ComingSoon.net visited the set of DreamWorks’ upcoming comedy, I Love You, Man, which opens in theaters on January 16, 2009 and had a chance to ask Rashida Jones about what it’s like to hang out with Paul Rudd and Jason Segel on a daily basis. In the movie, Jones encourages her fiancé, played by Rudd, to find more male friends, but when he finds his new best man, is she happy with the results?
ComingSoon.net: Why is this the best movie ever?
Rashida Jones: For selfish reasons, this is like my dream come true. But I do think it’s the best movie ever because it has something for the dudes, and it has something for the ladies. The dudes will very much relate to what it’s like to fall in love with another dude – in a platonic way, of course. And then the ladies will appreciate the female perspective of thinking it’s super weird and hard to deal with.
CS: She seems sympathetic to the fact that he has no male friends.
Jones: She is, but even though she’s sympathetic, there’s just some things she doesn’t understand and can’t get past. They’re very affectionate and intimate in a heterosexual way (laughing) – I have to keep saying that – but she wants him so badly to find a friend. And Sidney (Segel) is not necessarily the friend you would wish up for your husband. He’s not [what you’d wish for] on the outside. I wouldn’t pick that person as my husband’s best friend. At first. But he grows on you… like a fungus.
CS: With the improvisational nature of this film, is it a bit like doing “The Office”?
Jones: “The Office” is brilliantly written by a huge team of people, and then they give us the opportunity to be a part of that [creativity] towards the end. I don’t necessarily feel 100% comfortable that my contribution would be in any way near as brilliant as the writers’ contribution, so I keep it to a minimum. But with somebody like John [Hamburg], he’s so talented. And he’s so good at establishing characters and the dynamics of relationships that it makes it easy to go into what we need to go into, and hopefully add something funny. He lets us be that “thing.” He’s created such a good groundwork that it makes it easy to do.
CS: There have got to be some amazing moments. What’s your favorite moments from the film thus far?
Jones: There are so many. And so many of them are like when you’re so tired, and the dumbest thing sounds like the funniest thing you’ve heard in the world. And then you can’t stop saying it, and then the more you say it, it gets *not* funny, and then it gets funny again. That’s been the common bond of everyone on this movie: saying something ad nauseum, and then making it funny again.
CS: Is there a lot with you and Jason and Paul?
Jones: We have a couple of scenes. Mainly, it’s been me and Paul or Paul and Jason. But I would say probably my favorite scene thus far is when we go to a Rush concert, and I’m trying to be down because I love my husband, and I want to support him in his endeavor. But Rush is just, as much as they’re really great music, they’re not “geared” towards women necessarily, so I feel left out very quickly even though I try to join in – to the point where they’re being super intimate with each other and, without even knowing it, Paul is physically pushing me out of the scene. Which made me laugh very hard.
CS: John [the director] said you’ve been really getting into Rush.
Jones: Is that what he said?
CS: Yes.
Jones: (Displeased) Did he. (Laughter) I do actually… we’ve been listening to the same song for two days straight, and the thing that’s good about it is that it’s really complicated. And I feel like most songs, you’d want to shoot yourself in the head after two days straight of listening to it. But I still like hearing it, because there’s all these, like, weird changes in time signature; it’s like weird and cool. I actually do like it. And the guys [from Rush] are like the coolest guys I’ve ever met. That makes it easier to like them, per se.
CS: What’s next for you?
Jones: I’m not sure! I’m playing it by ear, trying to be in the moment, trying to enjoy my job, so… I don’t know.
CS: Did I miss something? Are you engaged?
Jones: I’m engaged to Paul Rudd in the movie! (Shows off her prop ring.) Look at my sparkler! It just looks weird because I’m wearing a normal outfit and not my wedding dress.
