related items
Life in Zombieland sucks. Food is scarce, there isn’t much to do on a Friday night, and hordes of fast-moving undead are always hungry for your brains.
But savvy Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has concocted a foolproof guide to surviving in the post-apocalyptic world and he’s willing to share it with badass con artist Wichita. Probably because she’s played by Emma Stone, an actress who’s proven she can be both amusing and alluring in “Superbad,” “The House Bunny” and “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.”
We sat down with Stone—who shed the kohl eyeliner and tight jeans of “Zombieland” for red lipstick and a “Mad Men”-era look—to discuss her own strategies for surviving a world gone mad, learning how to be more badass and locking lips with a nauseous zombie.
Wichita is a really cool character, what was your favorite part of stepping into her shoes?
It was fun to play a grown up. Also, in my life, I don’t feel like I’ve gotten in touch with the badass side of myself. That’s the fun part about acting. I can act like that and then go back to my falling down ridiculous self.
Did that make you want to be more badass in real life?
She did inspire me to be a little bit to be a little braver and a little more unapologetic. When you’re in your twenties, you’re still adjusting to not apologizing for what you need and what you want. She doesn’t. She takes no prisoners. She’s just out to protect her sister [played by Abigail Breslin] and will steal guns and cars to do it.
Did you pick up any tips for surviving a zombie apocalypse?
Like Jesse’s character, I would have to have a big list of rules and follow a specific set of guidelines because I’m too flighty and would not see it coming. I already find ways to hurt myself or spill hot coffee on myself and in a zombified world the last thing you’d want to be is clumsy.
I heard you injured yourself a couple times on set.
I tore a muscle and had to have a physical therapist for two weeks and ultrasound therapy. They wrapped up my leg every day before I was able to run. Then I hurt my hand and got a rash all over my face. Ruben [Fleisher, the director] calls me his delicate flower. I felt like crap being such a pain in the ass.
Jesse’s number one rule for survival is “Be aerobic.” Did you build up your own endurance for all the running you had to do?
I should have! Did I? Not so much. Did I make Kraft macaroni and cheese every night? Yes I did. It was much more delicious than running.
And probably tastier than eating brains. Were you a fan of zombie films before you started filming?
No. I had seen “28 Days Later” and I thought it was a cool movie. But when I read this, I thought of it [more] as a comedy. The heart of it is funny and sweet. It just happens to be set in a world filled with zombies. Ruben did give me “Dawn of the Dead,” the Zack Snyder version, and that’s a badass movie.
What’s the scariest part of working with zombies?
At one point when the zombies were chasing after us I got overwhelmed by this inexplicable fear that one of them was actually crazy. I was like, “What if someone got in the zombie makeup and they just snapped, right now and killed someone?” Ruben thought it was hilarious. He’s like, “Get the crazy ones up front!” [He thought] they’ll be much more zombielike if they’re legitimately nuts.
Was there anything they left on the cutting room floor that you wish was in the movie?
We did a thing that was possibly for the end credits where we were hanging out with this zombie that keeps throwing up. They made me make out with him. He wins me a stuffed animal and I’m like “Oh!” and we kiss, then he turns his head and pukes and kisses me again. We had to do it three times and it didn’t even end up in the movie! Hopefully it’ll end up on the DVD, otherwise it’ll be a waste of making out with a puking zombie.
What other people are saying...
saraht - September 28, 2009 at 4:25 PM
This movie looks sort of awful but Emma Stone is really endearing, she was great in Superbad.
Report This Comment