EXCLUSIVE! On the Set: Emma, Penn and Amanda Get "Easy A's"

We're sitting in an Ojai, California high school gym watching the Easy A cast and crew shoot a massive pep rally scene complete with school band and tons of students. "Gossip Girl'"s Penn Badgley is resting on the sidelines wearing 1/2 of a furry woodchuck mascot costume and he's covered with blue paint (don't ask. We'll explain later).  

Auburn-haired Emma Stone (Superbad, The Rocker, Zombieland) is looking vampy-hot in a provocative outfit of black, lacy bustier and some fishnet hose... the whole naughty-night-with-your-man get up.  While, Amanda Bynes (Hairspray) is the flipside opposite in conservative white blouse with black skirt, espadrilles, a headband and she's wearing a cross necklace. Whaaaa?

You might have taken a class that everyone knows is an "Easy A" but these hard-working 20-somethings are proving that filmmaking isn't all glam and red carpets. It's hard work. They are shooting pep rally scenes for this fun, new comedy film over and over until everyone is perfectly happy with the results.

Easy A is loosely based on the Hawthorne classic "The Scarlet Letter" but before you run the other way picturing Pilgrim types, the only real similarity is the timeless truth that rumors can make or break a person's reputation. What we are seeing is hilarious and showcases some of the popular actors' talents that you've never seen them explore in the past.  

We plop down on some chairs behind the director's monitors in "video village" to watch the action both live and on the screen and, in between set-ups, grab some time with Amanda, Penn and Emma!  First, Amanda has a break and we move in.....

TeenHollywood:  Are you all having fun and becoming friends on the Easy A set here? It looks like you're enjoying working together.

Amanda: Yeah, we're having a great time.  It's a fun, young cast and I got to work with Lisa Kudrow who I'm a huge fan of and it's great, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Hayden Church, Stanley Tucci.  It's amazing. We have such a great script and Screen Gems is amazing so I'm really happy. So far, it's been extremely fun. We've been bonding, hanging out and having a really good time.

TeenHollywood: Tell us about your character.

Amanda:  Mary Ann is sort of an uptight, religious girl who has very strong beliefs about virginity and basically, her relationship with Olive (Emma Stone's character) is sort of strained because they just don't get along from the get-go.

TeenHollywood: They were never friends at all?

Amanda: No. So my character has to get over the fact that she finds out that Olive has had sex.  My character believes in abstinence until marriage so it's a funny relationship they have.  They become friends for like basically, a day and then I plant some information and I hate her again.

So, it's really fun for me because I haven't actually gotten to play the 'mean girl'.  It's done in a way where you love to hate her because you can't tell that she's evil. She seems so put together and sweet and charming but it's actually that she wants to rule the school.  So, it's a really funny role.  It's a good one.

TeenHollywood: Penny Pingleton's (Penny, her character in Hairspray) conservative mom would have loved this girl.

Amanda: Exactly. Precisely!

TeenHollywood: What has made her so uptight and conservative?

Amanda: Who knows? I think maybe it's repressed feelings or...who knows? I think a lot of girls get this idea in their head to be perfect for their parents or whatever.  I think it's a type "A" personality.

TeenHollywood: You are so not a mean girl so do you identify with anything about the character?

Amanda:  Not really. I'm not judgmental.  I live and let live. I don't judge others and I don't want others to judge me so I figure it's good karma not to judge others. Actually, I don't really relate to her at all but I've met girls who are evil and try to cut you down so I can draw from experience for sure.  

But what's funny is she is a virgin and yet she wears these sort of vampy clothes that are trying to be conservative but are still sort of pushing the envelope.  I do know girls like that so virginal yet dress like....big tramps [we laugh].

Emma Stone is hilarious and Aly Michalka is so funny and Penn Badgely is doing an amazing job and Cam Gigandet is playing my boyfriend and he has a funny role too.  It's been a great experience.  Will Gluck the director is so funny and I love the way that he gives notes because he's always trying to just make it funnier or better. He's extremely fun to work with. Everybody loves him. He's definitely an actor's director.

