Anton Yelchin Interview, Charlie Bartlett

MoviesOnline recently sat down with actor Anton Yelchin (“Star Trek,” “Fierce People”), director Jon Poll (“Austin Powers,” “Meet the Fockers”) and producer Jay Roach at the Los Angeles press conference for their new film, “Charlie Bartlett.”

Among the classic high-school rebels of American movies, there have been truants, delinquents, pranksters and con artists – but there has never been anyone quite like Charlie Bartlett. An optimist, a truth-teller and a fearless schemer, when Charlie slyly positions himself as his new school’s resident “psychiatrist,” dishing out both honest advice and powerful prescriptions, he has no idea the ways in which he will transform his classmates, the school principal and the potential of his own life.

This is the premise of the provocative, Prozac-era comedy, “Charlie Bartlett,” in which a wealthy teenager’s foray into bathroom-stall psychiatry becomes a smart, funny and touching one-man battle against the loneliness, angst and hypocrisy of the modern world.

Anton Yelchin (“Alpha Dog”) stars as Charlie Bartlett, who has been kicked out of every private school he ever attended. And now that he’s moved on to public school, he’s simply getting pummeled. But when Charlie discovers that the kids who surround him – the outcast and the popular alike – are secretly in desperate need, his entrepreneurial spirit takes over. Hanging up his shingle in the Boys’ restroom, Charlie becomes an underground, not to mention under-aged, shrink who listens to the private confessions of his schoolmates, and makes the imprudent decision to hand out the pills he’s proffered from his own psychiatric sessions. Meanwhile, at home, Charlie keeps charming his way out of an inevitable confrontation with his adoring but utterly overwhelmed mother Marilyn (Hope Davis.)

Then, Charlie Bartlett makes his big mistake: falling in love with the beautiful and bold daughter (Kat Dennings) of the school’s increasingly disenchanted Principal (Robert Downey, Jr.), who is hot on his trail. As Charlie Bartlett’s world and fledgling psychiatric practice unravel, he begins to discover there’s a whole lot more to making a difference than handing out pills.

Charlie Bartlett marks the directorial debut of Jon Poll – a world-class film editor with deep comic roots who has collaborated with Jay Roach on both the blockbuster “Meet the Parents” and “Austin Powers” series, among others, and the screen debut of writer Gustin Nash. Yelchin recently completed production on “Finding t.A.T.u” opposite Mischa Barton and on “Middle of Nowhere” opposite Susan Sarandon for director John Stockwell. He is currently shooting the role of ‘Pavel Checkov,’ the Russian-born navigator of the USS Enterprise in Paramount Pictures’ 11th film in the “Star Trek” franchise for director J.J. Abrams.

Here’s what Anton Yelchin, Jon Poll and Jay Roach had to tell us about their recent collaboration on “Charlie Bartlett”:

Jon Poll: Hi everybody. My name is Jon Poll. You’ve never talked to me because this is my first movie. I had the lucky fortune of making “Charlie Bartlett” along with these two gentlemen. Jay Roach, who I worked with as an editor for years, who is a very generous person especially in the world of Hollywood, who produced the movie and helped me get the movie. He was actually going to direct it at one point. I had read another script by a gentleman, Gustin Nash, who wrote “Charlie,” called “Youth In Revolt.” I called Jay up and asked him about Gustin. And he said ‘Didn’t I ever tell you about “Charlie Bartlett”?’ Maybe they would like to talk to you. So the other producers got the call and said ‘Oh do you want to talk to my editor.’ I was pretty naive and I went in and had a very long two-hour pitch. They kind of liked it and came back to me two months later and said ‘We would like to make the movie with you.’ So thank you.

This is Anton Yelchin who I had the good fortune of meeting about six months before we went into production, six months before we did any prep. I had seen a couple of movies of his called “Hearts of Atlantis” and “House of D” and was truly amazed because I had no idea who to cast in the movie. I saw those two and actually went and bugged Jay the next morning and said, ‘You have to see this, you have to see this scene from “House of D.” He is so real, he is so charming, so funny, all at once. That’s what we need for Charlie.’

Anton and I met for dinner and I asked him what he liked about Charlie Bartlett. The first words out were how honest and optimistic the character was. I said, ‘That’s great. That’s just how Nash and I feel about it.’ At the end of the dinner I said, ‘Great. You get to be Charlie Bartlett.’ That was also very naive because I ended up seeing 82 other young actors. I can say in all honesty there was never any doubt that Anton was going to play Charlie Bartlett. And I don’t know how we could have made the movie without him.

And, I won’t take up too much more time but we tried to get financing for the film from all the usual suspects and studios. Everyone shied away and said, ‘Are you crazy? You cannot make an R-rated movie with kids and drugs. There is no way anyone is going to go near this.’ The script had been around for a couple of years and I think many people had been saying that for awhile too. Bill Horberg at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment really liked the script, really believed in it and agreed to make the film. We were trying to find a studio partner which was very difficult we found. Eventually they had the guts to make the film all on their own and that is why I am lucky enough to be sitting here. They have made a lot of brave and bold films and we are glad to be one of them. So, fire away guys.

