On The Set: 21 and Over

What was it like on the set of this raucous drunken comedy? Actually, pretty chill, even with all the barf.

Andy Hunsaker by Andy Hunsaker

21 and Over

Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are making their directorial debut with the release of 21 and Over. Seeing as how they're also the writers of that one movie about drunken debauchery you may have heard of - it was called The Hangover - you may wonder what exactly they're going to do to differentiate their new movie about drunken debauchery.

"First of all, that was definitely Todd's movie," Lucas answered when asked that question during my set visit back in September of 2011. "Todd Phillips did a great job with that movie. We were happy to be part of it, but he did an incredible job and that's very much his flavor. This is our first directing gig, and we think it's going to be great, and I think it's going to be more of an expression of who we are. Our comedy comes from a slightly different place than his. The relationships in this movie might be a little more emotional - we might go for the emotional in a way that maybe The Hangover didn't."

"By the way, I say that on the day we're shooting the barf rig," he added when self-awareness dawned. "It's a thoughtful, emotional vomit, with an Enya song in the background as it goes. It's really heartfelt."

That's right. The day a slew of press folk were flown to Seattle to get a look behind the scenes, the scene we were looking behind was in a giant refurbished bar (natch), watching while Justin Chon (of mild Twilight fame) was riding a mechanical bull, and flinging puke all over the stage.

Chon plays JeffChang (yes, all one word: "Jeff is just plain. There's only one JeffChang," he says), who is a med student on the eve of the biggest moment of his professional life, and it happens to fall on his 21st birthday. Casey (Skylar Astin) is his friend who understands that plight, but Miller (Miles Teller) is absolutely insistent that they go out partying anyway, as he realizes his friends are growing up, moving away and won't hang out much anymore. What follows is JeffChang's night of absolute drunken madness.

"Yesterday, I got to pee on a bunch of girls," Chon informed us. "I take a sh*t in a drawer. I run around the whole campus with a teddy bear glued to my d*ck with a pink bra on and with Sharpie across my stomach that says 'Respect Me.' I definitely think I take the prize for the crazy stuff that happens in this movie. I'm sure you guys will see, I'm going to vomit on a bunch of people today."

21 and Over

That turned out to be a mild exaggeration, as all the extras were well out of the spray arc of the barf rig, but it was a very complicated shot that took quite a while to set up for each take, illustrating the very slow pace of a day of moviemaking. But then again, when it came time to get all the barf close-ups, chances are there would have been some seriously entertaining puke landing. Alas, that was for another day. We had actors and a director to talk to.

Astin made sure we knew that Chon wasn't the only one going off the rails in the film, though. When asked what he thought might be the most talked-about part of the movie, he gave a considered response about how he braved nudity for the sake of comedy.

