Sara Paxton talks Superhero movie with Buzznet

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Sara Paxton stars opposite Drake Bell in the upcoming spoof “Superhero Movie.” The plot goes like this: a radioactive dragonfly bites high school kid Rick Ricker (Drake Bell) and he develops new abilities. He puts these powers to good use, transforming himself into the spandex-wearing, crime crusader known as”The Dragonfly.” Buzznet talked to Sara about her role, what she considers comedic gold, and what it’s like getting smoochy with co-star.

Buzznet: This movie looks amazing. Are you excited for it to come out?

Sara Paxton: Yeah, I am. I’m not going to be there for the premiere, I’m going to South Africa in a couple of days so I’m pretty bummed. I wish I could be there for all that. For vacation or for work?

I’m going for work. I’m going to be starting another movie, it’s called Last House on the Left and it’s a scary movie.Do you have to get shots to go to South Africa?

Yeah, I’m getting my shots Monday. I’m really nervous about that. I’m going to get 5 shots in the butt.

Is that the most exotic place you’ve ever traveled?

Definitely. 100%. Supposedly zebras run around like deer.

You should pick up the accent. It’s beautiful.

I know, supposedly it’s the most difficult accent to copy because it’s Dutch and English and French. It’s like everything all mushed into one.

What was your favorite scene to film in Superhero Movie? Did you get to do any stunt work?

I did. Not as much as [co-star] Drake [Bell], but we did some reshoots and they added in this scene where I fall off a building and he jumps over and rescues me and we fly away, so that was my big stunt moment. I had to wear this harness over a big poufy prom dress because in the last scene we’re all dressed up and so I’m in this giant poufy prom dress hanging 50 feet in the air.It’s a comedy, but is it your type of humor? What’s your favorite comedy movie or what makes you laugh the most?

I haven’t seen the movie but it looked hilarious while we were filming it and I am a fan of Airplane and The Naked Gun. But I have to say that I love Goldie Hawn, she’s hilarious. I love all her movies, and my favorite movie of all time is Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe.

What’s a role that you’ve always wanted to play or a character that you haven’t had a chance to play yet?

I never really get to play the heroine. I guess in Aquamarine I did. That was my one moment of playing the regular nice girl, so I would really like to play the regular nice girl more. That would be really fun for me.

Have there been any movies that you’ve seen recently that you thought to yourself “I’d really love that role”?

I’ve seen a lot of movies because of the Oscars that have really inspired me, and that I felt “Omigosh, I wish I could be in a movie that could have that great a script and actors and work with that great a director”. I really loved Into The Wild and No Country for Old Men and I really really want to see Atonement. I wish that someday I could do something like that.

Do you think growing up in LA influenced your career choice? Do you think you could be doing anything else if not acting or singing?

It’s hard to say because I’ve lived in LA my entire life. I definitely think that living in LA is an advantage. Some people live in Texas and they want to become actors and they have to uproot their family to bring them to LA and I’m lucky that I don’t have to do that. I started acting when I was 6 but it was just like an after-school activity for me. When I was growing up I really wanted to be a veterinarian, so I was studying really hard to be a veterinarian and one of my major goals was I was going to quit acting and work with animals. When I was 15 or 16 and I just realized that I really wanted to do acting.

You got to work with animals in Darcy’s Wild Life, right?

Yeah, and that’s why I loved doing it so much because that whole time I was doing the two things I loved at once. I love animals and I love acting and I get to both every day. Every single day we’d come to this beautiful farm and we never ran out of things to do. Me and the cast, we would go fishing in the pond on the set, and everythingwas just real … and I loved it.

Did you ever have to work with any scary animals when you filmed that show?

Yes. <laughs> I love animals but the big ones are scary because they’re unpredictable. I had to milk a cow and they said “Be careful, cows sometimes kick” and I said “Well, that’s great; I want to be kicked in the face by a cow”. And I’m a little bit traumatized by horses. I love horses – if I were a veterinarian I would suck it up and give a shot to a horse, but I saw a guy get kicked in the head once by a horse when I was little and I don’t think I’ve ever been the same.

