Returning Hot Tub Time Machine stars Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke teamed up with franchise newcomers Adam Scott and Gillian Jacobs to discuss Paramount Pictures’ Hot Tub Time Machine 2 opening in theaters on February 20, 2015. The sequel finds Lou (Corddry) in trouble and his friends Nick (Robinson) and Jacob (Duke) using the magical hot tub to try and help him out.
The film’s Daily Show turned out to be very prescient since Jon Stewart announced he’s leaving after your film was shot. Is Jessica Williams your pick for the next host and did you anticipate this was coming sooner rather than later?
Rob Corddry: “We’re standing firmly behind our candidate for the Daily Show election this year. That’s for America and for the kids.”
Craig Robinson: “How much proof do you need that the hot tub is real? But yeah, Jessica Williams, hell yeah. All day, every day.”
Craig, as a ‘90s kid, how did it feel working with Lisa Loeb, and what was her reaction to you doing her song?
Craig Robinson: “She was overjoyed. Last year was her 20-year anniversary of that song, so Steve [Pink] was like, ‘You think we could get Lisa?” And I called her. Boom! She was excited about it, but this guy here, he has a serious crush on Lisa. Lisa was so cool to come work in the movie and we went to get foot massages and then he got jealous.”
Rob Corddry: “I get Lisa Loeb, you know what I mean? Like, I get her.”
Craig Robinson: “The hardest part was finding the cat.”
What was the list of alternate songs you would have spoofed if you couldn’t get Lisa Loeb?
Rob Corddry: “Oh boy, so many, right? The whole Culture Club canon.”
Was there any joke or concept you couldn’t get away with in the film?
Rob Corddry: “Yeah, all the 9/11 jokes were cut. I don’t know why. So that, I guess, was too far.”
Adam, how did it feel to join the cast and be part of this franchise?
Adam Scott: “Before I answer that question I just need to consult with my attorney. [Leans over as Corddry whispers in his ear] I really enjoyed joining this film. [Leans over again] Rob Corddry was especially generous on set and I loved the first — sorry. [Leans over again] No further questions. I loved the first one. I was actually at the premiere of the first one.”
Rob Corddry: “That’s not to brag.”
Adam Scott: “I got invited, okay.”
Rob Corddry: “Oh yeah, this guy.”
Adam Scott: “I’d known all these guys for a while, so I actually had a conversation with Steve on the phone before Josh [Heald] had even written a script and agreed to do it then which is such a stupid thing to do. But then, it was just a no brainer. It just sounded like going to New Orleans for summer camp with some friends and I’m really glad I did. It was really fun.”
Clark Duke: “And now hundreds of dollars later, here he is starring in Hot Tub 2.”
Adam Scott: “I walked away from the movie a hundredaire.”
How much of the dialogue was improvised?
Rob Corddry: “We’re wearing earwigs sometimes so he just feeds us great lines.”
Adam Scott: “I think there was a comma there, Adam.”
Rob Corddry: “Honestly, Josh writes great bits that inspire [us] because it’s all very conversational. The real movie is us just hanging out and either giving each other sh*t or just hanging out. Josh writes that really well, and it also offers a great place for launching off into just other versions of that same jokes. A lot of it was like the mirror thing. That was about four hours in front of that mirror just staring at each other trying to insult your best friends.”
Adam Scott: “And then Josh is on set all the time pitching new jokes so it’s all really collaborative.”
Rob Corddry: “Annoying. Oh yeah, collaborative.”
Clark Duke: “Josh would tell me when I was wrapped every day too.”
Adam and Gillian, what was it like to play such a sickeningly sweet couple? Did you know couples like this?
Gillian Jacobs: “I only know dysfunctional, deeply unhappy couples so it was pure imagining. But Adam’s pretty lovable so it’s not difficult to conjure that kind of relationship.”
Adam Scott: “Well, likewise Gillian. It was really fun. We didn’t really talk about it or rehearse anything. We just started doing it and they just became disgusting and so in love with each other. It was also kind of written that way and it was a great place to start because then their relationship becomes corrupted. So it was just kind of a naturally great place for their relationship to start.”
Who is there left for Lou to violate within the circle of friends?
Rob Corddry: “I think that’s about it, right? I think I got everybody. Lou is like a scientifically perfect virus. There’s no stopping him. He’s like the common cold. Lou is the common cold.”
How did you come up with the strut and how much influence did you have on the music?
Craig Robinson: “The Weber Strut was influenced by a young lady named V Bozeman. She’s a singer, striking, and she’ll be at the premiere. One day I was at this club in L.A. and she was just like going in, going like that and I just started doing it with her. They were talking about the Weber Strut and they were like, ‘Whatever you want it to be.’ So I was in that place of needing that dance.”
Clark Duke: “We’ve all been there.”
Rob Corddry: “I’ve never not been there.”
Craig Robinson: “As far as the music, we went in there and wrote the song together for The Weber Strut, Josh, Steve and Chris who was doing the music. Then Steve left. Steve left. Steve was always f***in’ leaving but he had to go do something. He was like, ‘But I’ll be back, I’ll be back.’ Sure enough he came back, but we had cut a song that we liked and Neil was like, ‘We have time before Steve gets here so let’s cut a B.S. song and play it for Steve and watch his face.’ So we made the worst lyrics. I was singing all off key. So we played it for Steve with this video and Steve’s like, ‘This is really good.’ Like, ‘No, Steve, no.’ We ended up fusing those two songs together. ‘Everybody strut right now. Strut to the time of the clock. It’s midnight.’ That’s what ended up making it.”
What lines do you think will get quoted from this, and what’s your experience hearing lines from the original quoted at you?
Craig Robinson: “People shout, ‘Great White Buffalo’ all the time. I have to remind them you have to whisper it. I’m looking forward to ‘high five.'”
Rob Corddry: “And that was something you did it pretty late into the shoot. You just did it once and we knew exactly what he was doing. It was great.”
Clark Duke: “And that’s my real response in the movie. Did you just f***ing say ‘high five?’ That was a real moment.”
Craig Robinson: “Sometimes you improvise, it’s like, ‘Throw out a line, throw out a line.’ The magic is sometimes you can just keep going and that stuff makes it. Those chunks of going back and forth make it. It’s a beautiful thing. Cincinnati was improvised by the way.”
Clark Duke: “Was Great White Buffalo improvised?”
Rob Corddry: “Yeah.”
