Its not uncommon for an actor to have several movies at a film festival like Sundance. You make some independent movies in a year, they could all get in. It is a bit rarer for a director to have two in a fest, because except for Steven Soderbergh, most directors take more than a year to make a single movie. At this years Sundance Film Festival, Michael Cera starred in two movies for director Sebastian Silva.
The way it happened was they were scheduled to make the horror movie Magic Magic, but while they waited they improvised their way through Crystal Fairy. Crystal Fairy played first and got a lot of buzz. Its now coming out theatrically through IFC Films. Magic Magic will premiere on DVD on August 6.
Crystal Fairy stars Cera as Jamie, an American traveling in Chile experimenting with all the local drugs. While high, he meets Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman) and gives her his phone number. Crystal then tags along in Jamies road trip to try Chiles special mescaline made from the local cacti, annoying him along the way with her earthy philosophy. Jamie isnt the sort of likable awkward kid of Ceras Juno, Scott Pilgrim or Arrested Development fame, although maybe coming out after This is the End or the little film The End of Love, Jamie will seem tame compared to the caricature versions of himself Cera played.
After Sundance, Crystal Fairy played right nearby Suicide Girls at the Los Angeles Film Festival. That brought Cera and Silva to town so we got to interview them together about the provocative characters of Jamie and Crystal, the films comic game of Would You Rather and learning to speak espanol. Crystal Fairy opens July 12.
Suicide Girls: You made this movie while waiting to make Magic Magic. Were you surprised Crystal Fairy came out first and got so much heat?
Michael Cera: It was unexpected.
Sebastian Silva: Yeah, it was unexpected. It was a story that I had on the desktop of my computer for years because I know youve heard that its based on a true story. This actually happened. Crystal Fairy is a real woman that lives in San Francisco, and me and my buddy went to the desert and took mescaline with her 12 years ago. So it was something that I had in the back of my head that at some point I wanted to do. I had Michael there and it was almost summer time. Summer in Chile and I had recently collaborated with Gaby. We all saw that coming. Financing for Magic Magic was always coming back and forth.
MC: It felt like we might not make it.
SS: So before I went down to Chile to meet Michael to start prep for Magic Magic, I talked to Gaby. I said, Listen, if the financing gets delayed again, would you come down and shoot Crystal Fairy? So as soon as it got delayed, we jumped right into it.
SG: And you werent going to be the lead in Magic Magic, so how did you take on the lead role in the side project?
MC: Well, this didnt feel like the lead either. I mean, its called Crystal Fairy. Its really Gabys story I thought but that wasnt really ever a deciding factor in either decision. I just really wanted to work with Sebastian. Wed found this perfect thing to collaborate on with Magic Magic and then it felt like after all this time and after learning a language, it felt like we might not actually get to do it. So this was nice to have something to work on.
SG: Hes definitely our window into viewing her. We meet her through him.
MC: But you see it in such a specific lens. I mean, hes not just taking her in, hes being really unfair in his judgment of her too, so you kind of take that with a grain of salt.
SG: Theyre both English language movies, so why was it important to learn Spanish?
MC: Well, the character in Magic Magic speaks Spanish so I wanted to learn Spanish for that. It was an excuse to learn Spanish. I just wanted to do that. I mean, hes a character who is living in Chile for a few years. I just wanted that to feel real.
SS: It was important for me because at the beginning Magic Magic was a Spanish spoken movie. It was going to be all Spanish. Then when Michael read it, he said he would like to be that character. So the movie or the project organically became an English spoken movie, but I needed a reason why there was going to be an American kid traveling along with these Chileans.
MC: If I remember correctly, the women were always American in the original script.
SS: Actually, no.
MC: No, it wasnt? That was a new element.
SG: This might come from the real Crystal Fairy, but it would seem in a Hollywood movie theyd make her the endearing underdog who you sort of root for. Did you want to make her a little bit harder to like and see how far you could push us?
SS: I guess so. I think to victimize your characters is such an easy way to create sympathy. I personally am bored and usually when a character is too much of a victim, I wish them the worst. It creates the contrary in me. Im like, Youre such a loser. Everything youre creating in me is pity. Its such a bad taste. I dont like that. So I felt that Gaby needed to be someone that you dislike a little and you could sympathize with Jamie a little bit and then Jamies an asshole himself so then you sympathize with Crystal. Then you dont know who youre rooting for. Youre not supposed to be rooting for anybody. Just understand as they understand by the end of the movie that theyre made out of so many elements, and some of them are likable and some of them are not.
