Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Press Conference for Disney’s newest movie was held in Beverly Hills this past Saturday.
The hilarious cast and crew of the movie came together for some fun. Starting off the conference were Director Miguel Arteta and Producers, Dan Levine and Lisa Henson along with Screenwriter Rob Lieber.
The Q & A started off with the first question directed at Rob Lieber (Screenplay Writer). Asked what was it about the book that made it the basis for such a good movie. Rob Lieber said that Alexander is an underdog and Rob believes “every single kid and adult feels that way at times.”
Next Miguel Arteta was asking if the script changed depending on the casting. Miguel said “this was a movie about learning to appreciate your family.” Miguel went on to say that getting the actors in a room to get to know each other and giving them the freedom to change some of the script worked. Miguel’s goal was to have the cast “fall in love with each other” and they got lucky in that they all clicked. The fact that both Steve and Jen are great parents and they brought that into the movie also helped.
As a family movie did the cast and crew bring their families? Every day was family day on the set. Every one would bring in the kids and family throughout the week.
My favorite question was “How was filming the movie?” Any memorable moments? Miguel shared how it was a great time filming even though it included everything you could think of – kids, animals, fires, car crashes all the making of chaos but it worked. Miguel also talked about how casting Ed Oxenbould was great. Miguel wanted a kid that could portray happiness for other people and have a generous heart. Ed is a very kind hearted person and the only hard part was getting him to dislike his family at the beginning.
The authenticity of the restaurant was brought up and Miguel said it was not authentic but it was really meant as a way to poke fun at the family. Miguel shared that Steve had a blast filming the part where he is eating the shrimp.
Miguel was asked if there was a bad day during filming, to which he responded that they were very lucky because usually with kids and animals it’s unpredictable, but in this case, it was to a point too good. Miguel shared how the baby was actually twin girls which shows how great the actresses were in having them pull off the role as a baby boy. The most difficult scene was the green marker baby scene where for 2 hours the baby just sat there and finally one of the costume dept staff grabbed a marker and started to put it on his face and the baby finally started to copy him.
Next, the press asked Miguel if his inspiration by John Hughes films was based on a specific movie or just all of them. Miguel said 16 candles was a big inspiration, but all the movies were inspirational because of the warmth and authenticity which was important to Miguel.
Dan Levine talked about how casting Dick Van Dyke made sense because of his relationship with Disney and they were thrilled to be able to have him on board. Miguel added that Van Dyke is the grandfather and Steve Carell has inherited the trait in that they are both able to be funny in a nice way without the need to be sarcastic.
A young media reporter asked “What do you think kids will get out of movie?” Miguel said that “sometimes days are bad but you can get through it with your family who loves you”, which I thought was the perfect response.
Don’t miss Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day in theaters this Friday, October 10th.
My name is Loretta Garcia and I am the Entertainment Writer for Chip and Co. Follow us on Facebook and our website for all the news, updates and promotions.
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