Zach Galifianakis & Will Ferrell on The Campaign Trail
by Joel D Amos at .Movie Fanatic is meeting Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell at Los Angeles’ The Grove to talk about The Campaign and why now is a terrific time to put out a political parody.
“It helps, I believe, that there’s a presidential election happening in… is it December?” Ferrell asks his co-star.
“November…” Galifianakis corrected.
“November, yes -- and with the state of how crazy politics is getting, we thought it would be a very timely and funny way to make fun of politics. I think politics has gotten vulgar and we comedically portray that,” Ferrell said.
“With the presidential race, there’s always a camera on the two candidates, there’s plenty of opportunity to make fun of both guys.”
Director Jay Roach's (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) comedy nails the political process circa 2012, as so impeccably shown in The Campaign red band trailer. It features Ferrell’s Cam Brady, a four-term incumbent who has been unopposed for years. For this election, the most unlikely of candidates has emerged, Galifianakis’ Marty Huggins.
“Marty Huggins is a guy who is a black sheep of his family. It’s a political family from which he has been ostracized. Because he has the family name and there’s an incumbent, Cam Brady (Ferrell), they pick him to challenge Cam’s campaign because there is a family recognition,” Galifianakis said.
“It’s like putting a Kennedy up there in North Carolina. I’m a fish out of water when it comes to the political game and Will’s character is very savvy at it.”
When it comes to Brady, Ferrell believes that his character is much like those inhabiting the halls of the Capitol currently.
“Cam Brady is up for anything that will get him elected,” Ferrell admitted.
“He is a four-time incumbent and there’s whispers that he’s potentially going to be picked to be Vice President. That’s as high as his aspirations go. He likes the idea of being a Vice President where you don’t have to work too hard. He has some shortcomings. He's a little bit of a philandering politician and that opens the door for Marty to begin his campaign.”
The time is right for a political satire, as the public’s affinity for our elected officials in Washington is at an all-time low. “With Congress’ approval rating below twenty percent…” Ferrell said before Galifianakis corrected him.
“It’s at ten percent,” he interjects.
“Oh, good, I think that’s what they were going for,” Ferrell said and laughed.
“I think the movie is kind of a collection of making fun of all of them. You’ll see shades of a lot of different politicians we’re making fun of -- I think there’s ton of fodder there.”
Ferrell was recently honored by the Kennedy Center and got to rub shoulders with some of our country’s political elite. “Yeah, I’ve been honored by the Kennedy Center, Zach! Who have you been honored by?” Ferrell asked.
“I was honored by Souplantation,” Galifianakis said as Ferrell laughed.
The veteran of Anchorman does have a serious message for those he hob-knobbed with while recently in our nation's capital. “My message to Washington is to stop,” Ferrell said. “Stop screwing around.”
Lastly, we ask the dynamic duo, who battle so well in The Campaign posters, what they would do if they were to win a seat in Congress.
“I would do exactly what the Congress people are doing right now… nothing,” Ferrell admitted. “I’d just hang out in Washington and go to great restaurants.”
“I’d go to a ribbon cutting at Arby’s or Six Flags,” Galifianakis said. “And you know -- I’d like to make it legal to take a left on red.”
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Comments (1 Total)
Well, everyone here prtety much seems to agree that kids shouldn't see movies for adults but I was allowed to watch anything that my parents saw growing up (including violence, sex, horror etc.) and I don't seem to be any the worse for wear. I am neither hardened to violence and horror nor sexually corrupt. My husband on the other hand was raised so strictly that he wasn't allowed to watch most cartoons for fear of their violence and yet we have the exact same view on the subject—it really depends on the child. Our son is very sensitive to violence and therefore we don't let him watch it. He finds it disturbing in a way that I never did as a child because I knew it wasn't real while also understanding that there was real violence that was quite horrifying. He doesn't make that distinction so we keep that from him for now. I think most parents don't know their children these days and they let their kids watch whatever keeps them quiet without discrimination—that is really what makes them terrible parents. That is the point of the parental discretion they advise because no one knows your child like you *should*.