SG: Did you enjoy testing how far you could take Jamie without losing us?
MC: Well, I could sympathize with the character at the end of the day. I think hes acting out because hes insecure and he doesnt know who he is. Hes on this adventure in a foreign country by himself doing drugs. He has no real friends. Juan is kind of his friend but hes also kind of just a really kind, sweet natured person whos just with this person.
SS: Nobodys that evil. Crystal is too esoteric. The fact that she goes by the name of Crystal Fairy and that she doesnt want to use a deodorant is a little obnoxious when youre in a car with people, right?
MC: Yeah.
SS: You have to wear it. If youre out in the open then you dont wear it but in a car.
MC: But I think miserable people or people who are mean to other people are miserable, so I think theres sympathy in that.
SG: Sure, hurt people hurt people.
MC: Right, I always read that the wrong way. I thought it was a directive, like: Hurt people! Hurt people! With an exclamation point at the end of each one.
SG: In addition to playing characters like Jamie, youve had a few movies where you play yourself in a very dark fashion, like in The End of Love you do Russian roulette, and of course This is the End. What made you want to portray yourself in that light?
MC: Well, I just got invited to. I was just written into the script in both of those, just exactly like that. I just wanted to go and do both those projects because a lot of my friends were involved. It is fun. Aside from it being a character with my name, its fun to play a character like that. Thats so much fun stuff to do, its interesting.
SG: Did you ever ask, Why am I doing The Deer Hunter?
MC: Actually no, that was just something. I found a gun in this house that we were shooting in. It was like an Airsoft gun and I found it in one of the kitchen cupboards. I was like, Thats great and I put it in my pocket. Then I pulled it out and nobody knew I had it and nobody knew it was not real. There were two camera people working on that movie and one of them was a woman and she got really upset and she went and talked to the producer and was like, That is not cool that he pulled out a gun and we were not told about it. She got really upset because nobody knew I was going to do that. So in the moment, everyones like, Whoa!
SS: What are we talking about?
MC: Its this movie my friend Marc Webber made and Im in it. Its like a party at my house and I have a gun.
SG: For This is the End was there ever a chance you could play one of the main survivors in the movie?
MC: No, I just read the script and it was exactly how it happens in the movie. I guess the main survivors were the main cast that had signed on.
SG: But could you have ever signed on to be one of the leads?
MC: If theyd asked me to, yeah. I think I would have done that.
SG: Im guessing the Would You Rather scene is improv?
MC: Yeah, well it was something we were playing while we were making the movie.
SG: Do you want to do me now?
MC: Sure, sure. Would you rather do this interview outside or pour this orange juice in your hair?
SG: Well, Im not pouring anything in my hair because itll spill on my clothes and stain them.
MC: But you might sweat through it outside.
SG: I pick outside.
MC: Thats kind of an easy choice.
SS: What would you rather, have Oprah laying on top of you naked. Shes naked.
SG: Im already taking Oprah, but whats the other one?
SS: No, no, wait. The other one is you have to make out with Jay Leno for 25 minutes.
SG: Oh, totally Oprah. Theres no downside to that.
SS: Oh, that was easy.
MC: Okay, wait. Would you rather give Jimmy Fallon a piggyback ride but hes not wearing any pants, his balls are pressed up against the back of your head, or make out with Jay Leno for 30 seconds.
SG: Again, not much downside to the Jimmy Fallon one. I pick Jimmy.
MC: Thats one way to look at it. Youve got the right attitude.
SG: Since the long-awaited Arrested Development season four is out now, what sort of feedback did you get? A lot of people complained about the different format, but was it really that different? You never really had everyone in the same scene all the time in the original series.
MC: I guess thats true. I mean, the main difference is youre following a character that youre not used to following, but I dont know. What feedback have I gotten? People have been very positive, people who have mentioned it to me have been really enjoying it.
SG: There could have theoretically been an episode that followed George Michael. I dont remember if they did in the 50 that aired.
MC: Not in that extreme of a way, but its the kind of thing where in some episodes some people are featured more than others. This was more like each episode was a spinoff for that character.
