Drew Barrymore and Justin Long Going the Distance Press Conference
Drew, Erin is more modern, sassy, and outspoken than some of the rom-com characters you’ve played. Did the fact that she was a more modern woman attract you to the part?Drew Barrymore: "Yeah, I definitely was excited to play…I just wasn’t in that place in my life where I wanted to play a cuckoo, wacky role-reversal scenario. I wanted to play someone – you’re all travelers, and you try to make distance work with relationships, and someone who can hang out with guys, and loves women, but has spine and is funny. I feel like I relate to that kind of person right now in my life. It was a pleasure for me to get to improv and work on a much more free-flowing way where you could play around and you don’t have to be so censored, because you had an R-rating. That, to me, was just an absolute pleasure."
What was the most challenging scene?
Drew Barrymore: "Well, one of the challenges I was most excited about was doing the drunk scene, and me and Nanette really focused on what type of drunk is she, and what can we ad-lib, and what can be spontaneous. Like, if you were really angry, how would you just let loose? It was the most fun day at work ever, because I just really let loose."
Justin Long: "A monkey flinging poo. I would say some of the naked stuff was a little uncomfortable, but I think the most challenging was trying to keep a straight face around these clowns. A lot of this intimate, sexual stuff around a room full of 30, 40 grown men was a challenge."
Both you and your onscreen sister Christina Applegate started in this business when you were kids, and you’ve lived your whole lives in the public eye.
Drew Barrymore: "I thought it was interesting. I thought we started to really look alike, which I thought was cool. I love when people cast siblings that actually feasibly could have come from the same womb, so I felt like we started to morph. We used to be in a dance class together when we were kids, but she looked really good in spandex and I did not. I celebrated it. I was horrified, in the corner, but I’ve known her forever! We have a lot of parallels. It worked for us."
The key moment in any romantic comedy is that first kiss. When you see something like that in a script, is it something you think about or is it just part of the role? Do you just think of it as one more part of the job?
Justin Long: "Yeah, I was like, 'Necessary evil. Okay. Here we go.' No, the first kiss for us in the movie was very sloppy - we were drunk! We were stoned! Sorry. We were stoned and it was just so easy to do. We’re so comfortable. Is that what you mean? I like to think about…my grandmother, just because she’s always been an inspiration to me, in my life. I think you just hope that you’re invested in the scene, hopefully, and sometimes it can be a surprise when you’ve never kissed anyone before you’ve just met recently. And people have different ways with kissing, and sometimes it can be very jarringly uncomfortable. There can be very little movement involved, and then a quick, sudden movement from the tongue that you don’t expect."
Drew Barrymore: "I just was lucky, for me, because he’s a good kisser. So I was like, 'Phew! Thank God.' It’s the worst when you’re kissing someone who’s not a good kisser, and you’re trying to make it look good, and you feel like you’re just working on your own. At least it was a real team effort."
Justin Long: "She’s a great kisser too, I just want to reiterate. Right back at you."
You had scenes where you exchange items you care about. What’s your most cherished item in your house?
Drew Barrymore: "Any of my dogs are my most cherished thing, I’d have to say."
Was the phone sex scene scripted or off the cuff?
Drew Barrymore: "I think the Marky Mark was written, for sure, and I was so excited to hit that. I really wanted to hit hard."
Justin Long: "I think you told him that and he got... Remember that?"
Drew Barrymore: "I did tell him that. I ran into him at an award show and I was like, 'I just talked about how hot you are in your underwear, and you’re sexy.'"
Justin Long: "It didn’t go over great. I think, in his defense, it is a strange thing to just come up and say. I don't think he was prepared for it, but I think he was flattered."
Drew Barrymore: "Who would not be excited about that? And he’s a very nice guy. I’ve had other conversations with him that went much better than that. Nothing against him, for sure. That was a great scene written and I was really excited to go out there and try it because I just thought this is one of those things that’s going to fail miserably and be a really gross, upsetting moment or it could be fun and exciting. It was just one of those scenes you just have to kind of go for it not knowing if it’s going to work or not, but don’t compromise along the way because you’re afraid of it."
And you were actually on the phone with each other?
Justin Long: "We were comparing who had a more awkward experience, me as a guy in front of a room full of men simulating masturbation, or Drew. I said, 'All the guys in my room, all the crew guys were trying to make jokes to keep it light. They were making sex jokes, so it made it kind of more awkward. I’d have to laugh and then get into this weird sexual mode.' But I think Drew had it more awkward because she said everyone in the room was being stone cold silent and respectful and it made it that much weirder for her. They were tiptoeing around whispering and we’re in this very intimate... But then Nanette kept coming over to me and she kept describing cinematically how to masturbate, how it would look better if I... She’s like, 'You know, try kind of up like this. You can kind of go in like this.' I was like, 'Nanette, I think I know how to do it. I’ve had a lot of experience.'"
Do you see this as a recession romance?
Drew Barrymore: "I just feel like I personally want something that I can escape into and sort of forget what’s going on around me, but I don’t want to lose sight of being able to relate to something. So, for me, I just want that beautiful striking balance. I feel like this film has that. I’m laughing but I’m crying and relating and emotional about it. I feel like it gets surprisingly real but then it does come and save you and make you laugh. I think the question is more eloquent than the answer, actually."
Justin Long: "I disagree. I was indifferent about the question and I loved the answer. I also think the fiscal realities of both the characters play a large part and it was nice to see that played out, something that a lot of people especially now can relate to and just the things that you take for granted when you enter into a long distance relationship, chief among them the logistics. Just getting from point A to B and what is involved with that."
Drew Barrymore: "You’re like, 'I can’t.' You want to see each other but you can’t because of money or schedule."
Justin Long: "I ran out of fuel for my hot air balloon."