TeenHollywood: What is your character's relationship like with her boyfriend?  Is he supportive of you not wanting to have sex yet?

Amanda:  Yeah.  He's actually very dumb in the movie. He really just goes along with it and I think I push him.  I want him to be a minister. It's like my dream.  Whatever I want him to do, he'll do.  He sort of abides by my rules which is nice.

TeenHollywood: Which is what we want from our men. [we all laugh]. Did you have a "normal" high school experience or were you home-schooled?

Amanda: I went to high school and I also home-schooled. I was in and out because I was doing shows so I would do school on set but, because I'm very social and I liked being around my friends, I would make both work.

TeenHollywood: Did you have a "mean girl" experience in high school?

Amanda: Yeah.  I did. There were some girls who were jealous and mean.  But, I was really shy when I was in high school because I was getting so much attention [working] that when I was in school, I really didn't want it because I wanted to fit in and have friends. I didn't want people to think I thought I was that great so I sort of downplayed it.  But, then I realized you have to be true to yourself and your friends will like you no matter what and it's cool.

TeenHollywood: Great advice! So what is your scene today?

Amanda:  We're shooting a scene right now where I'm talking to Rhiannon who was Olive's ex-best friend and, at this point, I've persuaded her to come to my side. That's Aly's character.  So, I'm telling her 'Olive didn't come to school today and I'm really glad you're on our side'.   

TeenHollywood: Can you tell us the rumor you started about Emma's character Olive or no?

Amanda: I don't want to say too much but I basically just say mean things about her and try to turn people against her.  I overhear something and it spreads around school and then she becomes real popular and I don't like that and I despise her and think she's a total [Ho]. It's really funny but I don't want to give away too much.  

TeenHollywood: What did you like about the script?

Amanda: It was really real and edgy and it's something that I would want to see.  When I read a script, if it makes me laugh, comes off the page, I can only imagine once actors bring it to life.  It just felt hip and fun and a great movie to be a part of.

Here comes adorable Penn Badgley munching on his lunch break sandwich.  He sits down next to us as Amanda has to go get her hair primped.  Earlier, in a very athletic scene in which the woodchuck tries to leap into the air to make a basketball goal, Penn appeared to take a spill but assures us he's just fine.  

TeenHollywood: So how brutal was that scene?

Penn: You know what? I’ve endured worse.

TeenHollywood: How’s the blue paint treating you?

Penn: I’ve gotten kind of used to it. I kind of like it. I don’t know. I have to, right? At this point (shirtless) I feel like I’m clothed. I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but I feel like I’m clothed.

TeenHollywood: Blue becomes you. Can you explain what the blue paint is for?

Penn: My character, his name is Woodchuck Todd, and he used to be a blue devil, the former school mascot that was eventually voted to be satanic by the conservative Christian right in the high school. They have, I guess a vendetta against the mascot, they have him replaced by a more innocuous figure like a woodchuck. And the joke is that it’s really, really lame.

TeenHollywood: Oh, we're putting this together now. Is Amanda Bynes the leader of the anti-blue devils?

Penn: She is. Yes. And she plays it brilliantly.

TeenHollywood: And what do you and the other students think about her character?

Penn: You know what’s so great about her character actually is that initially you think that she’s sort of just a bitch, frankly. Just a very conservative, uptight, prude young girl, but you realize later that those are her actual values and she has a moment of truth with Olive.

While she’s initially sort of the villain, you really do see that she has a heart. And that she really just loves God, and what’s wrong with that? (laughs)

TeenHollywood: Back to your crazy get up... when you first read this and got to the part where you have to dress up in a woodchuck suit... you didn't have any reservations?

Penn: When I read the script, I wasn’t sure I wanted to play high school. I knew the character’s name was Todd. When I read the script, the first description of Woodchuck Todd, it says, ‘a muscular kid painted in blue body paint comes out dressed as a blue devil’ and I was like, ‘Man, I want to do that.’ Then they mentioned the woodchuck and I realized, ‘Oh, that’s the same character.’ So I was actually sold. It’s a fun, ridiculous thing to do. It’s absolutely absurd and it looks…absolutely absurd.

