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MEDIA: What do you both think of horror movies? Are you fans of the genre?
SIMON: I'm more of a fan of comedy, or even this genre of spoofing movies--from Mel Brooks to all of David Zucker's movies. So I am a fan of what we did more than horror movies.
ASHLEY: And I have always been really scared of scary movies, just because...You know, I live by myself, and then seeing something and having a big imagination, I'm thinking [about it] in the middle of the night... [laughs] So I've never been really into them. But it's funny because doing this movie has made me a lot [less scared]. Now I like them. Now I'll go watch Mama, because then I see things and I'm like, "Oh my God, that's so spoof-able." Because sometimes it's just so ridiculous.
Ashley, when you filmed the scene in which your character has sex with a microwave, were you thinking, "This is gold!"?
ASHLEY: [laughs] Ummm...No. [laughs] That was part of the re-shoots, and I had already humped a potted plant [earlier]. And that was nerve-racking, [but] there was only, like, one camera guy and they kept it really quiet, and so it was okay. But when I got to [the point] with the chair and the microwave, I was just like, "Oh, I've got this! It's fine that everybody's watching." But I do recall having the hardwood chair hitting me from behind, and I looked [back], and I was all into it, and it's then I was just like, "I am getting slammed by a chair right now!" [laughs] And I started hysterically laughing, because it's one of those moments that you never think you'd be in that position.
SIMON: Who was slamming the chair?
ASHLEY: The prop guy! And they were like, "Do it harder!" And I'm like, "It's hardwood...It hurts!" [laughs] I wish there was a camera on the prop guy who was probably, like, jamming it behind me! It just was so wrong, and [in] so many ways. [laughs]
We applaud you for doing it...
ASHLEY: Thank you.
[jokes] Were things awkward between you and the prop guy after that?
ASHLEY: [laughs] I couldn't look him in the eye!
 
Do you get self-conscious shooting that kind of comedy?
ASHLEY: No...As a comedian, I just feel like I like to go for things, and go for the joke, and do it, and I'm not thinking about what I look like or what expression I'm making. You kind of have to be free as a comedian and just not take yourself too seriously. So every single time they were like, "Yeah, so now he's going to hit you from behind and you're going to land in a toilet," I'm like, "Okay, cool. Just make sure it's [only] water." [laughs] So I was always up for everything.
Speaking of being up for everything, your co-star Erica Ash had her fingers in your mouth a lot...
ASHLEY: You know, it was funny...I had been through a lot through this production, and I had lost my voice for three days, and so the whole ending pretty much was ADR because I didn't even have a voice. And so I had a sinus infection, and I felt like, "Props to you for sticking your finger in my mouth." [laughs] But there was a cut scene where Heather Locklear also sticks her finger in my mouth, so I was not a virgin anymore with the finger in the mouth. [Erica] was all over the place. It got me, though, whenever [they asked for something like], "Okay, now put your finger up her nose." And I was like, "This is just gross!" Because then she put it back in my mouth! I'm like, "Stop it, no!" [laughs] You know, they could keep going with that stuff, and you're like, "What are you doing behind those cameras?"
Simon, did you have any equally embarrassing or awkward moments?
SIMON: I didn't really have anything that was too [outrageous], no. Even [Ashley] and I...She had more, like, love scenes with objects and with Erica Ash. [laughs] Like all we ever did was just lay in bed next to each other...So I didn't have anything. She had more of the erotic kind of stuff going on, and my stuff was just falling down a lot, which I love doing. It's fun to get in those fighting scenes with the housekeeper--you know, just falling down all over the place. I love that. It was cool because in this movie, since we got to shoot like Paranormal Activity, it was like a silent film in certain parts where it sped up, so it looks like an old Charlie Chaplin movie or something. The comedy comes from [the goofy physicality]...So that was cool. Nothing too intimidating...It was fine.
Given the extensive cast in this film, were there actors you wanted to work with but didn't get an opportunity to?
SIMON: Chris Elliott, who got edited out. I went down to see him work at two in the morning, and I got out of bed and drove 30 minutes across Atlanta to go see him work. And to me, he's just, like, the best...But I never got to meet him or work with him...He played a newscaster, and just for whatever reason, so much of this stuff got cut. And I can't understand how it was. It was hysterical. But yeah, that didn't make it. But he's just, to me, a fearless comedian/actor.
Ashley, your character is a ballerina, but she doesn't do much dancing...
ASHLEY: Oh yeah, that got cut...It was like a whole dance sequence! We trained for a month, and then they just cut it right out! [laughs] You know, with this type of movie, you gotta roll with it...At the end, we spoofed Mama more, and they just kind of cut more Black Swan stuff.
Did you have to pay particular attention to your diet for those Black Swan scenes? You enjoy the junk food, right?
ASHLEY: Oh, yeah...I mean, I'm not really into "junk food"...I love, like, carbs. So unless I have a scene coming up where I'm not [in it] a lot, I definitely will watch what I eat, limit the carbs. But I work out. And I eat whatever I like. [laughs] I like pizza, and I like ribs. [laughs] I just feel like living a healthy lifestyle is, you know, just like working out...
In parodying her character from Mama, do you think you picked up a lot of Jessica Chastain's mannerisms? Or was it all just the black wig?
ASHLEY: You know, with each movie that we spoofed, I'd really watch...Like Natalie Portman, her reactions in Black Swan...The cool part is it all blends pretty well together. Like how people are in Paranormal where it's like, "What do you hear? That's so weird..." And how Natalie Portman was in Black Swan--she always felt like somebody was after her. So it kind of worked all together. But with Jessica Chastain...Yeah, the wig and the whole outfit helped me get into it. I definitely became bad-ass when I put the wig on, and I was not really nice to the kids. [laughs] But then I'd take it off, I was super nice! Like, I love kids! And so everybody would be like, "Ashley...Whenever she puts that wig on, she becomes a different person."
In one of the outtakes, you are totally unable to keep a straight face as Molly Shannon struggles with elbow crutches. Was that a typical problem on this set? And are we all going to hell for laughing at a character like that?
ASHLEY: Oh, I know, right? [laughs, pauses, then keeps laughing] This is so funny...Whenever I think of Molly Shannon, I just laugh so hard. Yeah, it was definitely a reoccurring problem. I tried not to, because, you know, a good actress doesn't break character, and I was trying not to break character. But she's just so funny! I mean, she's just hilarious to be with. And so anything that she does makes me laugh.
SIMON: And Katt Williams had you busting up.
ASHLEY: Katt Williams, oh my gosh!
SIMON: Those two were the hardest to contain.
ASHLEY: I know. But I think for me, if I am laughing, sometimes they'll be like, "Okay, just pick it up [at an earlier point in the scene]"--you know, they won't cut. [And] I will start laughing again and keep laughing. It's kind of sh*t after that--like, you have to cut it. It's not going to go anywhere good. [laughs] I'll just keep laughing. But yeah, that was definitely the hardest part about this movie.
What do fans tend to recognize you from the most these days?
ASHLEY: You know, I always feel like it's going to be High School Musical, and sometimes it is, but a lot of it [is something else]. I was at [the Nickelodeon] Kids' Choice Awards backstage, and Jon Stewart came up to me and was like, "Hey, you know, every single time I hear your voice, I always think I'm busted." [laughs] I do an animation series on Disney Channel called Phineas and Ferb, and so I get that a lot...And it's so funny that I have, like, all these comedians and people that I look up to that love it. So I think that's really cool, because it's just such [a surprise]--like I think it's for something else, but it's Phineas and Ferb!
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