You’re developing your musical career – are you releasing a CD this year?I don’t know. I kind of released an album 3 or 4 years ago when I was doing Darcy’s Wild Life and I think the songs are still on iTunes, but that was a while ago. Just recently I’ve been inspired to get back into music, but I’ve been doing it on my own. I decided I wanted to have more creative control and so right now I’ve been writing the songs and I meet with a music producer once in a while who brings me some tracks. If I like one I will go home and write words to the track and come back and record. It’s kind of a long process because it’s a lot quicker if somebody gives me 5 songs and tells me to do the one I like. It’s not that I won’t do that for some of the songs, but for right now I’ve just been writing and I didn’t realize it takes so long to be creative like that. So I’ll see what happens. Now that I’m leaving it has to be put on a standstill. I’ve only written 3 songs so hopefully I can find inspiration with the zebras in South Africa.Who are your musical influences?

I know everyone says this, but I really do listen to everything. When people go through my iPod they tell me I’m so random. When I was growing up I was a huge classic rock fan. From when I was born to 10 years old all I listened to was The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and I’ve been to 8 Stones concerts since I was a little kid. But I also like rap and hip-hop. I’m obsessed with Gwen Stefani and No Doubt. I want there to be a little hint of Gwen sounds in what I’m doing right now.

What’s your favorite song on your iPod right now?

I go into iTunes and I’ll get kind of bored of what I currently have so I search on ITunes for something I’ve never heard of before. So right now, everyone thinks I’m weird because this is a famous band and I’ve never heard of them, but I like their songs. Buckcherry – they have that song “Sorry” that I keep listening to that song on my iPod.

I was going to ask if you’re planning on going to any concerts or shows but I guess you’ll be in South Africa.

I know. I wanted to go the Kanye concert with my friends but they’re going without me.

The whole Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus phenomenon has really blown up lately. You guys aren’t that far apart in age. Would you want to live like that?

I don’t know it’s hard to say. She’s really talented and it’s unbelievable how her career has blown up. She’s the number one artist in the country. I think that as long as it’s not a case of too much too soon and she has a good head on her shoulders then good for her. I personally am happy I got to have a pretty normal childhood. I think that if I was 15 and someone said “Would you like to be the number one artist in the US”, I probably wouldn’t object.

If you could put together your own cast to star in a movie with, which actors and actresses would you pick?

I really want to work with Goldie Hawn, Reese Witherspoon, Rachel McAdams. I always wanted to work with Heath Ledger, so that’s sad [that he died]. I was obsessed with Heath my whole life. What’s the most extravagant thing you’ve ever bought for yourself?

I don’t know – I never really buy anything on a whim. I guess my car and I just bought a condo.Do you have any summer plans yet?I definitely want to take a vacation – go to New York maybe. I’ve only really been to NY on business, never had the free time to go shop and I’d love to do that. I also go to Hawaii with my family every year so that’s a guarantee.

Is there anything else you want to tell us about Superhero Movie?

It comes out March 28th and it’s really funny. I’ve seen a little bit of it and was dying laughing while I was filming it.

Is there one particular thing that happened on the set with Drake that really stands out to you?

We were doing this scene and his aunt was supposed to be sleeping in the background. We’re about to kiss and have this romantic moment, and she starts farting really loudly and can’t stop. We’re still trying to kiss but it’s really distracting and we’re trying to ignore it. Then the director asked me to put 2 tampons up my nose in each nostril and Drake didn’t know I was going to do it. I turned around and he started dying laughing. The look on his face – I’ll never forget it.

Did you guys actually kiss in the movie?

Yeah, a lot. Is it your first time having to do an onscreen kiss?

No, no.

What’s that like? Is it weird to have to kiss somebody and pretend like you’re into it, and there’s 50 people watching you?

I just try not to worry about everyone else and just do it, because if you do it right the first time, you don’t have to keep doing it. It’s very awkward because everyone’s watching and Drake’s girlfriend was watching me, and I’m all like “Don’t worry”. But she was cool about it and I was cool about it. I wasn’t trying to steal her man.

Who else would you want to onscreen kiss?

Either Orlando Bloom or Jake Gyllenhaal. But Orlando has to wear the Lord of the Rings wig while he’s doing it. That’s the only way I’ll make out with him.