Todd Phillips talks Hangover and its sequel

Posted on December 15, 2009
Filed Under Actors, Actresses, Directors, Sequel

“The Hangover” has now surpassed “Wedding Crashers” as the #1 R-rated comedy of all time. Actor Vince Vaughn and director David Dobkin each sent “Hangover” director Todd Phillips a bottle of champagne to congratulate him on this distinctive honor.

Actor Rob Riggle, who plays taser-happy Officer Franklin, thought the film was funny while doing it but could not have predicted its success. He credits this to Phillips’ casting of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. “I think that’s why it worked. Their performances, their comedic genius and talents. It all just kind of came together.”

Actress Rachael Harris‘ portrayal of caustic, abrasive Melissa is an example of just one of Phillips’ many brilliant casting decisions for this film. “It really was carefully crafted,” says Harris. “They really worked on making all these characters very specific. I’m this castrating b*tch. Heather is the sweet-as-pie prostitute. Ed is a complete pushover. Phil got married and got trapped. Wants to get out, wants to see something outside of his marriage. Then you’ve got Zach, who is a complete wing nut and represents the little boy or little girl in all of us. I think that because these characters are so specific is why it works.”

ComingSoon.net tells us that “The Hangover” will be released on Blu-ray Disc in addition to the Single-Disc and 2-Disc Special Edition DVD. The discs will be loaded with special features including the “Gag Reel,” “The Dan Band!” and Phillips’ personal favorite, “The Madness of Ken Jeong.” “Ken is just the craziest guy on the planet,” Phillips says. “We let Ken do a ‘free one’ I call it. Let him just go off. ‘The Madness of Ken Jeong’ is sort of an uncut take of him just trying stuff. It was pretty much free form Ken Jeong stream of consciousness which is some of the weirdest stuff.”

Justin Bartha, who plays groom-to-be Doug Billings, recalls being on set the day after “The Madness of Ken Jeong” was shot. “Literally this is a movie where so much crazy stuff happens and you have crew members in shock still. They were like, ‘you won’t believe what happened. I don’t know if I can work on this movie any more.’”

“He offended everybody,” Phillips adds laughing.

Fans will be getting a second helping of The Hangover when “The Hangover 2” hits theaters Memorial Day Weekend 2011. Phillips is working on the script right now with plans to start shooting this summer, but don’t expect these four guys to head back to Vegas. “I don’t think it’s necessarily going to tie as closely to this evening as maybe some people want or think,” Phillips explains. “I think when you have created four really fun characters that have really good chemistry, you can take those guys and put them somewhere else and go through a new set of situations and circumstances and hopefully it’s just as interesting.

True that!

Comments