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JUSTIN LONG on 'ACCEPTED'
Contributed by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor
for Radio Free Entertainment
July 29, 2006
When Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long), a street-smart but unmotivated high school graduate, fails to get accepted by a single college, he concocts an elaborate scheme with the help of his best friend (Jonah Hill) to create a fictitious university called the South Harmon Institute of Technology. But problems arise when their ruse is too convincing, and a fully-functioning website capable of taking applications leads to a flood of similarly-rejected collegiate prospects showing up on their doorstep. Bartleby is suddenly faced with the responsibility of educating an entire student body, all while dealing with his parents' expectations and pining for the girl of his dreams (Blake Lively).
Accepted is a fun and entertaining comedy, and if all institutes of higher learning were like South Harmon, with their unstructured classes and first-rate party facilities, college really would live up to the old cliche of being "the best years of your life."
In this interview, Justin Long talks about working on Accepted, and compares himself to his character.
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The Interview
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MEDIA: When you first got the script, did you think it should be R-rated?
JUSTIN: I can truly say that yeah, I was hoping that it would be and was kind of very apprehensive about doing it when I found out it wasn't. I had a real hang-up about it having to be R, especially because Lewis Black was involved. And in my college experience, just personally, to say it was R-rated would be sugar-coating it. It was NC-17. If you're making an accurate, realistic college film, I felt it was sort of necessary, not only because of the sexual stuff, but just the ease with which college kids say the F-word. It just sort of rolls off the tongue and we were ad-libbing a lot of the movie, and when you're in that zone, it's such a temptation to say [it]. It's such a crutch. I'm tempted to say it right now! But they were adamant about it being PG-13. And we fought it for a little while, but I had no real leg to stand on. Who cares what I thought?
Have you changed your mind now that the movie is done?
Now, having seen the movie, I'm sort of glad they didn't [make it R-rated]. Had they gone for the R-rating, it would have been a hard R, and in that case, you have to make a concerted effort to show a lot of boobs, and "f*ck this and that," and that might detract from what the movie is, which is not about sex. It's nice. More people can watch and it has more the tone of like an '80s comedy, like a John Cusack or Michael J. Fox movie. And those were pretty much like PG-13. Those were movies that I grew up with, and I loved, that inspired me. When I watched Revenge of the Nerds and any 80's comedy, I watched them on TV and saw them cut already. And then when I later saw them with the boobs and curse words, it didn't add anything for me. I wasn't like, "I like Revenge of the Nerds more because you see a shower scene." I feel like it may have detracted from this movie if they had attempted to make it R-rated. It's not a sex comedy. It's a comedy about people trying to find their path. But I did fight it for a while.
The students in Accepted get to create their own classes. What made-up course would you like to take?
"How to Answer Interview Questions You Aren't Prepared For 101." Lately it would be...I'm in this great relationship now but I'm discovering all these relationship pitfalls. Like simple things I could have done to get myself out of an argument, like "How to Diffuse a Potentially Serious Argument With Your Girlfriend 101." Very simple things, but I didn't know that, and I'm discovering all that now, and I wish I'd taken a class on that before I got into the relationship. I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble.
In playing your character, Bartleby Gaines, did you borrow from films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off or Risky Business?
No. But you know, what's weird is I grew up with John Cusack and Matthew Broderick and Michael J. Fox. Those guys were my idols, specifically Michael J. Fox. I was so obsessed with him that I just naturally picked up a lot of his mannerisms [starts Michael J. Fox impression] "and I still have a lot of his hand movements." As a kid, I was obsessed with Marty McFly and Alex P. Keaton, and doing the movie reminded me, so I think I kind of slipped into that naturally. I think with other parts, I have to fight to not do those guys. But yeah, I wasn't conscious of it, but I think my subconscious was working overtime.
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Is there something in you that is like your character in the movie?
I was always the wiseass--sort of the go-getter, but for the wrong reasons. I was kind of like the slacker guy who concentrated too much on ways to get out of things--that sort of typical Ferris Bueller type guy. Had I put as much concentration into studying, I would have got to MIT and I'd have a great job as some kind of engineer right now. But I focused on sicknesses to come up with and ways to get out of writing papers and charming my teachers, that I feel like that was sort of the seed of what I'm doing now. It did come naturally. Especially since a lot of the script wasn't really there and we had to ad-lib a lot, encouraged by the writers, director and the studio. Jonah's casting...90% of it was due to the fact that he was a genius improviser. All the auditions, we did one scripted and it wasn't quite in working condition, and we threw it out and we improved a lot.
What was your favorite improv that made it into the film?
Most of them. Most of Jonah's lines. The scenes were all structured, but I remember we came up with transition scenes. When I'm walking with Blake, showing her the school, there's a scene that starts when Adam Herschman is giving us drinks and we walk away and he calls me on the phone. We just came up with that stuff. I was proud of that. But I don't know. 90% of Jonah's funny lines were him ad-libbing.
Did you ever come up with a ridiculous scheme in order to get out of school or work?
This will be like morbid and not funny, but I used to kill off a lot of relatives to get out of school. As the school year went on, it would get higher up on the "closer to me" scale. In September, it would be like, "Oh, my great uncle is in the hospital." Then, by the end of the year, you would have to move up to like "my uncle was in a serious car crash" or "my nephew has tuberculosis." You would have to get closer and closer to your immediate family. Then you keep the grandparents in your back pocket for the day when you have to bring out the big guns. And I would go to migraines if I had to get out of being sick. That's one thing that you couldn't really detect and also serious enough that you would have to stay home. I would feel so guilty about lying that I would try to stress myself out and work up a headache so I wouldn't have the guilt of not having a bit of the symptom.
Did you hate school, or did you just want to party all the time?
I wish, but I had no social life. I just didn't like going to school. I really hated school, and so I just wanted to stay home and watch I Love Lucy, and watch the movies that inspired me to the point where we are sitting here.
You mentioned that your grandmother has to squirm through some of your more risque or vulgar movies. Which of your films (past, present, and future) is she okay with?
I think she should be okay with Accepted. And The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang has a family element, but...I don't think they'll get that one though. I'm kind of a red-neck character. Then in Strange Wilderness, I'm a stoner and there are a lot of references to smoking pot, and she won't like that. I think Sasquatch is my best bet. But I'm starting to shoot a movie in August that's a very nice love story, but there's a little sexual stuff in that. I don't think [my grandmother and her friends will] ever see anything I do again. [jokes] I'm doing Kids 2, which they'll love.
How did they react to Jeepers Creepers?
My grandmother used to cut out clippings, and I remember she sent a clipping of a really bad review that I got. It was like she hadn't read it. It was like trashing me. It actually said, "he looks kind of like Keanu Reeves," which was cool, and then it said, "but he doesn't have half of his talent" or "his acting ability" or something like that. My grandmother cut it out and was like, "You'll love to see this. You're in the paper, honey." And it was this scathing review.
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