TeenHollywood: So, do you feel manly in that furry suit?

Penn: Um, you know, I felt manly until I started doing the dances. And then I realized I had a cape on and tights. (laughs) So it’s a mixture of supreme sexuality and just complete.....

TeenHollywood: Furry animalness?

Penn: (laughs) Yeah. It takes a man to pull off a sparkly cape.

TeenHollywood: And a blue tail! What’s different about this movie than other teen comedies...besides the woodchuck?

Penn: I would say that first off it’s got a female lead. It’s got a series of female leads. And while it’s being provocative, the way that a lot of teen comedies are lately, it actually has heart. But that doesn’t mean that it’s too safe. At the moment it has an R rating and it seems like it’s going to stick. It really depends on that realness to be a good comedy.

At the moment, what we’re making I think is a pretty accurate portrayal of teenagers, just the way they talk, the way they are, their sex lives. In a way, we have more freedom than for instance on television with Gossip Girl. When I read it, it just was very different. First of all it is a quasi-adaptation of The Scarlet Letter, which is a really interesting take on the young female heroine.

TeenHollywood: We're asking everyone. Did you have a regular high school experience?

Penn: I didn’t actually. I graduated early, when I was 13.

TeenHollywood: Wow. You are some kind of whiz kid!

Penn: It sounds much more impressive than it is. And I started taking community college courses when I was, like, 14. So, from 14 to 17, I was going to Santa Monica College.

TeenHollywood: So does that very youthful experience mean you can't relate to a high school experience like we're seeing today?

Penn: No, everybody can. Being a teenager is universal. It’s not just high school.

And, he's called back to set and we watch Emma Stone, in her provocative bustier outfit, pop out of a cake while the band plays a sexy pop number. She's dancin', she's singin' and vamping it up, evidently all for the love of woodchuck Penn (and some bigtime revenge?) Emma joins us...

TeenHollywood: Wow, girl, that was pretty awesome. How much rehearsal and practice time went into this scene?

Emma: We did about three dance rehearsals and yesterday we had a solid six hour rehearsal with the pom pom team and the band and the cheerleaders and kind of rehearsed with them. It’s so funny because the pom team and cheerleaders and everybody are the actual teams from this high school which is actually so cool. They’re great.

TeenHollywood: That's cool.  How do you feel about today’s costume? It's pretty hot-looking.

Emma: I feel 100% silly. I’m just trying to act confident. Otherwise I feel rather silly. I kind of like the 'Moulin Rouge' influence.

TeenHollywood: Is this the first time you’ve danced and sang in a movie? I know you played the guitar in The Rocker.

Stone: Yeah I sang, but that wasn’t my voice on the soundtrack though. In House Bunny I rapped and danced a little bit at the end. This is by far the craziest thing in a movie, I've done so far.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a background in singing and dancing? Did you train for it?

Emma: I did. I did musical theatre and I took dance lessons for 10 years. I sang for eight years, but that was all a long time ago. I’m so sore right now and I’m so out of shape. It’s just depressing. I’ve been squatting in that wheel barrel and I’m like, “Ow, ow, ow.” It’s horrible. I used to be able to move.

I’m already kind of embarrassed enough that I have to parade around in this and dance in front of all of my peers so I was like if we could just not use my voice on playback that would be great. Just to take that concern off of hearing my voice over and over because there’s a reason I’m not recording an album.

TeenHollywood: How nervous were you for this scene?

Emma: I haven’t had a minute to think in eight months. It’s been like I knew it was going to happen. It’s been fun because I do have that background in musical theatre and I don’t really get a chance to do this at all.

I figure Olive doesn’t have to be that great at it because she’s not a singing/dancing girl. She’s just doing this as a fun cap on this whole rumor she’s starting. I know I don’t have to look incredible and dance incredible. I know that it just has to be a regular girl doing this.

TeenHollywood: It looks like it would be so much fun.

Emma: Oh it definitely is. You’re dancing around in a boa. I never thought I’d get a chance to do that. It’s not too shabby.

TeenHollywood: When did you first read the script and what was it about the story you really liked?

