“In the upcoming romantic comedy “When in Rome,” Kristen Bell pilfers four coins from a fountain in Rome in an act of drunken self-pity at her sister’s wedding, and, invoking movie magic, finds the people who originally hurled the coins are now in love with her. One of the four is Will Arnett‘s street painter Antonio, a shaggy, disreputable, self-absorbed artiste.
Speaking with Arnett via phone, I wanted to invert a traditional question, namely, that when you’re shooting in Rome, it’s beautiful, the terrain’s lovely, the people are very gracious and kind, I’m sure, but: What’s the worst thing about shooting in Rome? “The readily available gelato. It’s too easy to eat yourself into a coma. That would be the worst,” Arnett said. “No, I guess maybe that’s the best. It’s definitely a double-edged sword.” A double-edged sword made of gelato? “Yes,” Arnett said. “Luckily, nobody’s clamoring to look at my abs. The other thing would probably be that, when we were there, it was superhot. They don’t know how to A/C a room like we do here.”
In defense of Rome’s city planners, I offer that it’s kind of weird to jam an air conditioning unit into a Renaissance building. Arnett’s in agreement: “I guess so. You know, you don’t want to shoehorn an air-conditioning duct behind a fresco.” I suggest that’d be an insult to both Da Vinci and the air conditioner. “Right. Nobody wins,” he says.
Arnett mentioned how nobody wants to see his abs, but that was kind of Dax Shepard‘s job in “When in Rome,” playing a vain, vapid male model, which brings up my next question. At one point, looking at the lineup of supporting actors in “When in Rome,” including Danny DeVito as “The Sausage King” and Jon Heder as a street magician, along with Shepard and Arnett, a thought struck me: How often does it happen that Will Arnett is the least scene-stealing and hammy actor in a group? As Arnett laughs at what’s either a backhand compliment or a front-hand piece of mockery, I ask him if being part of that back-bench was nice; did it give him a chance to lay back in the cut, so to speak? “I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or if I should be insulted,” he says.
Trying to contextualize, I offer that we should see it as a note of regard for his fellow performers. I follow up: How much fun was it to be part of that ensemble? “It was really great. They’re, first of all, such great guys, all of them; not that anybody really cares, but that’s the truth of it,” Arnett says. “Secondly, [they're] such fun, easy people to work with, and superfunny, And there’s a lot of truth to that, that it was kind of relaxing to be able to go and not have to work so hard, if you will. “”
{ 0 comments… add one now }