Judd Apatow on Hiring His Own Kids for Knocked Up:

“It was definitely my choice [to put them in the film]. I just thought that whenever you see kids in movies they always feel scripted and stiff. And if I had my kids there with us, they would act like normal children and do things that kids don’t do because my kids do all sorts of weird things. They’re really funny and then they’re pissed off, and then they’re suddenly happy again and there’s violent mood swings all day long. There’s a potential for violence and then they just kiss you hard. I thought if I could capture any bit of that, it would show people what being a parent is actually about.

I was nervous about [using them] because I thought if this doesn’t go well it could be a disaster. ‘I’ve already ended their acting careers.’ I said, ‘Your acting career ends Friday at six o’clock.’ But, you know, I thought it could really be a disaster if they refused to do it. They could show up at work and say, ‘I want to go home…’ and then I’m a lunatic if I don’t let them.”

Apatow concedes that it helps that mom [Leslie Mann] is on the set too. “Yeah, she’s acting with her mom and I’m right there. If her mom goes, ‘What do you want for breakfast?’ and she just answers and forgets the cameras are there, you really see the kind of conversations that they have. It’s funny and sweet and very weird at times. And they’ve gotten good at improvising, which is somewhat shocking. Or I can feed them lines and they will repeat them. I said to Iris, it’s true, I said, ‘After Seth walks away, turn to Paul Rudd and say he looks like Winnie the Pooh.’ She just turned and went, ‘He looks like Winnie the Pooh,’ without missing a beat.

Maude went on a rant yesterday in a scene how she thinks babies are born. I said, ‘Say whatever you want, Maude.’ And she went into this really long, bizarre explanation about storks have these eggs that are invisible and they go through your head and they go into your stomach and you push your bellybutton and your butt falls off and it falls out your butt. It goes in the dirt and you dig it out and you hit it with a hammer and then [there’s a] little tiny bird baby and it’s already wearing clothes. She was just going and going.”

“Funny People” star Leslie Mann reveals that while her children Iris and Maude have appeared in some of the movies she has made with her husband Judd Apatow the kids are not actually allowed to *watch* the films.

Leslie shared that she and Judd were worried about the parents of their children’s friends seeing some of their movies such as ‘Knocked Up,’ and ‘Pineapple Express’ and getting the wrong idea about their family.

“Kids’ parents see the movies, and I always worry because I don’t want them to think that we’re some pot smoking family. [But] they actually like the movies a lot, and now they confide in me about their pot smoking ways.”

Q. [Regarding] your children, explain why you decided to exploit them by making them work in this movie [Funny People]?
Leslie: (laughs) That wasn’t me. That was Judd tricking me into using them. That’s not something I wanted to do.

Q. They’re very professional. How did they get to be such good little actors?
Leslie: They don’t have any clue as to what’s happening so they’re very natural. They were usually in eating scenes so we put food in front of them and rolled three cameras. Their friends can’t see the movie, and they can’t see the movie, so it’s totally off their radar. It’s like hanging out with mom and dad.

Q. Is it awkward for you to work with your husband and kids?
Leslie: It’s not awkward. If it had been with another director, it might have been awkward, but then I wouldn’t have done it. Besides, Maud’s probably done with it now. I don’t want her to be a child actor.

From the outside world, looks can be deceiving, says Leslie Mann. The wife of writer-director Judd Apatow and mother of Maude, 11, and Iris, 6, the actress admits that while it may seem she has a handle on her family, at times she is left searching for a bit of guidance. “Don’t assume I have everything figured out…I get as confused about life as everybody, and sometimes I think I’m just hurtling through the world without a plan at all,” she tells USA WEEKEND.

For Leslie, that constant quest to seek all the right answers is noticeably present as she navigates her way through motherhood. “The rules are completely different now than when I was a kid, and it’s hard to know what’s right,” she says.

Noting that parents once held much more authority over their children, Leslie finds herself taken aback by some of her daughters’ quick responses. “I once told my daughter Maude that I read in this book that when you’re seven, you can start doing chores like vacuuming,” she recalls.

