'Neighbors' Roundup - Vulture BTS Pictures & Stories and More Interviews
The Weird Stories From Behind the Scenes of Neighbors
This close-up of Zac Efron's eyes was used in his initial introduction sequence, which Stoller later omitted from the movie: Meant to be intercut with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne getting ready for bed, the scene would have tracked Efron in piecemeal close-ups as he strolls through a party. "You'd see his bicep, his chest, his eyes, his hand running through his hair - and as he walks through the fraternity, you meet the guys through his perspective," explained Stoller. "I ended up having to cut the entire sequence because I realized the point of view of the movie was from Seth and Rose's point of view, and because the audience got party fatigue. We had to cut it so there could be more of a build." Perhaps it was for the best, considering how odd it was for Efron to shoot those objectifying close-ups. "Zac was like, 'This is the dumbest thing I've ever had to do,'" said Stoller, laughing. "I'd say, like, 'Okay Zac, look super-sexy!'"
Many of the party scenes in Neighbors are bathed in colorful lights - Stoller wanted to emulate the trippy, neon-bathed atmosphere of Gaspar Noé's decadent drug movie Enter the Void - and though that looks cool onscreen, it can take a toll on set. "The green light was fine, actually ... the black light party was the problem," Stoller told us. "Black light can hurt your eyes, so we all had to wear these crazy goggles for the black-light shoot, which lasted around two or three days. I remember the whole crew was wearing these goggles, and after the first day, Seth was like, 'Wait a minute. Why don't I have a pair?'"
Here's another moment captured while shooting that cut sequence, but fear not: The final film still includes plenty of Efron beefcake. "I've worked with a lot of pretty people," said Stoller, "and he's one of the few people I've worked with where I would go up to him and give him a note and I would get so lost in his eyes that I would forget the note I was going to give him. He's just so good-looking that it's kind of intense." Did the presence of Efron and the equally dreamy Dave Franco have Stoller and the other crew members questioning their heterosexual bona fides? "I mean, come on: At the end of the day, we're all bisexual," laughed Stoller. "A hundred years from now, there's not gonna be gay or straight. There's gonna be everything."
Stoller and Efron are seen here in hysterics while shooting the movie's final fight, and though their expressions appear too big to be believed, "I look so lame in this photo that I think this is a legitimate moment," said Stoller, sheepish. Not that he's above staging an on-set moment for the movie's press kit: "When the photographer is nearby, I like to say, 'Quick, get a photo of me looking into the camera,' because I'm never looking into the camera. Christopher Nolan looks into the camera, but I think most directors don't, so whenever you see a picture of a director looking at the camera, it's fake."
Other (non-Zac) stories at the source.
Complex
ET: Jerrod interviews Seth and Zac
IGN
BlackTree
Malone's Movie Minute
BackstageOL
HipHollywood
Mädchen.de
Can't embed: MTV: Behind the Dildo Fight, FOX 14
This close-up of Zac Efron's eyes was used in his initial introduction sequence, which Stoller later omitted from the movie: Meant to be intercut with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne getting ready for bed, the scene would have tracked Efron in piecemeal close-ups as he strolls through a party. "You'd see his bicep, his chest, his eyes, his hand running through his hair - and as he walks through the fraternity, you meet the guys through his perspective," explained Stoller. "I ended up having to cut the entire sequence because I realized the point of view of the movie was from Seth and Rose's point of view, and because the audience got party fatigue. We had to cut it so there could be more of a build." Perhaps it was for the best, considering how odd it was for Efron to shoot those objectifying close-ups. "Zac was like, 'This is the dumbest thing I've ever had to do,'" said Stoller, laughing. "I'd say, like, 'Okay Zac, look super-sexy!'"
Many of the party scenes in Neighbors are bathed in colorful lights - Stoller wanted to emulate the trippy, neon-bathed atmosphere of Gaspar Noé's decadent drug movie Enter the Void - and though that looks cool onscreen, it can take a toll on set. "The green light was fine, actually ... the black light party was the problem," Stoller told us. "Black light can hurt your eyes, so we all had to wear these crazy goggles for the black-light shoot, which lasted around two or three days. I remember the whole crew was wearing these goggles, and after the first day, Seth was like, 'Wait a minute. Why don't I have a pair?'"
Here's another moment captured while shooting that cut sequence, but fear not: The final film still includes plenty of Efron beefcake. "I've worked with a lot of pretty people," said Stoller, "and he's one of the few people I've worked with where I would go up to him and give him a note and I would get so lost in his eyes that I would forget the note I was going to give him. He's just so good-looking that it's kind of intense." Did the presence of Efron and the equally dreamy Dave Franco have Stoller and the other crew members questioning their heterosexual bona fides? "I mean, come on: At the end of the day, we're all bisexual," laughed Stoller. "A hundred years from now, there's not gonna be gay or straight. There's gonna be everything."
Stoller and Efron are seen here in hysterics while shooting the movie's final fight, and though their expressions appear too big to be believed, "I look so lame in this photo that I think this is a legitimate moment," said Stoller, sheepish. Not that he's above staging an on-set moment for the movie's press kit: "When the photographer is nearby, I like to say, 'Quick, get a photo of me looking into the camera,' because I'm never looking into the camera. Christopher Nolan looks into the camera, but I think most directors don't, so whenever you see a picture of a director looking at the camera, it's fake."
Other (non-Zac) stories at the source.
Complex
Click to viewET: Jerrod interviews Seth and Zac
IGN
BlackTree
Malone's Movie Minute
BackstageOL
HipHollywood
Mädchen.de
Can't embed: MTV: Behind the Dildo Fight, FOX 14