Emma: I read it almost a year ago way before Screen Gems had gotten it. I feel in love with it pretty much immediately. The way it’s written is just so wonderful and the dialogue is great. It’s very rare to find a comedy that’s really genuinely  funny with a character that I would genuinely want to play and spend two months working on. The writer is just so smart and hilarious. It was very natural thing to want to do immediately I think.

TeenHollywood: Is this close to Superbad humor-wise?

Emma: I would probably say that the feel of it, this is the most like Superbad of any of the movies I’ve done so far but it’s not comparable at all. It’s an R rated comedy that has to do with a subject matter that is adult, but dealing with it in high school.

TeenHollywood: What was it about the character that made you want to be Olive?

Emma: When I read it, it was strange. It sounds like a horrible thing to say but I don’t mean it in any egocentric way generally, but when I read it, I was like I can’t really imagine not playing Olive and how sad I would feel if someone else were to play Olive. I fell in love with her.

TeenHollywood: Did you identify with her a lot?

Emma: Her sense of humor and the way she talks. She can be relatively obnoxious as a girl and I can be much of the time. She’s a good person at heart. I liked her whole reason for doing this was just because she didn’t have anything to lose and why not go with this rumor and see what happens.

It ends up not turning out very well at all, but she’s a confident chick. She’s popping out of a wheel barrow in a Burlesque costume. I admire her strength a lot.

TeenHollywood: So why does Amanda Bynes’ character really have it in for you?

Emma: She’s a very Christian girl at school who is the head of the cavalcade of girls and boys that believe in purity. I am dressed like this and acting as ridiculous as I can just to shock her really. It’s kinda like the puritans against the liberals and I’m very liberal. I’m not doing any of the things that people are saying I’m doing, but I decide 'why not just go with it and play with this rumor?' and it just makes her livid.

TeenHollywood: Can you talk about working with Penn?

Emma: Oh he’s great. He’s been so much fun. He’s doing a perfect job of Woodchuck Todd because he’s committing to this hardcore. He’s in blue paint and a woodchuck costume. He’s got such a sweetness about him. It’s great.

TeenHollywood: You get close to him so how do you not get the blue paint on you?

Emma: I don’t know. It’s just not coming off of him. I’m afraid for later when he has to take it off. I don’t know how he’s going to wash it off. I’m sure this has been tested somewhere in a science trial.

TeenHollywood: What was your high school experience like?

Emma: I was only in high school for a couple of months. I went to an all girls Catholic high school and then I decided to leave and move to L.A. to do this which I can’t believe, I'm here now.  That was 5 ½ years ago.

TeenHollywood: So can you relate to girls that age with the pressures you’re faced with whether you’re in high school or not?

Emma: Absolutely. I think that’s what I liked about Olive so much to bring it back to that. She rises above it and a lot of senses and realizes this is just temporary and this is high school and everyone will forget this and everyone will move on and what can she do to have as much fun to get through it as she can. It kinda bites her in the a**, but it’s also really funny.  How rare is it that somebody is like, “Oh you’re a slut,” and you’re like, “Okay.” She’s wearing corsets and she really goes for it.

TeenHollywood: So she's going with this bad rumor about her?

Emma: Yeah, well the rumor gets a little out of control. She starts making money off it—it’s a whole thing. People definitely believe the rumors. The same amount of people who believe the rumors, there’s an equal amount of people that know this is not true. The people who really know Olive well know this isn’t true, but it’s interesting to see how some of her closest friends react to her in that kind of circumstance. It’s a fun story.

TeenHollywood: You are the female lead here. This movie is on your shoulders basically. Is this the first time?

Emma: Yeah. It’s been wild. It’s been crazy. It feel different than I thought it might. I never thought in a million years that that would ever be the case. It’s wild. This is my third movie in a row so I’ve been working for eight months. It’s kinda natural.

It’s just like 'oh another set' and you’re working and you kinda forget that you’re here all day every day. I don’t really think about it like that. I just think about getting my job done. We’ll see how it turns out.

TeenHollywood: It looks hilarious so far!