“She said, ‘Oh yeah? When I turn seven, I’m gonna vacuum up that book.’”

Leslie’s new movie Funny People — written, co-produced, and directed by Judd with appearances by both of their girls — is now in theaters.

Shorts is about an eleven-year-old boy, Toe Thompson (Jimmy Bennet). Toe finds a strange rainbow rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it. Shorts stars, Leslie Mann, Kat Dennings, James Spader and newcomer, Jimmy Bennet.

THE VERDICT
Director Robert Rodriguez uses a clever film structure to tell his just-for-kids tale, combining a series of short films. Adults such as Leslie Mann and James Spader are terrific, while newcomer kid Jolie Vanier is quite brilliant as the evil town bully Helvetica.

Eric Bana found his Funny People co-stars so amusing he was given a nickname on set: The Giggle Monster. The Aussie actor returns to his comedy roots in the latest movie by director Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) about a group of stand-up comedians. True to its title, the movie stars some of the funniest people in Hollywood, including Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Leslie Mann, who is married to Apatow.

It was Mann who bestowed the title `Giggle Monster’ on Bana when he struggled to contain his mirth.

“He would laugh every time Leslie was serious,” Apatow said during a visit to Australia to promote Funny People. “My wife is very funny but in ways she does not understand, so when she’s acting very serious it looks kinda crazy, and he would laugh a lot. There was one moment where, in the middle of a take, he kept laughing so Leslie, in character, slaps him in the face. But really I think she just wanted to hit him so he would stop laughing.”

Australians may fondly remember Bana as the mullet-headed Poida, but in recent years Bana has made a name for himself internationally for dramatic roles in Munich, The Other Boleyn Girl and Star Trek.

Funny People is his first foray into comedy in many years – though he was name-checked in a joke in Knocked Up. Apatow said he was impressed when he watched some of Bana’s early work on sketch comedy shows like Full Frontal and The Eric Bana Show Live.

“I always thought his story was very interesting, that he started out doing stand-up and sketches and became this serious actor,” Apatow said. “So when we were thinking about who could play the part we remembered that we goofed on him in Knocked Up and we thought maybe that’s a perfect way to go. We were looking for an original take on an obnoxious businessman.”

It was Bana’s idea to make the character an Aussie, and it’s the first time he has been able to use his real accent on a movie in about 10 years.

But it was Apatow who suggested they use Bana’s obsession with AFL club St Kilda for some laughs.

“I just asked him what are you interested in and I’ll put that in the movie and he said `I love footy’,” Apatow explained. “He is obsessed with footy, if his team loses he cries, and he’s proud of the fact he cries. So I said, `that’s hilarious’. I don’t think he ever understood why I thought it was funny, because he takes it very seriously.”

Funny People will be released nationally on September 10.

“You have to see this picture,” Leslie Mann says with a smirk as she taps at her BlackBerry. The shot that pops up shows the actress, best known for comedies such as “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” looking model-gorgeous at an awards show earlier this year. Wrapped around her arm is her husband of 12 years, Judd Apatow, who also happens to write and direct some of Mann’s movies, including “Funny People,” which opened last weekend. On the left are friends Ben Stiller and Sacha Baron Cohen, the latter dressed in a leopard-print outfit as his latest character, Bruno. Then there’s the distinguished older gentleman Mann says “insisted” on being in the shot.

“Apparently, Clint Eastwood watches our movies,” she says. “I mean, he’s, like, Dirty Harry! He’s so awesome.”

Mann, 37, suddenly makes a face like she bit into a pickle. “Please don’t write ‘awesome,’ ” she says, taking back her cellphone. Her voice is chirpy as a chipmunk’s, but there’s an anxious Woody Allen edge. “I use ‘awesome’ all the time, but I totally hate the word. Say ‘amazing,’ ‘phenomenal,’ ‘freakin’ insane.’ ”

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