By Christina Radish

Fresh on the heels of directing the runaway hit Superbad, writer/director Greg Mottola returns with the hilariously human, semi-autobiographical comedy Adventureland, about an uptight, over-educated young man whose lowly new job leads to the wildest ride of his life. When James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) first starts his job at Adventureland, it appears to be the bane of the recent college graduate’s existence. He previously had big plans to spend the summer on a life-altering trek through Europe that would initiate him into real adult life, but when his family suffers an economic downturn in the middle of the Reagan 80's, James’ only summer trip is straight to a minimum wage job manning a game booth, where no one is ever allowed to win the giant-ass stuffed panda. Adventureland quickly turns out to not be quite what it seems on the surface, as James finds a world of misfit friends, hidden dreams and after-work encounters with the alluring and sharp-tongued arcade girl, Em Lewin (Kristen Stewart).

Co-stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about how different growing up in the 80's is from growing up today.

MediaBlvd Magazine> You guys are playing kids in the late 80's in this film. Do you think there is any difference in what kids were like then, compared to now?

Jesse Eisenberg> The movie takes place in 1987, so they didn’t have the same technology. I don’t even know half of the technology that’s used today, anyway. What’s Twitter? So, would the relationships in the movie manifest in the same way, if everybody had all of this technology back then? You can’t really dramatize text messages that much, so maybe it’s better that the movie takes place then because you had to talk to people.

Kristen Stewart> If you are not connected with everybody, and you’re not on Facebook, updating everything you’re doing, every day, or somebody can’t get ahold of you via cell phone, at any moment, you can be different things to different people, when you need to. You have more privacy.  My character satisfies and fulfills whatever she needs with different people, and she’s very different to all of them, and she probably wouldn’t be able to do that now. You’re one thing to everybody, if you’re so connected to everybody, and she’s able to be different things to different people.

MediaBlvd> Jesse, your character wrecks the family car and has to spend his summer earnings to pay for it. Have either of you ever had a minor catastrophe that had a major impact on your life?

Jesse> I’ve been in so many car accidents, but everybody’s always all right. It’s just stupid mistakes. I’m a terrible driver. I don’t own a car. I live in New York, where you don’t have to own a car, so I don’t have the requisite practice to go out on the road in L.A., when they rent me a car here.

MediaBlvd> Did anything ever happen that put you on a different path because it happened?

Jesse> Yeah, sure. I never fit in well in school. I wanted to do plays in New York, when I lived in New Jersey. I started doing plays and stuff, just to get out of school. That often happens. That’s what’s nice about the movie. These characters think they’re going to have the worst experience and, in those experiences, you often find value because you have to commiserate with your colleagues, and you end up making the best of a situation.

MediaBlvd> Jesse, your character was the awkward virgin guy while Kristen’s character knew what she wanted. Are you like your characters at all, in real life?

Jesse> We’re the opposite. Kristen’s the awkward one and I’m the one who knows what I want in my life. But, for the movie, we switched it up.

Kristen> I think my character had no concept of what she actually wanted. She just feigns it and puts on that she’s very secure and fine, and that she’s very self-sufficient, but she’s so not. She realizes too late, “Oh, God, why can’t I just get over my hang-ups and be good to myself?” If they were both aware of how great they were, then there wouldn’t be problem. They could both just be happy together. But, she’s full of self-loathing and doesn’t treat herself very well.

MediaBlvd> You worked really well together. Did that happen instantly?

Jesse> The script was so realistically written. Kristen is such a wonderful actress, and the characters in the script were also really well-defined and their relationship was very well-defined. Why these two people would be together was drawn in a very honest way. It was not just the obligatory love story part of the movie.

MediaBlvd> Your dialogue was very natural. Did you ad-lib during some of the scenes, or did you stick to the script?

Jesse> It was a little of both. The script was written very naturally. There was never any over-dramatic plot points that had to be hit in the dialogue, which is common in movies that have a plot. But, Greg was very encouraging of improvising to create a natural rhythm.

MediaBlvd> Since you shot this in a real amusement park, did anybody ride the rides at all, when you weren’t working?

Jesse> I guess we weren’t supposed to ride them because of the insurance, but we did, on the last day.

Kristen> We went on the most dangerous, rickety, old wooden roller coaster.

MediaBlvd> Were the rides running while you were shooting?

Kristen> Yeah, the whole park would run, with extras on the rides, to make it look vivid.

MediaBlvd> Kristen, did you get to choose your clothes for the film?

Kristen> Yeah. For me, her whole look had to reflect what was going on. She’s undefined, especially in an era that was so hokey and cheesy. She rejects that completely, so it was shapeless t-shirts for her. She was very distracted. That’s not where her energy goes. So, I had less fun than some of the other characters.                 

MediaBlvd> Ryan Reynolds is usually very funny, so this was a more dramatic, unusual role for him. Can you talk about what it was like to work with him?

Kristen> He did really well. He committed to playing a character that wouldn’t be entirely liked.  But, at the same time, it’s within his character to be charming, and then, to other people, be totally see-through. I thought he balanced that well.

Jesse> I thought he was great. What he said was not directly comedic, but I thought he was still very funny. He was perfect for it. He’s charming, but has this other side of not doing the right thing.

MediaBlvd> What was Greg like to work with, as a director?

Jesse> He was great. The film was kind of semi-autobiographical for him. As an actor, you feel like you have to emotionally invest in the story, whereas a lot of the people behind the camera don’t have to because they are dealing with something technical, and they don’t have to have any emotional connection to it. But, in this case, because the story was so personal for him, he was necessarily invested in it, as much or moreso than we were, and that’s the best environment to work in. It makes you that much more comfortable.

