PATTINSON ONLINE PRESS ARCHIVE

Hello,
Last night I went to the New Producers Alliance screening of How to Be at the Charlotte Street Hotel in central London - it is was enjoyable as always (my third viewing), and as uncomfortable! Which is the idea!

If you don’t know much about the film, let me enlighten you. How To Be is a wry comedy about ART, a frustrated musician, undergoing what he sees as a quarter life crisis. This is not helped when his girlfriend dumps him and he has to move back in with his middle class parents – who are far from thrilled with the idea.

Art’s only friend, agoraphobic RONNY (Johnny White), has his own problems. Holed up in a London flat in a daze of nitrous oxide and electro music, Ronny wants to start a band with Art and happy-go-lucky friend NIKKI (Mike Pearce), but only if it involves going no further afield than the flat’s roof garden.

Art discovers self-help guru, DR LEVI ELLINGTON (Powell Jones), author of It’s Not Your Fault. Using inheritance money, Art pays for Dr Ellington to move in with him and his parents becoming Art’s full-time life coach, shadowing him wherever he goes. Art’s painfully funny journey to define his existence brings to the fore the dysfunctional relationship he has with his parents and the importance in his life
of his oddball friends. Rich in detail and dark yet affectionate humour, How To Be is a timely look at the increasingly common phenomena of grown-up children living at home, frustrated creativity and self-help.’

I also stayed for drinks with the Producer, Justin Kelly, Writer/Director, Oliver Irving and Composer, Joe Hastings and threw in a few extra questions that weren’t answered in the Q & A after the screening which I will post tomorrow. In our exclusive interview with Justin and Oliver, I had some questions answered for Pattinson Online!

Below is the one on one interview with Justin and Oliver, tomorrow be sure to check back for the complete transcript…

What made you choose this particular story and where did it come from?

Justin: I thought it was original and funny. I came across it by meeting the writer/director Oliver Irving over coffee during a seminar on digital distribution.

How long did it take to film the movie?

Justin: It took us a year and a half to finish the script, raise the money and cast the movie, then 6 weeks pre-production, 5 week shoot and 6 months of post production.

The reception for the film so far seems to be quite good, did you know you had something good when you were making it?

Justin: I believed in the story and Oliver. I hoped we had something good but you can never know for sure!

Was it important that it was set in the U.K. or is the story universal?

Justin: The story has some UK specific nuances but it seems to travel quite well.

Is the character of Art based on anyone in particular or is he completely made up?

Oliver: Kind of a mixture of many people I know or have known along the way. Friends of mine who have had real talent but found themselves crippled by self doubt - or something? He slowly formed when writing and then of course Rob injected a lot of his character or characters he has known.

We know that music is integral to this film, with that in mind can you give us any hints as to the soundtrack? What artists inspired you?

Oliver: In terms of the third party stuff - I was looking for artists that had a deft simplicity to their music - the kind of thing that Art might aspire to. I knew from the start I wanted to use Captain Beefheart - I love his raw child-like (yet extremely sophisticated) quality. In terms of the score, this was a development of the songs that Art plays in the film. We had this integral idea to both kind of mock the serious sincerity of his lyrics but also to show that within his quite simple songs there is actually a very hooky and effective tune and dynamic - there is masses of potential there!

What about Robert precipitated his casting as Art?

Oliver: He walked in and reminded me of people I know. I think he forgot his lines and just started improvising which is exactly what I wanted - someone who could just become the character and leave behind the kind of “Techniques” trained in at drama schools. I had a hunch he would work well with other cast and would be able to get across the kind of naivety inherent to Art’s character. He’s a really down to earth guy - It was funny because he told us he had a part in a Harry Potter, but as you can imagine, many actors in England have had tiny parts in those films. Plus he really underplayed it so I didn’t think much of it at the time. It wasn’t until we had cast him I watched the Harry Potter film he was in and realised he was a major part.

In what ways do you think 20-something year olds can relate to Art (or his friends)?

Justin: There are lots of similarly aged people in the UK who have had a college education and then moved back in with their parents. Furthermore, self-help is all around and making music is close to many people’s heart.

Since Art is a musician, was it important to cast someone with musical talent? In this same vein, did Robert play a lot of music on set?

Oliver: Nikki is the most musically untalented person I know - teaching him to (pretend to) play drums was certainly a challenge. Ronny is a musician in his own right and releases albums under the name the rollercoaster project. He wrote all of the music that he plays in the film. Rob can also play - last time I spoke to him he said he was doing some recordings in L.A. - again I think he underplayed how much guitar he could play in his auditions - he said he could only muster a few chords as I recall….

Through out the shoot Joe was there to keep people in tune (most of the time)

How was it to work with Robert? Does he take direction well? Did he bring anything extra to the role?

Oliver: Rob definitely comes alive when the cameras roll. His performance is always heightened by pressure - he would often in rehearsals say - “Ok, it’s not right now, but I know what is needed and I’ll get it on the day”. This took an awful lot of faith in him but he was true to his word. He responds very well to direction and was also very up for contributing. I remember when working on the first scene with him and Ronny he said to me “I’ve seen these kind of relationships - Two losers who wind each other up but still kind of rely on each other.” He totally understood the dynamic. I remember he added the little line “You’re such an idiot” under his breath -the delivery of which really got the scene across for me, so I kept it in!

Is there anything else you would like us to relate to the fans about this movie? They are already hugely excited.

Oliver: I would say that his (Rob’s) most truthful performance to date can be found in this film.
Justin: Thank you for your interest and we are really excited at the prospect of the film getting as wide a release as possible. News of festival screenings, further interviews and release details will be made available
via the www.howtobemovie.com e-mail bulletin. Thank you and hope you enjoy the movie!

By Sanguina