Q: Anton, what was it about this character that you really liked.

Anton Yelchin: It really was the optimism. It was the honesty of him. Although I am honest, I am not optimistic all the time. He reminds me of Michael Corleone meets the charter from “Knights of Cabiria.” I just thought it was a great way to explore life. Whether I could approach life similarly was a different question. I thought it would be really interesting to look into that, explore that. He really is sort of an incredible person to get into his head.

Q: This is a timely movie with all of the talk about prescription drugs in the media. So what would Tom Cruise think of this movie?

[Laughter]

JON POLL: I don’t know. We actually talked about that and assumed he would like it. But he hasn’t seen it to my knowledge.

Q: There is timeliness considering this script has been around for a while.

JON POLL: There is no question. In college everywhere there is a huge black market in all prescription drugs. Prescription drugs are the new recreational drugs. In all honesty, the film is not saying there is anything wrong with these drugs. We just want to point out that some people are given those drugs too easily, especially at young ages. I know we kind of play fast and loose with it for humor sake. But there are a lot of 7-year-olds being given Ritalin. And I personally have to wonder if you have a boy who is eating sugar all day and playing videogames, maybe there is a reason for them being hyped up.

Q: Anton, you started acting at a young age. Did you have a normal high school experience?

ANTON YELCHIN: Yeah I went to a public high school. There were years when I would miss like half a year. But I got enough high school to know I seriously disliked it.

Q: What clique were you in?

ANTON YELCHIN: I don’t know. Most of my friends that are my friends from high school became friends because we all had a common interest in music. We sort of played in bands together or really appreciated music and got together to jam. That’s what unified my circle of friends. To me high school is such an unhealthy place in general. Every teenager is [going through] this incredible hormonal explosion. Then they put a thousand of them in one place. It is like putting hot air in a balloon, you know what I mean? Who ever came up with the idea wasn’t thinking very straight. You are supposed to come up with healthy, normal people. But you are putting all these imbalanced people together and expecting them to learn. It makes no sense to me. That’s sort of the attitude that I came to school with every day. I would just try to get out as fast as I could. I chose classes that ended early. I don’t even remember my last year. I would sit through English. I would sit through whatever my next class was and then I would get out. That was my goal.

Q: So you weren’t an entrepreneur?

ANTON YELCHIN: No, no not at all. Maybe that would have made my days a bit more exciting, but no.

Q: Jon, could you talk about casting Robert Downey Jr. who 20 years ago could have probably played Charlie Bartlett?

JON POLL: The first thing I said to Robert on the phone, we were already up in Toronto, we heard Robert liked the script, ‘OK, you have never made a movie. Get on the phone and talk Robert Downey Jr. into being in this film.’ That was the first thing I said. ‘Do you realize that 20 years ago this would have been you?’ And he just laughed and said ‘Yes, very much.’ One of the first things he said on that phone call was that I know this film is about another character and I am here to support that character. I know how I fit into the movie. He was very brave about dealing with issues of his own and how they are reflected back through the film. It was actually great having him on set and being able to talk to him about that kind of stuff. I think every actor on the set, of every age, truly enjoyed being around him.

ANTON YELCHIN: It was really just incredible to work with him. It was really one of the first experiences that I have had where I would consciously sit and learn from someone. When I was young I would work with people, and I would obviously be learning from them, but it would be sort of an afterthought once I had finished I would realize what I had gotten. With Robert I would sit and watch him in such utter amazement because his range and his understanding of the freedom he has as an actor is so eye opening to the amount of things you can do and just the freedom you have within the confines of the story and the scene. But watching him just experiment with what he wanted to do and then finding the right thing to do was so incredible. It really was an amazing experience. I loved being off camera and just watching him work because he is like no other actor out there. Robert is in his own sort of categories of actors with the way he approaches the character that he does, the way he uses his body. It is just incredible to watch and learn from him.

JON POLL: His generosity of spirit…

ANTON YELCHIN: Oh yeah.

JON POLL: ...was kind of amazing in performance. I would be pinching myself every day ‘Robert Downey Jr. is in the movie!’ So I’m going to make a suggestion to Robert and there was never a moment where any idea came up that he didn’t go ‘Yes, yes, yes. Let’s do it!’ It was amazing to see.

Jay Roach: I think one of the most amazing things about casting him, it is not the obvious choice to have Robert Downey Jr. play the principal but he is clearly a principal with issues and is struggling, trying to cope. He’s trying to cope with being a principal but more importantly he is trying to cope with being a father. It is one of the things I like about the film. Although I do think it is one of those kind of films that depicts a great teen character. I hope kids see someone speaking with an authentic version of that voice and how kids cope. But it is also about how parents cope with kids when they don’t really understand them. How they try to cope. How they fail at understanding. It is a cautionary tale in a way of ‘be careful, it is so quick and easy to become distanced from what kids are going through.’ Because Robert Downey Jr. plays that character, I think in a way he is the representation of that anxiety dream that is parenting. You fear for his inability to understand and figure out his daughter, fear for his inability to run a school, and identify with his chaotic struggle to get himself together to be good at that. It is not called “Principal Gardner” but I think a lot of people who watch the film will actually identify with the conflicts of the film through that character. He brought so much complexity to the character. It was an amazing casting choice.

