Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

‘I never said hey girl’

Ryan Gosling discussed his Internet infamy, saying he had never uttered the phrase, “Hey girl,” which has made him a viral phenomenon. “I understand if you’re in a movie and you say something like ‘I’ll be back,’ you own that. But I never said it,” Gosling said while giggling with Mexican film-maker Guillermo Del Toro at a panel conversation at the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival covering film, music and technology in Austin, Texas.

Ryan Gosling discussed his Internet infamy, saying he had never uttered the phrase, “Hey girl,” which has made him a viral phenomenon. “I understand if you’re in a movie and you say something like ‘I’ll be back,’ you own that. But I never said it,” Gosling said while giggling with Mexican film-maker Guillermo Del Toro at a panel conversation at the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival covering film, music and technology in Austin, Texas.

He was there to promote his directorial debut, Lost River, but Del Toro threw in cheeky references to the infatuation with Gosling that has made him an online celebrity, such as his love for Disneyland, where he has been photographed on dates, riding roller coasters. On the Internet, photos of Gosling are captioned with quirky, romantic phrases beginning with “Hey girl,” one of the earliest memes to emerge in the social networking age. The 34-year-old star responded by blushing and hiding his face in embarrassment, but when Del Toro teased him for finally saying “hey girl” while telling a story about how he never said the phrase, Gosling dropped the mic — joking that he was done.

Lost River sees Gosling, known for films such as The Notebook and Crazy Stupid Love, step behind the camera for a script he penned: A surreal, dark fairy tale set in Detroit, inspired by his childhood imaginations of America while growing up in Canada. Much of the conversation was about the actor’s process in writing and directing, and he candidly discussed working with a four-year-old actor who did not like the camera.

“When he saw the camera, he went the other way, so we had to approach him like nature photographers,” Gosling said. “You do more acting as a director than you do as an actor, because you act confident. When everything’s going south, you’re always acting like it’s not a problem.”

“Not a problem” is something that Oscar-winning actress Sally Field could have said about being in Hello, My Name Is Doris, a dramedy from director Michael Showalter that will certainly be one of the big discoveries out of this year’s festival. Field plays the titular character, a 60-something hoarder from Staten Island who develops a crush — that escalates into an obsession — on her much younger co-worker (played by Max Greenfield). The movie is based on a 2011 short story by the script’s co-writer Laura Terruso, called Doris & The Intern. “Certainly I’ve never read anything as unique as this character,” Field said at an audience Q&A session following the screening, where she received a standing ovation. “You get to a certain point, after being in the business for a long time, you read the same thing over and over again. There’s nothing that blows your skirt off. This blew my skirt way up.”

Showalter infused Hello, My Name Is Doris with the same irreverent sensibility as the 2001 cult favourite Wet Hot American Summer, which he co-wrote. Field was struck by how the story played with so many different genres. “We are very dramatic sometimes and then literally off the charts screwball comedy,” Field said. “It’s very hard to mix those together and have it be the same film.”

It’s also the first time in almost two decades that Field, who’s 68, has anchored a theatrical film. A common lament in Hollywood is how weak the roles for actresses are, but 2015 may be an exception to that rule. There are already almost enough strong performances to pack next year’s Oscars, including Sundance favourites Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Blythe Danner (I’ll See You In My Dreams) and Lily Tomlin (Grandma), with Field now joining their company.

To get into Doris’ skin, Field turned to a closet of vintage sweaters and skirts (“They were all painful beyond your wildest dreams — everything itches and hurts”) and Showalter even persuaded her to wear a neon outfit in a concert scene (which she initially refused). She conceded that he was right when she heard the roaring laughter at the premiere.

Meanwhile, laughter was what Steve and Nancy Carell brought with their comedy Angie Tribeca, which premiered on Saturday as part of the Episodic screening category for SXSW Film (launched last year to premiere new television series). The comedy fits the bill of the festival’s edgy and unique feature material.

Angie Tribeca is a satirical take on police procedurals from the Carells and stars Parks & Recreation alum Rashida Jones as the title character, a 10-year veteran of the elite RHCU (Really Heinous Crimes Unit).

“We had a great time putting this together and shooting this,” Steve said. The duo presented episode two to an audience before starting the panel, which featured Jones, Hayes MacArthur (who plays Jones’ detective partner) and showrunner Ira Ungerleider. The project also marks a reunion of sorts between “ex-Office workers” Jones and Steve, who sent the actress an email with an offer for the part.

“I read it and was like, there’s no chance I’m not doing this,” Jones said.

“I hadn’t seen anything like this and it’s really, really stupid,” Steve said when asked how the idea for the slapstick sitcom, in the vein of 1980s shows such as Airplane!, came about. “Any heart that comes out is sort of inadvertent. We just wanted something that was irreverent and silly and made us laugh.”

The series also features an impressive slew of guest stars: Lisa Kudrow and Gary Cole appear in the pilot, while Parks & Recreations’ Adam Scott and James Franco stop by in episode two. Bill Murray will also guest in the first season.

“None of them wanted to do it,” Steve joked, while Nancy gave props to Jones, saying that her A-list friend base has helped the show. “Rashida knows every person in the world.”

Despite the hurdles of tackling the unique comedy, Jones was thrilled that they have almost wrapped up their first season. “We’re shooting it, while TV still exists, so that’s good.” AGENCIES

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.