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Disney Insider: Interview With Dylan Minnette, Ed Oxenbould & Kerris Dorsey #VeryBadDayEvent

Alexander CastDisclosure: This event and trip to LA was an all expense paid journey sponsored by Disney. All thoughts and experiences are 100% my own!

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a press screening of Disney’s ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY. After the screening, we had the amazing opportunity to interview many of the cast members, including Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner followed by interviews with their “children” from the film. With the exception of the baby (who is adorable, by the way!) the three cast children joined us for a sit down interview that was actually so much more heartwarming than I had expected it to be. These are REALLY cool kids, and I mean, REALLY. Like, they would be fun to hang out with. They were polite, well spoken and clearly very fond of each other. 

Alexander cast 2

Dylan Minnette, Ed Oxenbould & Kerris Dorsey

Here is a transcript of some of the conversation. As you can imagine, interviewing all three of them at once was very lively and they each had a LOT of input, but it was adorable and fun so I outlined the conversations so that you can read them as they happened: 

Q: What was it like to act with Steve? Was he funny every day and off camera?

Ed: No, he wasn’t fun. No, I’m kidding. He was like the funniest person. He could make anything sound fun, anything.
Dylan: It’s effortless. It’s effortless.
Dylan: He can say what he’s having for lunch and you’re just like in tears on the floor.
Ed: Yeah, you could– you could just look at him. And he’ll give you one look. And you will just be in uncontrollable laughter.
Kerris: He’s such a smart person. I think you have to be that intelligent in order to be that funny because he’s so witty and so impeccable. That was really cool. You can just tell by looking at him, that’s he’s just so smart. And the wheels are always turning.

Screen Shot 2014-10-06 at 9.03.10 AM

Q: What was everybody’s favorite scene with him?

Ed: I think the party scene.
Dylan: I’ve been saying the party scene.
Kerris: Party scene.
Ed: Yeah, it was really cool.
Kerris: The party scene was so fun.
Dylan: It was 200 people and animals and swimming and music and food.
Kerris: It was so cool. We were there for a long time. So it sort of became like a home to us, you know? So, yeah, that was so fun. We actually ate the food at one point.

Q: Kerris, for your role in the film, you were sick a lot. I just wondered if you had any good tips for us in case we wanted to take a sick day.

Kerris: I feel like if I ever get sick and sound sick my parents are gonna be like, no, we know your tricks. It’s all about the voice. It’s more nasally. So it’s like back in your throat and then in your nose. So M’s have to be B-sounding. I just watched a lot of You Tube videos of people talking when they’re sick.It’s all about the voice. And then really heavily lidded eyes and then maybe like eyeliner or something underneath your eyes.

Q: Ed, what about you? Learning an American accent, how was that for you?

Ed: That was pretty hard. But also kind of easy at the same time because I was brought up on American film. Because there is a lot of American film in Australia. It was a little rough around the edges. I learned all the little tips and tricks on just to sound authentic.

Kerris: Sometimes I would forget that you were Australian.

Very Bad Day 4

Q: Have any of you experienced anything similar to what, you know, happened to you in the film either in high school proms or driver’s training? Anything like that?

Dylan: Well, Kerris has yet to do her driver’s test. So maybe….
Ed: Well, don’t jinx it.
Kerris: Well, oh, shut up.
Dylan: I actually aced my driver’s test luckily. What else happens to me? I’ve never knocked a trophy case over.
Kerris: I feel like we exorcized it all out of our systems when we filmed it. Like, this can never happen to us in real life because we just did it. So that’s nice.
Ed : If it does happen,  we’re prepared.
Kerris: You’re right. We know how to react. And we know how to sort of adapt to it. I have those days where you wake up. And you’re sick. And then everything falls down in front of you, and you trip over things. Those days happen to me all the time.
Dylan: All the time.

Very Bad Day 5

Q: What was the hardest scene for each of you to keep your composure in?

Kerris: The car scene.

Ed: Yeah, there was one scene during the car that was completely improvised. And we’d get– the director just said– ’cause I would walk around set going brr-brr-brr, just making the stupid noises. And Miguel the director said I just want all of you to do it. It was kind of what? And then so we all did it. And Steve started doing it. And you can see in the background everyone’s laugh. And like there was blood in our faces ’cause we’re moving our shoulders like that. But when– it’s so hard to keep a straight face.

