing to you and painting it. They’re real artists, truly artists.

 

 

Jennifer Lopez

 

Nicole Rayburn: You've had two babies so far, did you read this book when you were expecting?

 

Jennifer Lopez: Of course I’ve read the book, I don’t know a pregnant woman who doesn’t. And everybody you know whose pregnant, you give them the book because it’s such a bible when you get pregnant -- for a couple, not just for the women, for the men too. They give good tips in there for them as well. Everybody has such a different experience, you know, and that’s kind of what it’s about. You don’t know what to expect, you never know what’s going to happen, and that’s just life, that’s what happens!

Thomas Lennon

 

Nicole Rayburn: Did anyone throw up on you?

 

NL: Sure, Rob Hubolt. Oh, you mean the babies? The babies and Rob Hubolt; which was nice; and Ben Falcone a little bit. Ben Falcone would mess his pants once in a while, but he had handlers, there were people there ready to go and they would come running in and say, well, Ben made a mess and he’d get real upset about it and he’d get mad. But, as soon as he was fresh bottomed and back in the scene, there’s nobody funnier. I mean, the guy can improvise, he’s a master.

 

NR: What were some of the challenges of shooting this film?

 

NL: Yeah, the challenges were we shot as a movie in Atlanta in August with seven babies in every scene. I don’t know if you are a scientist or you are working out a formula for like... hey, what is the worst experience I could ever have. It is a simple formula; just shoot some scenes in a movie with seven babies.

 

NL: The weird thing about is there are two sets of guys in the dude’s group. There is Chris Rock and myself who both have children; and then Rob and Amir who do not have children yet. It is fun to watch because they were super nervous about the babies and super stressed out and super careful with them like they are Faberge eggs. The guys were like dude, it is fine, it is going to work, don’t worry.

 

Wendi McLendon-Covey

 

Nicole Rayburn: What was your favorite part of shooting this film?

 

Wendi McLendon-Covey: I loved playing the kind of uptight mom whose kid is the center of her universe. I don’t know if any of that comes across in the movie, but you know, a mom who calls her kid ‘Henri’ instead of Henry, come on, that kind of speaks volumes. That’s a mother who makes her own organic baby food.

 

Mimi Gianopulos

 

Nicole Rayburn: Do you have a lot of friends with kids or are you around a lot of kids? Is there any truth to what you learned from this film in real life people that you know?

 

Mimi Gianopulos: Well, it is funny. I actually... not a lot of my friends have kids because I am a little young, but I have siblings that are seven and nine that were born when I was in high school. So I always joked that it is like the best birth control in the world to have infants in your house when you are in high school because I didn’t even date. I was like, 'no I don’t want these babies', everybody get away because it is crazy. You realize once you live with them just how much work they are, but so adorable and so much fun. I don’t have a baby in the movie, but I was watching a lot of the other actors work with them and it is just crazy. They are just the cutest little things, but it is very different when they are on a set.

 

NR: Do you have any apprehensions about having kids I the future, or do you want kids?

 

MG: Oh yeah; I want a soccer team. Bring ‘em on; someday in the far future, yeah.

 

NR: You play a girl named Molly in the film – whose roommate are you?

 

MG: Anna Kendrick.

 

NR: How was it working with her?

 

MG: Oh my god, she is hilarious, amazing, and so welcoming. This is my first movie and she was just so wonderful to me.

 

NR: This is your first movie ever?

 

MG: My first movie ever, but I actually just worked with Anna again. We just wrapped a new film called Get A Joband so it was sort of a random coincident that we were doing two movies in the same year together. Crazy.

 

NR: You two didn’t plan it while working on this film?

 

MG: No, no... I was cast as her sort of drunk roommate, which was so fun. And then I did another film in between and then I had auditioned for this next movie without knowing that she was attached, and then they were like, hey by the way, you know Anna’s in this; and I was like what?! It was just so perfect, serendipitous, and fun. She is just the coolest and she has been wonderful to me.

 

NR: Really? This is so rad. Mimi Gianopulis -- look out for her, because she is going to be a household name very soon.

 

MG: Here’s hoping!

 

 

Amir Talai

 

Nicole Rayburn: I don’t think you have any kids, right?

 

Amir Talai: I don’t have any kids, you have done your research.

 

NR: You know, baby face... you look very young.

 

AT: I look rested? Is that how you can tell I don’t have kids?

 

NR: Exactly right. Well, filming this movie you worked extensively with children. Did you learn anything?

 

AT: What was great was that when my baby in the movie started crying, we could switch it out for a baby that wasn’t crying. So, I am looking for a way to do that in real life and as soon as I find that, I am having a baby. I am going to keep looking. Somewhere, someone will do that for me.

 

NR: What is the most exciting scene you think people should look out for, especially for the men coming to see this film?

 

AT: It depends what you are looking for. If you want hot chicks, maybe look for every scene in the movie, because every scene, except for the dudes group scenes, have hot chicks in them. If you are looking for laughs, look for maybe eighty percent of the scenes in the movie because there are some scenes that are not funny and they are not meant to be funny, but the rest are doing pretty good.

 

NR: Do you think this story will scare men away from having kids in the future?

 

AT: I think the movie is meant to entertain people and make them laugh. I think the side effect of that is that it is going to terrify a few guys.

 

NR: Did you read the book before you got to work on the film?

 

AT: I don’t read books. I'm American.

 

Mike Medavoy

 

Nicole Rayburn: Did you read the book?

 

Mike Medavoy: Well at the beginning, we all had to figure out how to get this movie made. What was the story? David Thwaites, who works with us, it was his task to try to put it all together and I thought he did a good job actually, because it is representational of each couple going through different parts of their lives to have a child.

 

NR: Was it a no-brainer that this [book] would obviously translate to film?

 

MM: No, I don’t think... it is pretty hard to think of any movie as being a no-brainer. There is... I suppose there are some that are a little more no-brainers than others, but if you take The Avengers, for example, it is more of a no-brainer because it is in the zeitgeist now, but it was important for us to do this so we did it.

 

'What To Expect When You're Expecting' is now on general release.