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Posted Dec. 3, 2009, 4:29 p.m. ET
A Quick Chit-Chat With Charlie McDermott
By J. Everette Perry
You've done like 12 indie films. Which ones were your favorites?
Frozen River would be at the top of the list. It did the best commercially with two Oscar nominations and allowed me to be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Good Grief is a comedy about a teenage boy who begins a relationship with a girl based off an unintentional lie. The lie just keeps getting deeper and deeper until he's frantically running around trying to cover his tracks. Arvel Chappell III directed it and, despite his small resume, is one of the best directors I've ever worked with. The Ten was a film I did back in 2005, David Wain (The State, Role Models) directed it and the cast was completely star-studded. It is a mock telling of the Ten Commandments in the most absurd way possible. I did 'Thou Shall Not Covet' with Liev Schreiber and in every take he had to slap me. It took 50 takes to get it right.
Any fun memories on the set of Hot Tub Time Machine?
My first day of shooting on that movie I had snowmobile training and, being a little too adventurous for my own good, I decided to go for a ride up the slopes and explore. The trainers panicked once I disappeared from sight. They sent up a couple guys to find me, but I had unknowingly gone off the actual path and they couldn't spot me. I ended up driving myself to this drop-off spot and almost went over the edge, which was probably a 40 to 50-foot drop. The movie takes place in the 1980's, so we were training with vintage '80's snowmobiles and they don't go in reverse and I couldn't back up. I tried getting off and turning it around myself but the snow was too deep and I was nowhere near strong enough, so my only option was to drive down it. It was pretty terrifying. It was so steep that I keep feeling the back trying to flip over the front, but somehow I made it down. The trainers weren't too happy when I came back; I kinda got in trouble for that one but I learned how to control the snowmobile pretty well.
What are some of your all time favorite movies or the last movie you saw?
The last movie I saw was Zombieland which was awesome. District 9 is definitely one of my favorite films and anything by Quentin Tarantino, really. Resevoir Dogs and Inglourious Basterds are two favorites.
Frozen River would be at the top of the list. It did the best commercially with two Oscar nominations and allowed me to be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Good Grief is a comedy about a teenage boy who begins a relationship with a girl based off an unintentional lie. The lie just keeps getting deeper and deeper until he's frantically running around trying to cover his tracks. Arvel Chappell III directed it and, despite his small resume, is one of the best directors I've ever worked with. The Ten was a film I did back in 2005, David Wain (The State, Role Models) directed it and the cast was completely star-studded. It is a mock telling of the Ten Commandments in the most absurd way possible. I did 'Thou Shall Not Covet' with Liev Schreiber and in every take he had to slap me. It took 50 takes to get it right.
Any fun memories on the set of Hot Tub Time Machine?
My first day of shooting on that movie I had snowmobile training and, being a little too adventurous for my own good, I decided to go for a ride up the slopes and explore. The trainers panicked once I disappeared from sight. They sent up a couple guys to find me, but I had unknowingly gone off the actual path and they couldn't spot me. I ended up driving myself to this drop-off spot and almost went over the edge, which was probably a 40 to 50-foot drop. The movie takes place in the 1980's, so we were training with vintage '80's snowmobiles and they don't go in reverse and I couldn't back up. I tried getting off and turning it around myself but the snow was too deep and I was nowhere near strong enough, so my only option was to drive down it. It was pretty terrifying. It was so steep that I keep feeling the back trying to flip over the front, but somehow I made it down. The trainers weren't too happy when I came back; I kinda got in trouble for that one but I learned how to control the snowmobile pretty well.
What are some of your all time favorite movies or the last movie you saw?
The last movie I saw was Zombieland which was awesome. District 9 is definitely one of my favorite films and anything by Quentin Tarantino, really. Resevoir Dogs and Inglourious Basterds are two favorites.
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