JIMMY BENNETT and JOLIE VANIER on 'SHORTS'

Contributed by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor for RadioFree.com
August 8, 2009

In the fantastical family flick Shorts, a magical rainbow-colored rock with the power to grant wishes unlocks a series of adventures for a group of kids, and mayhem for the adults around them. Told as an out-of-sequence recollection of vignettes, the movie's format is aptly described by director Robert Rodriguez as "Pulp Fiction for kids." The filmmaker, whose family-friendly fare includes the Spy Kids franchise and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, penned the script after being inspired by an idea from his then-six-year-old son Rebel, as well as his own recurring childhood daydreams. Rodriguez continues his tradition of working with familiar faces out of his Austin-based production studios, and takes on a dizzying array of responsibilities, serving as the film's writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor, visual effects supervisor, and composer.

In this interview, Jimmy Bennett (Orphan, Star Trek) and Jolie Vanier, two of the child stars of the film, talk about their experience of working on this project.

MEDIA: Jolie, how did you feel about changing your look to play the somewhat dark Helvetica Black?

JOLIE: I didn't like black hair at first.

JIMMY: You had to look more evil, which is kind of good for your character, I guess.

JOLIE: Well, that's true.

But you grew to love the black hair?

JOLIE: I loved my black hair after the first three days of it. [laughs] And then my mom wanted to change it back after filming. I'm like, "No, I don't want to!" Then after that, I really had to, so she made me. [laughs]

How was it working out of Austin for this film?

JIMMY: It was a lot of fun.

JOLIE: It was a blast.

JIMMY: Yeah. When we were on set, we actually went to...What's the water park called? Schlitterbahn...

JOLIE: I didn't go.

JIMMY: You didn't go?

JOLIE: I wasn't invited. I wasn't ever invited.

JIMMY: Yes you were!

JOLIE: No, I wasn't. [pauses] Actually, maybe I was and my mom said no.

What was it like working on a Robert Rodriguez set?

JIMMY: It was cool.

JOLIE: It was really cool.

JIMMY: I'd hang out with the kids a bunch, and I actually spent the night in the mansion. And it was a little spooky. I'd have to get up to go to the bathroom, and it was a little weird.

JOLIE: And there's like two secret passageways.

JIMMY: Yeah, there's two secret passageways. One, to go to a room, is like behind a bookshelf. And the other one was behind a bookshelf, too, but it's like a secret little thing to get through.

JOLIE: You guys would play video games like non-stop for like four hours.

JIMMY: Yeah, we would play video games.

JOLIE: And I would just watch. And it's probably a good thing, because I probably would have been beat seriously hard. I'm not good at video games. [laughs]

So what was your opinion of the killer booger the kids face? Was it the grossest thing you had seen?

JIMMY: Well, we didn't really get to see it [until] we actually saw the movie. But they had a cardboard cutout of it.

JOLIE: And a little puppet.

JIMMY: Yeah, I used to stick it in a couple people's trailers, so they'd come in and they'd see the booger. [laughs]

JOLIE: You didn't do it to me, though.

JIMMY: I know, I did it to [co-star Jake Short].



Jolie, how was it doing the scene in which Helvetica eats the fish?

JOLIE: Eating the fish was gross. It was still a little gummi fish, it tasted like oranges, but...

JIMMY: They had different flavors, didn't they?

JOLIE: No, it was just orange.

JIMMY: It was just orange?

JOLIE: It was just orange.

JIMMY: Did they give you a choice?

JOLIE: Yeah. I picked... [pauses] Orange. [laughs] And we definitely did a lot of takes on that.

How was wearing the braces?

JOLIE: [groans] Oh...The braces. [laughs] We had fake braces. They were like a clear retainer with...

JIMMY: ...actually braces on top of them.

JOLIE: Yeah, his actually sat out in the sun and like melted. [laughs] So that was kind of funny...

JIMMY: One of my pairs melted because we left it out in the sun. And when I put it back on, I was like, "This does not feel right. Maybe I'm wearing Jolie's or something."

JOLIE: Yeah. And then once, they couldn't find my braces, and they were like, "Maybe you have to wear Jimmy's." And I'm like, "Nooooo! Nooooo!" And then they found them. [laughs]

JIMMY: They put them in like this mouthwash thing.

Did you have a favorite scene to work on?

