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Tagging along Jeremy Renner, Isla Fisher and Ed Helms


Los Angeles — You seldom see action-drama actor Jeremy Renner in a comedy so it was refreshing to see him join his colleagues Isla Fisher and Ed Helms in a comedy film, “Tag.”

Based on a true story that was published in “The Wall Street Journal” about a group of five grown-up men who spend one month a year to play the game of tag, the movie features aside from Jeremy, Ed and Isla, Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson and Hannibal Buress.

A directorial debut of Jeff Tomsic, the movie features Jeremy as Jerry Pierce, Ed as Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy and Isla as Anna Malloy, Hogan’s wife.

We caught up with Jeremy, 47, Ed, 44 and Isla, 42 at a Beverly Hills Hotel one afternoon and enjoyed chatting with them. Below are excerpts of our separate conversations with the gang:

Jeremy Renner

 

Jeremy Renner. Photo: Janet Susan R. Nepales
Jeremy Renner. Photo: Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

On his true group of friends in real life:

They are called “The Avengers.” In high school, I got a really core group of friends who are really, really tight, and because of proxy, my busy life of moving on over the years, I don’t have the time to spend on a game that people do. 

But here in LA, there are 45 people that I know who are strong and solid.  We did softball and that type of stuff and more typical types of activities that friends might do.  But yeah, I am a very loyal friend and I have lots of loyal friends, but nothing like this group in the movie. 

Because that is what also makes this movie special: these guys have been doing it since they were nine or ten and they still do it in their 50s. It’s really pretty amazing. I love that and admire it.

On the game Tag:

The game is only a way of an expression. If you play the game Tag, I think the action of doing this just means like I am 14 and so are you and I love you and let’s keep going. You are smiling because you have got to tag me.  And just what that does is just an act of love ultimately.

I think that is a beautiful thing and whether the game is played, I could give two rats about it.  But I do love the idea that it’s a celebration of the youthful spirit in the mind of a five-year-old.

After that, it starts to degrade and the fear and all this other stuff. We get busy with these jobs and all these things and fight that beautiful spirit that we all have or still try to recapture, which is more common now than living in that free spiritedness.  So yeah, let it catch fire. Let us all celebrate the power of that free spirit and that free mind that we all have, because a lot of things get in the way of that doesn’t it?

 

Photo: IMDB
Photo: IMDB

On being competitive with his buddies:

Competitiveness has always been in my life, sometimes in unhealthy ways, but mostly in healthy ways. Sport, especially a team sport, it was only unhealthy as a young man in solo sports, or playing tennis or bowling, or that. If you have a more mature deal with the competition because you are your only competition, that is tough to deal with. Competition is a healthy, lovely thing. We grow from it and it makes you better. It defines you and that is all that matters.

On the kind of games he plays with his five-year-old daughter Ava Berlin:

Tag, we play that. We played that yesterday. We do it in different variations and this is a great room for this, because Tag back in New Zealand is called Tiggy. There is a game for it in every country, even Dubai. It’s like oh we have got this game that we play, and it’s the same thing.  But it’s different variations. We also play “what time is it Mr. Wolfe, it’s lunchtime.”  And then we chase each other around.

On being a good loser:

Yeah, at this point at my age, I don’t care. But I will give it a go. I am only really competitive only with myself, for me. I don’t care about a board game or this or that. It’s something about me, like breaking my arms in this movie. That was a challenge to myself, a competitiveness to myself and my body to heal fast and to be counted for this movie. and “Avengers” was happening after that. So I was really competitive with myself to overcome the obstacles of both these guys. So that is where I am very, very competitive, with me, and me only.

On fatherhood bringing out his inner child:

Yeah. I have got to read the article when I got the script and I had more information and home videos and stuff, which were even more interesting of how real these guys played this game. I can’t believe it. It’s awesome. It also got me very excited. I didn’t care for a bunch of old men playing tag, this was ridiculous. But how committed they are to it, that really got me.

And inner child is a lot easier for me to express when you have a little one.  I have always been pretty good about playing make believe for a living right, so I am pretty good to try to stay close to my inner spirit.  But with a child, it’s like having a partner and being a fool. She makes me more of a fool and she loves me for it.

Isla Fisher

 

Isla Fisher. Photo: Janet Susan R. Nepales
Isla Fisher. Photo: Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

On getting old when you stop playing:

I think that’s the attraction of acting actually because we as actors get to play dress up, put on silly voices and have the emotional landscape of totally different people and just tell stories which is something we do as kids. Then if you’re lucky enough you get to continue on doing it as a quote grown-up.