SG: When you do Childrens Hospital, how much time do those voiceovers take?
MC: Like two hours.
SG: Do you do the whole season in a day?
MC: Yeah, the whole season in a day.
The way it happened was they were scheduled to make the horror movie Magic Magic, but while they waited they improvised their way through Crystal Fairy. Crystal Fairy played first and got a lot of buzz. Its now coming out theatrically through IFC Films. Magic Magic will premiere on DVD on August 6.
Crystal Fairy stars Cera as Jamie, an American traveling in Chile experimenting with all the local drugs. While high, he meets Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman) and gives her his phone number. Crystal then tags along in Jamies road trip to try Chiles special mescaline made from the local cacti, annoying him along the way with her earthy philosophy. Jamie isnt the sort of likable awkward kid of Ceras Juno, Scott Pilgrim or Arrested Development fame, although maybe coming out after This is the End or the little film The End of Love, Jamie will seem tame compared to the caricature versions of himself Cera played.
After Sundance, Crystal Fairy played right nearby Suicide Girls at the Los Angeles Film Festival. That brought Cera and Silva to town so we got to interview them together about the provocative characters of Jamie and Crystal, the films comic game of Would You Rather and learning to speak espanol. Crystal Fairy opens July 12.
Suicide Girls: You made this movie while waiting to make Magic Magic. Were you surprised Crystal Fairy came out first and got so much heat?
Michael Cera: It was unexpected.
Sebastian Silva: Yeah, it was unexpected. It was a story that I had on the desktop of my computer for years because I know youve heard that its based on a true story. This actually happened. Crystal Fairy is a real woman that lives in San Francisco, and me and my buddy went to the desert and took mescaline with her 12 years ago. So it was something that I had in the back of my head that at some point I wanted to do. I had Michael there and it was almost summer time. Summer in Chile and I had recently collaborated with Gaby. We all saw that coming. Financing for Magic Magic was always coming back and forth.
MC: It felt like we might not make it.
SS: So before I went down to Chile to meet Michael to start prep for Magic Magic, I talked to Gaby. I said, Listen, if the financing gets delayed again, would you come down and shoot Crystal Fairy? So as soon as it got delayed, we jumped right into it.
SG: And you werent going to be the lead in Magic Magic, so how did you take on the lead role in the side project?
MC: Well, this didnt feel like the lead either. I mean, its called Crystal Fairy. Its really Gabys story I thought but that wasnt really ever a deciding factor in either decision. I just really wanted to work with Sebastian. Wed found this perfect thing to collaborate on with Magic Magic and then it felt like after all this time and after learning a language, it felt like we might not actually get to do it. So this was nice to have something to work on.
SG: Hes definitely our window into viewing her. We meet her through him.
MC: But you see it in such a specific lens. I mean, hes not just taking her in, hes being really unfair in his judgment of her too, so you kind of take that with a grain of salt.
SG: Theyre both English language movies, so why was it important to learn Spanish?
MC: Well, the character in Magic Magic speaks Spanish so I wanted to learn Spanish for that. It was an excuse to learn Spanish. I just wanted to do that. I mean, hes a character who is living in Chile for a few years. I just wanted that to feel real.
SS: It was important for me because at the beginning Magic Magic was a Spanish spoken movie. It was going to be all Spanish. Then when Michael read it, he said he would like to be that character. So the movie or the project organically became an English spoken movie, but I needed a reason why there was going to be an American kid traveling along with these Chileans.
MC: If I remember correctly, the women were always American in the original script.
SS: Actually, no.
MC: No, it wasnt? That was a new element.
SG: This might come from the real Crystal Fairy, but it would seem in a Hollywood movie theyd make her the endearing underdog who you sort of root for. Did you want to make her a little bit harder to like and see how far you could push us?
SS: I guess so. I think to victimize your characters is such an easy way to create sympathy. I personally am bored and usually when a character is too much of a victim, I wish them the worst. It creates the contrary in me. Im like, Youre such a loser. Everything youre creating in me is pity. Its such a bad taste. I dont like that. So I felt that Gaby needed to be someone that you dislike a little and you could sympathize with Jamie a little bit and then Jamies an asshole himself so then you sympathize with Crystal. Then you dont know who youre rooting for. Youre not supposed to be rooting for anybody. Just understand as they understand by the end of the movie that theyre made out of so many elements, and some of them are likable and some of them are not.