MediaBlvd> Jesse, since this film is kind of autobiographical for Greg, did you sit down with him and ask him questions?

Jesse> Yeah. It was great to have him there as a resource to go to and ask, “What was this experience like? Why did you react this way?” The character is so earnest, to the point where it’s not even necessary to explain yourself, so it was nice to have somebody on the set to go to. If you were going to try something different, you could ask, “Would this be in line with what you want me to do?” He was a great resource to have on the set.

MediaBlvd> What was the most challenging scene for each of you to do in this film?

Jesse> The only real obstacle was that we were filming it in the winter and it takes place during the summer, so there were a lot of scenes that were just very uncomfortable. You’d sometimes have to put ice in your mouth to make your breath not be white, and that’s just annoying.

Kristen> It was freezing!

Jesse> Towards the end of the movie, it started snowing. They filmed all the outside stuff first, knowing that they might have to contend with weather.

Kristen> Actually, the toughest thing that we did was the first thing that we shot, which was our scene in the pool together. I was literally shaking.

MediaBlvd> Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader do a lot of improvisation. What were they like to work with?

Jesse> When I was watching them film some of the scenes, I was like, “How could any of this be in the film? It’s so out there and hysterical.” And then, it showed up in the movie. They’re so clever and smart and funny, so it fit in perfectly. And, Greg was also able to modulate it to the point where it didn’t feel like it was in a different movie, even though it’s so unbelievably funny.

Kristen> And, they’re not just arbitrarily funny. They made such distinct characters out of this really strange, creepy couple that was working there.

MediaBlvd> Jesse, in the movie you discover that you don’t have any skills, outside the area you plan to go into. If you both stopped acting today, are you qualified to do anything else? Where do you think you would end up? Would you be just as lost as your characters?

Jesse> I think about this all the time. I was trying to graduate from college with a degree in Anthropology. You can’t do much with that, except show somebody around a museum or something. It would be so tragic.

Kristen> I don’t know what I would do. I would have a lot of pent-up energy that I would have to throw at something. If it wasn’t acting, it would be very unsatisfying because I’m not as good at writing. It would be very frustrating.

Jesse> With any other job, I think I would have to work so much harder at it.

Kristen> Exactly. I’m not good at anything else. I don’t know what I’d do

Jesse> There are very few jobs, where you can be young and still work at the top level, like you can as an actor.

Kristen> What we do is so self-indulgent. We’re just self-reflective, and we think about people and how they deal with one another. That’s what I would continue to do.

Jesse> You just can’t get paid for that.

Kristen> I’d just be the annoyingly over-analytical girl who writes. I would be terrible at anything else. I’m really not technical. I’m bad with my hands. I can’t make stuff. And, my thoughts are far from organized, so I wouldn’t be good at a desk job.

MediaBlvd> Kristen, what are you excited about, in filming New Moon? Are you shooting yet?

Kristen> I’m excited to get back into it. We pick up, right where we left off. I’m not creating a new character. I’m not trying to get into a head space, for the first time. And, I’m excited because the story is scaled down a little bit. Edward leaves Bella. The entire first movie is based on them being together, but if you take that away, there’s still a story, which I think is impressive. It’s not just these two characters who make it. She’s solitary. She’s entirely depressed. She matures. Taylor Lautner is still playing Jacob, and that’s the best thing. And, he’s buff too. That’s so important. He’s so good. In this film, we have to have a counterpart that is going to briefly outshine what was so great in the first one, which is a feat, and I think that he’s got it, so I can’t wait to see how he is able to pull Bella out of what he does. She’s like a zombie and he’s like the light. It’s such a tragic story. She’s like, “That’s who I should be with, but I’m totally in love with the guy I shouldn’t be with.” That’s how girls are.

MediaBlvd> A lot of girls must be jealous of you, getting to kiss Robert Pattinson, Ryan Reynolds and Jesse Eisenberg. Do you have any crazy girl-stalker stories?

Kristen> No. I have a very wide fan base. I have a lot of girls who are in love with me. That’s funny because I thought it was going to be the opposite. I just thought that they were going to  hate me because I’m in the optimum position. But, it’s all an illusion.

MediaBlvd> What are you most looking forward to, about playing rocker Joan Jett?

Kristen> All of it. It’s a big job. I’ve never played a real person before. I’ve played parts that were very personal for a lot of people, like with The Cake Eaters. With The Runaways, there’s the personal responsibility for the character, but then it also means so much to her. It kick-started her whole career, and everything that she cares about and loves, so it’s very important to her. So, I’m nervous and intimidated, but that’s the best way to feel, before you do a movie. I’m really excited about the music. I’m excited about Dakota playing Cherie Currie (lead singer of The Runaways). It’s intense. I’m gonna cinematically deflower Dakota Fanning!

MediaBlvd> Do you have a preference between doing indie films and blockbusters?

Kristen> No. I start everything from the same place, with that sense of responsibility. On a bigger movie, you have to be aware that you can only control your aspect of the film. It’s nice to be on a smaller movie because you’re working with your friends and you feel so close-knit. It’s your movie and you can do anything you want, and nobody’s going to have anything to say. With a bigger movie, it concerns so many people. It’s so much more of a process. But, in terms of what I do personally, it has to be the same, or else I’m just on some big movie, being a liar, and I can’t do that.