Q: What is the best piece of advice you have given or ever gotten?

JON POLL: I don’t know if I have ever given anyone any good advice. The best advice anyone gave me on this movie was to just go have fun and try to do what was in my head and not to stress out about it. I don’t know if that is possible, but I tried. I don’t know if that is a good sound bite either.

ANTON YELCHIN: Like I said I am not always an optimist and so I am prone to complaining about so many things. The best, it was recently actually, my dad had said this to me over the past couple of years. I ended the sentence with ‘and that’s not fair.’ And my dad, in his infinite wisdom, said ‘Who said anything was fair?’ I know it is kind of a cliche to hear that but when you really realize that you shouldn’t look at life as whether it is fair or not fair, it is what it is. There is something so great, so simple, intelligent, and wise in that statement. I think like the world you find yourself in, like the filmmaking world, is even less fair, so to speak, than a lot of the worlds. If you look at it as ‘it is what it is,’ that advice is so right on. Yeah, like it sucks. There is no getting around it. It is not always going to work out. You just have to make what you can make of it. And that is some of the greatest advice I have ever gotten.

Q: Is not being overly optimistic part of your Russian heritage?

YP: Yes. Yes. Most likely.

Q: Are there other things?

JON POLL: Running around in his underwear.

ANTON YELCHIN: Yes. Yes. I don’t know. I am sure there is a ton. Maybe brooding. I feel like it has its origins in Russians. Just the nature of the word. To brood. Like it is somehow instilled. It is weird it is instilled in about 2 or 3 % of the population. And it is weird. Russia is very complicated. It is one of the most complicated histories. I could go on about this forever. It produces Dostoyevsky and Rachmaninoff and then it produces Stalins and Lenins. It is such a strange combination. I don’t know why that rant about Russia was necessary.

Q: Anton. What was it like getting to work with Hope Davis again?

A: It was great. It really was great. I was a little worried because what if she comes on set and says ‘Man, you were really great when you were little.’ I kind of really worried I would not live up to her expectations. There was a great comfort because I had worked with her before. We knew each other. It wasn’t someone I had to work to get comfortable with. It was someone I remembered, fondly remembered. It was great.

JON POLL: It was amazing because she was the one person I had no rehearsal time with. I met her on the first day of shooting. She walked in and they sat down at the piano and started singing together. They were mother and son right away. There is one really unusual thing about Hope’s part in the film. I work on a lot of movies, mostly as an editor. What we mainly do is make them shorter and shorter. Take things out. There is not a single line of Hope Davis’s in this film that was ever removed. There’s nothing wrong with that. But her character was so strong she made ever moment work so well that it all got in the film.

Q: Anton, you are working on the “Star Trek” film now. How awesome is the Enterprise set?

ANTON YELCHIN: Oh it is pretty great. We were shooting this scene yesterday and you really just realize how epic it is. That word is so overused but it really is kind of epic. It’s pretty Epic! You just sit there and you’re like ‘God Damn, I’m on the Enterprise.’ Would I ever have thought that I would be on the Enterprise? No. It is just pretty great. It’s a pretty different experience though.

Q: How is your accent?

ANTON YELCHIN: How is my accent? I think it is pretty good. IT IS GREAT! My accent is incredible. No, the thing about Walter Koenig is that his accent was interesting. I will leave it at interesting. It was sort of like all of us had to make the choice of what we wanted to take from the original and what we wanted to bring into it. There are certain things that I took from it like the fact that he would replace every ‘v’ with a ‘w’, which is weird. I don’t really know where that decision came from. But, regardless, that’s a decision that he made and I thought it was important to bring that to the character. I talked to J.J. (Abrams) a lot about what he wanted. His thing was we’re not making something that is supposed to be the old Star Trek. He’s making his own movie but I think people want to see what they love so we’re all trying to find things that will remind people of the old characters so it’s been interesting just picking up on little things. Chekov is like the weirdest guy. Watching the old show makes you realize just how strange…like how incredible was it that they brought a Russian character on right smack in the middle of the Cold War? But there’s one scene where they’re talking to Apollo or the God that used to be Apollo, in the old show, and he’s like ‘I am Apollo!’ and Chekov is like ‘And I am the Czar of all the Russias!’ That’s not how I’d choose to do the accent but they gave him these lines. It really is the weirdest, weirdest character. It’s a lot of fun.

Q: Were you a Trekkie beforehand?

Anton: No. I love the old show. I really think for what it was the old show was really a great, great show. I watch it and really enjoy it. It’s so perfectly cheesy and “B” and absolutely unapologetic for it and I think that’s what works. They shot this thing where they walk up to a cave that looks like it was made out of Styrofoam and Spock says ‘Oh, this is definitely advanced technology’ and you’re like ‘Yes. Yes. That is advanced technology.’ [Laughs] But it’s fun. It’s really a fun show to watch.

“Charlie Bartlett” opens in theaters on February 22nd.