SG: Did you enjoy testing how far you could take Jamie without losing us?
MC: Well, I could sympathize with the character at the end of the day. I think hes acting out because hes insecure and he doesnt know who he is. Hes on this adventure in a foreign country by himself doing drugs. He has no real friends. Juan is kind of his friend but hes also kind of just a really kind, sweet natured person whos just with this person.
SS: Nobodys that evil. Crystal is too esoteric. The fact that she goes by the name of Crystal Fairy and that she doesnt want to use a deodorant is a little obnoxious when youre in a car with people, right?
MC: Yeah.
SS: You have to wear it. If youre out in the open then you dont wear it but in a car.
MC: But I think miserable people or people who are mean to other people are miserable, so I think theres sympathy in that.
SG: Sure, hurt people hurt people.
MC: Right, I always read that the wrong way. I thought it was a directive, like: Hurt people! Hurt people! With an exclamation point at the end of each one.
SG: In addition to playing characters like Jamie, youve had a few movies where you play yourself in a very dark fashion, like in The End of Love you do Russian roulette, and of course This is the End. What made you want to portray yourself in that light?
MC: Well, I just got invited to. I was just written into the script in both of those, just exactly like that. I just wanted to go and do both those projects because a lot of my friends were involved. It is fun. Aside from it being a character with my name, its fun to play a character like that. Thats so much fun stuff to do, its interesting.
SG: Did you ever ask, Why am I doing The Deer Hunter?
MC: Actually no, that was just something. I found a gun in this house that we were shooting in. It was like an Airsoft gun and I found it in one of the kitchen cupboards. I was like, Thats great and I put it in my pocket. Then I pulled it out and nobody knew I had it and nobody knew it was not real. There were two camera people working on that movie and one of them was a woman and she got really upset and she went and talked to the producer and was like, That is not cool that he pulled out a gun and we were not told about it. She got really upset because nobody knew I was going to do that. So in the moment, everyones like, Whoa!
SS: What are we talking about?
MC: Its this movie my friend Marc Webber made and Im in it. Its like a party at my house and I have a gun.
SG: For This is the End was there ever a chance you could play one of the main survivors in the movie?
MC: No, I just read the script and it was exactly how it happens in the movie. I guess the main survivors were the main cast that had signed on.
SG: But could you have ever signed on to be one of the leads?
MC: If theyd asked me to, yeah. I think I would have done that.
SG: Im guessing the Would You Rather scene is improv?
MC: Yeah, well it was something we were playing while we were making the movie.
SG: Do you want to do me now?
MC: Sure, sure. Would you rather do this interview outside or pour this orange juice in your hair?
SG: Well, Im not pouring anything in my hair because itll spill on my clothes and stain them.
MC: But you might sweat through it outside.
SG: I pick outside.
MC: Thats kind of an easy choice.
SS: What would you rather, have Oprah laying on top of you naked. Shes naked.
SG: Im already taking Oprah, but whats the other one?
SS: No, no, wait. The other one is you have to make out with Jay Leno for 25 minutes.
SG: Oh, totally Oprah. Theres no downside to that.
SS: Oh, that was easy.
MC: Okay, wait. Would you rather give Jimmy Fallon a piggyback ride but hes not wearing any pants, his balls are pressed up against the back of your head, or make out with Jay Leno for 30 seconds.
SG: Again, not much downside to the Jimmy Fallon one. I pick Jimmy.
MC: Thats one way to look at it. Youve got the right attitude.
SG: Since the long-awaited Arrested Development season four is out now, what sort of feedback did you get? A lot of people complained about the different format, but was it really that different? You never really had everyone in the same scene all the time in the original series.
MC: I guess thats true. I mean, the main difference is youre following a character that youre not used to following, but I dont know. What feedback have I gotten? People have been very positive, people who have mentioned it to me have been really enjoying it.
SG: There could have theoretically been an episode that followed George Michael. I dont remember if they did in the 50 that aired.
MC: Not in that extreme of a way, but its the kind of thing where in some episodes some people are featured more than others. This was more like each episode was a spinoff for that character.
SG: When you do Childrens Hospital, how much time do those voiceovers take?
MC: Like two hours.
SG: Do you do the whole season in a day?
MC: Yeah, the whole season in a day.