So yeah, I think it is really important to stay in touch with your inner child and find the things that bring you joy because then you live longer. It’s friendship too, it elongates your life. They’ve done lots of studies on people who live over the age of 100 and they very often have very solid friendships because friendship is so important.

On her hubby comedian Sacha Baron Cohen:

He’s so funny. I feel so lucky too. I was just saying the other day that I’ve worked with so many amazing comedians even on this film. I have worked with Owen Wilson, Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper and Zac Galifianakis but nothing was funnier than working with my husband on “Grimsby”. All of his lines just made me laugh, that character really made me laugh.

On whether she is competitive with her husband:

Yes, I am competitive … about baking. Once a year for our school, you present a cake and I take it quite seriously. I like to get in the top five which is ambitious given my skillset. But I’m more competitive with myself particularly when it comes to comedy. I like in a scene to ensure that my character scores, if it’s appropriate to the story. There’s the real estate for it.

When I was creating Anna, I just had this vision that just popped into my head of Joe Pesci from the “Goodfellas” and I thought, that’s it, that’s who I’ve got to play, that’s a unique female comedy character. It fits in this world, it’s intense and will complement Ed Helms’ character who’s quite earnest and a good guy but they have the passionate side of their marriage.

She will die for him. She’ll do anything for her husband. She spends the whole movie invested in his game because he loves it and they’re his friends. And so I thought it was just a really charming character and an opportunity really to play a lot of colors which is what you’re looking for as an actor. You’re looking for moments of transition. You’re looking for ways to reveal sides to someone that is surprising, the contra mask of the character.

 

 

Happy 16th anniversary to my normal, everyday hubby. I love you ??

A post shared by Isla Fisher (@islafisher) on

 

On exercise:

I’m going to say something controversial. I’m not exercising at all at the moment and I’ve never felt better. I was in a pattern of going to Barry’s Bootcamp and doing hot yoga and I just suddenly just thought no this is exhausting. And so now I’m not doing anything, and I feel much better. But by the time this article comes out I might be back in. It’s like with exercise and me, it depends on what’s going on in my life and whether I can fit it in. It’s hard to stay motivated and inspired looking at yourself in lycra over the age of 40.

On being a best-selling children’s book author:

You know what? Writing has been such a wonderful outlet. I’m not a real writer. I don’t do it for a craft. So it takes a little more work than it would for a real writer. But I really enjoy being able to do something on my own terms. I can write in the carpool lane, on my Dictaphone on my iPhone. I can write at the coffee shop or during nap. It really fitted into the lifestyle of having a young family. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m so passionate about child literacy. I think it’s so important to get kids educated.

On juggling motherhood and career:

I don’t feel like I’m particularly good at juggling. I might give off that impression because I’ve had my hair and make-up done and I’m in an ice blue Smyths suit but in reality, I feel like the balls are quite often being dropped. I’ve just learned to try to enjoy every moment because it’s so fleeting. [I] not try to be perfect because it’s the message in my “Marge in Charge” books — if you try to be perfect you will miss out on all the fun.

Ed Helms

 

Ed Helms. Photo: Janet Susan R. Nepales
Ed Helms. Photo: Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

On his game of expertise as a kid:

I rode BMX bikes when I was a kid and skateboards and stuff and that is what I was pretty good at.  I kind of feel like “Stranger Things” was my childhood, because they filmed that in Atlanta and it’s the time period of my childhood, little kids riding around on bikes, that was me.

On being competitive:

Not really. I am competitive about certain things. I can be competitive with myself.  I think on a comedy set, people can be very competitive in a good way about trying to make each other laugh and see who can make each other break during takes. But I am pretty laid back.

On music:

Music is a huge one for me. I am a musician and listening to music from a certain time period will instantly transport. In fact, the soundtrack to this movie does that, so many of the songs in the movie are from our childhood so that part is really fun.

I also play music with friends whom I have known for 30 years.  So in a way, music is like my tag, because some of my best friends are the guys that I still meet up with and play music with.  In that way, it’s a very strong connection to the past for me.

I play some piano, which I did in “The Hangover,” and I play a lot of guitar and banjo actually.  I think that all creative pursuits help facilitate other creative pursuits, whether you are a painter or a musician, dancer, they all fire the same neurons or similar neurons.  So, I see it just like acting. I feel like all creative pursuits help each other. — LA, GMA News

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