JIMMY: My favorite day was probably all the booger monster stuff. I was on a harness, and they had to lift me up, basically. I stick my fist through the booger monster's stomach to get the rock, but he ends up lifting me up and throwing me back down. But we actually had to do it all in reverse. So I started on the ground and I came back up, and then I slowly fell. So it was kind of interesting.

JOLIE: I liked doing all the ballroom scenes, like the Black house mansion. It was weird when everybody starts like choking each other, because there was popcorn flying everywhere, and we're trying to find the rock so my dad doesn't wish for like something stupid...And so everybody starts choking each other. But that was probably one of my favorite days. I mean, I really can't say there was one day in particular that I loved--everything was just so much fun.

If you had a magical rock like the one in the movie, what would you wish for?

JIMMY: I would wish for more wishes, because I know that I would end up making a lot of stupid wishes.

JOLIE: So true. So, so, so true. I would probably wish for another rock. That way, my friends could help make wishes, too. And I'd probably wish for summer break to never end.

JIMMY: She said that she would wish for new Juicy Couture flip-flops.

JOLIE: Yeah, it's true. But that was actually just a random one, because I had no clue. [laughs]

There's nothing wrong with that...

JOLIE: Yeah! There's nothing wrong with that. [to Jimmy] If you were a girl, you would know what I was talking about.

JIMMY: [But you should wish for] like five of them, not just one pair.

JOLIE: No, I never said one pair. I meant like 5,000 pairs. [laughs]

Jimmy, how did you come to write the song over the closing credits?

JIMMY: I was just messing around one day on my guitar, and I made up a cool riff, and I started putting lyrics together. And I was like, "Actually, this is really cool." So I recorded it, like on my computer, and then I was like, "This would be a cool idea, I'll send it to Robert and see if he wants to put it in the movie." This was after we finished. It was in the middle of editing. And he was like, "Yeah, I'm going to put it in the movie." So he ended up editing it a little bit. So he made it sound cooler--like he put a bunch of effects on the guitar and stuff like that.

JOLIE: It sounds really awesome.

JIMMY: Yeah, it's really cool.

Jolie, what did you think about Helvetica's theme song?

JOLIE: The Helvetica song...I had no clue I was going to have my own theme song. So when I saw the movie, I was so like, "Whoa, I have my own theme song!" And Helvetica's very like dark, but with a good heart, and so it like fit her perfectly.

Did Christina Ricci's portrayal of Wednesday Addams in the Addams Family movie influence your performance as Helvetica?

JOLIE: You know, I like The Addams Family, I love the movie. [laughs] Her character is very similar, but Helvetica has a good heart. Wednesday still has that--she has a good heart, but it's a very dark heart. I've actually been told that I look like Christina Ricci when I had black hair. [laughs]

JIMMY: You do. Like I can tell that when she gets older, she'll look like her a little bit.

Jimmy, where did your passion for acting come from, and how old were you when you started?

JIMMY: I don't know. I just saw a movie and I'm like, "This would be really interesting." I was 5 when I started doing all my commercials, and then I moved on to movies.

And Jolie, what prompted you to get into the business?

JOLIE: I had always grown up around the art world, and my mom was an art dealer. This is my own form of art. And when I was like 5, I started taking acting classes. And then when I was 7, I really started to pursue it--I started taking acting classes. And when I was 10, I found out I booked this movie. I was so surprised that I had gotten Helvetica, and I started like jumping up and down, I called my best friend. She had known that I really wanted that part, and she was so happy for me. And then I got to set, and we started filming, had a blast. It was just so amazing. It was an amazing experience.

Jimmy, having worked with directors who speak Spanish on both Orphan and Shorts, have you picked up the language?

JIMMY: I didn't pick up anything. You know, I picked up "como estas" and "hola" and stuff like that. I learned a couple [things], but now I forgot all about it. I haven't been practicing.

How was it switching gears from a horror thriller like Orphan to a comedy adventure like Shorts?

JIMMY: It's not that difficult. But going from different sets, it is a different mood.

JOLIE: You got to work with more kids on Shorts. So, I mean, the kid vibe definitely kind of changes things.

Are you glad to be in something that younger fans can see?

JIMMY: Yeah. I mean, I have a lot of neighbors that are little kids, so they're always like, "When can I actually see one of your movies?" And I'm like, "Well, there's one coming out now that I think you can go see." And it gets them excited.

Having enjoyed so much visibility with Orphan, Shorts, and even Star Trek this past summer, are you getting recognized more often?

JIMMY: Well, since Orphan came out, it's been more, yeah. And I've been getting more requests on MySpace and Facebook. [laughs]