Jonah Hill, one of the three stars of the raunchy buddy comedy "Superbad," was standing outside the AMF Bay Shore Lanes (a.k.a. Pico Bowl) in Santa Monica. His forehead was dotted with beads of sweat in the late afternoon heat, and he was holding a cellphone.
"I'm calling Jason Schwartzman," he explained. "You can put that in your article and make me look really obnoxious."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, August 16, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part Page Metro Desk 1 inches; 30 words Type of Material: Correction
'Superbad': An article in Wednesday's Calendar section about the stars of the film "Superbad" said they had introduced a band at the Warp Tour in Chicago. It's the Warped Tour.
Chris Mintz-Plasse arrived a few moments later. He's the skinny one who will soon be known the world over as "McLovin" after the name his character assumes in the film that had its premiere Monday night at Grauman's Chinese Theater, and opens in theaters Friday.
"I'm really nervous," he said as he walked into the snack bar. "I'm doing my first talk show tomorrow."
"Jimmy Kimmel is so easy," said the pretty blond publicist who had set up the interview. "That's why I wanted you to do that one first."
"Yeah. I'm excited for that, I'm just worried about telling stories," said Mintz-Plasse, his voice a little shaky as he took a seat at the counter. He closed his eyes while a makeup artist patted his brow with foundation in preparation for yet another photo shoot.
Michael Cera, the third in the film's starring troika, who looks even sweeter in person than the impossibly sweet character he used to play on "Arrested Development," was asked if he was also wearing makeup. "Mmm hmm," he said distractedly. "I wake up with it on."
The three had already been on the road promoting the film nonstop: They'd hit Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco. They also introduced a band at the Warp Tour in Chicago and did a panel discussion with Judd Apatow (who produced the film) at Comic-Con in San Diego.
"This is our third interview in a bowling alley," said Hill, who split a meatball wedge with Cera before the bowling got underway. "It's weird because bowling isn't even a part of the movie."
But Cera and Hill both have a history with this bowling alley. Cera, who lives in Ontario, but spent a lot of time in Los Angeles while shooting "Arrested Development," swears the meatball sub here is the best in town. And Hill, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended the private school Crossroads, had his 18th birthday here five years ago.
Mintz-Plasse, who just graduated from El Camino Real high school and had never acted in a professional production of any kind before getting cast in "Superbad," had never been here before, but he used to be on a bowling team with his dad.