Kerris: Steve was like ya-ya-ya-ya-ya. And like I was playing the trumpet. And Ed was just like, I don’t even know.
Ed: I don’t know either.
Kerris: No, it was amazing. I just don’t remember.
Dylan: I’m the only one that didn’t have to do anything in that scene.
Kerris: Yeah, but you had to keep a straight face though. I think we got kind of loopy at one point.
Ed: Yeah.
Dylan: Also the scene outside the van at the DMV when we were all yelling at each other.
Ed: We spent a whole day filming there.

Q: Steve said you guys wrote a song for him that made him a bit emotional. So what can you tell us about that?

Ed: It was all about working with him and all about his character. And it was really cool. We all sang it. He did get really emotional. It was really nice.
Dylan: He got emotional.
Kerris: Yeah, it was one of the most special moments ever.
Ed: It was really sad, though. You know, because it was his last day. It was near the end.
Kerris: It was very emotional. The whole crew was there on the set. We got to like sing it together. We had the lyrics and everything. And they had a little speaker that they let us use to play the song. It was such a like special moment.
Ed: That was a really special moment.
Dylan: It was amazing.
Ed: Yeah.
Kerris: Always makes me happy.

Q:  Were you all familiar with the book, you know, the story and the book before you started making the movie before you got involved with the project? Had you read it as kids?

Kerris: I read it as a kid. My mom read it to me and my sister. And I grew up with it and loved it.
Dylan: I actually didn’t read read it. But I’m very glad to be a part of it now and bringing it back to people’s attention.
Ed: I never had it read to me, but I knew what it was. I knew it is that the book with the stupid title. The Alexander blah blah blah and I still call it that today.
Kerris: The Alexander then dot-dot-dot.
Dylan: Ed Oxenbould from Alexander

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The photo above is of the cast at the premiere of ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY.
(Photo credit: Disney)

Q:  What was your take away personally from this movie working with a fabulous cast and director?

Kerris:  This was our take away.
Ed: This, this friendship.
Dylan: Aw!
Ed: Yeah.
Dylan: Honestly it’s true because now that we’ve done this, I can’t imagine not doing it because we have become such good friends that I literally can’t imagine not having the experiences that we’ve had after filming. It’s kind of like fate. It really was fate because we are so close.
Kerris: It’s cool to have a movie that you are proud of and you enjoyed making. And then literally to walk away and say ” My life would be completely different if I hadn’t done that movie because I wouldn’t have met the people I met and had the experiences that I have.” So, yeah, it’s very dear to our hearts I think.
Dylan: Definitely.

Q: Is this one of your favorite projects that you guys have worked on?

Ed: This is the best project I’ve worked on.
Dylan: This was life changing. This was such a great time in my life that I’ll never regret doing it ever. It’s really special. And the premiere night is going to be great.
Kerris: It’s gonna be so fun.
Dylan: Seeing it in theatres with people is going to be great.
Ed: I can’t wait just to see it in front of the real audience.

Q: I liked when you were like throwing the pixie dust.

Kerris: There was actually pixie dust in my pocket one time. And I didn’t know it. No one told me.
Ed: That was real pixie dust, by the way.
Kerris: Yeah, it was. I didn’t know that there was pixie dust in my pocket. And I was like talking to you or something. I was talking to somebody. And I was laughing hysterically.
Ed: And she just pulled it out like it was glitter.
Kerris: All of a sudden glitter was littering everywhere until he was like, Kerris… what?
Ed: You’re leaking glitter.
Kerris: Just like spewing glitter. It’s like a gift for everyone.

Aren’t these kids fun!? So personable and down to earth. I really enjoyed my time with them and I am really looking forward to watching them grow up and seeing what great things they do.

One thing that really stood out to me was their appreciation and love for each other. When we spoke with Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner just moments earlier, they had the same emotion and excitement over these kids. To hear them say that they will be lifelong friends was so heartwarming!

Here’s a shot of Ed Oxenbould who play Alexander, isn’t he a little ham? I could have just brought him home, he was so adorable! See him peeking out from behind the sign below?Alexander

Perfect for family movie night!

Like ALEXANDER on Facebook: Facebook.com/DisneyAlexander
Follow ALEXANDER on Twitter: @DisneyPictures

ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY opens in theaters October 10th!

Meet the author – Keri Lyn

The creative and frugal mind behind She Saved for over 12 years now, Keri Lyn shares her adventures in parenting along with her love for family travel, country living and brand marketing. A self-proclaimed “brand loyalist”, Keri Lyn is known for her strong and enthusiastic voice when it comes to the products and brands that she loves. She Saved has become a community for like-minded consumers who appreciate saving money, time and sanity by getting the best deals on quality products and experiences.

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