A scene from Crazy, Stupid, Love with Julianne Moore and Jonah Bobo

Updated: I’m giving away a copy of Crazy, Stupid, Love on Blu-Ray/DVD on my review blog this fall. Check out the giveaway!

This week I had the opportunity to join several bloggers from across the country for a 30-minute call with funny man and genuine nice guy Steve Carell in anticipation of his new movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love, in theaters today.

That’s right.

I actually interview people regularly as part of my day job (I’m a special projects editor for a business publishing company), but celebrity interviews are not my usual thing. I was really excited for the chance to sit down via phone and speak with Steve. Yes he’s that kind of first-name guy.

Crazy, Stupid, Love, produced by Carell’s own Carousel Productions,  is a romantic comedy that actually follows several relationships. The film starts with the unraveling of suburban dad Cal’s marriage to high school sweetheart Emily (played by Julianne Moore). Ryan Gosling and his abs of steel take Cal under his wings to transform mild-mannered Cal into a real ladies man who feels as at ease picking up hot chicks as he does picking up a sub sandwich. The movie also follows along as Cal’s 14-year-old son deals with his hormonally-charged infatuation over his 17-year-old babysitter and smooth operator Jacob (Gosling’s character) pursues the most difficult, and likely the smartest, girl he’s ever had as a love interest, Hannah. This summer’s busiest young actress Emma Stone (who plays a serious role in next month’s The Help) plays the role of Hannah.

Steve’s likability comes through the phone and he really does seem like that nice neighborhood dad sporting the mall haircut that you’d see driving his kids to soccer practice in a minivan. During the interview Steve touched on everything from how he and his wife, the equally funny actress Nancy Walls, stay grounded in LA and keep their kids grounded, their penchant for sweats and t-shirts when they get home, his fashion sense, or lack thereof, and parenting.

“What was it about script for Crazy, Stupid, Love that appealed to you?”

“I thought that it was very human and that it had real characters going through interesting life experiences and ultimately I thought that it was all very funny and that’s what I was attracted to. There are a lot  of twists and turns in the movie as well that I did not see coming. If you see the movie, within the first couple of minutes my character finds out that his wife wants a divorce and he jumps out of a car…I think reading that part where he jumps out of the car really peaked my interest because I’d never seen anything like that in a movie and it says so much about that guy that he is unwilling to un-engage with this woman really to the point where he would rather risk life and limb to get away from even discussing that…and that just spoke volumes to me and I thought it was really funny at the same time.”

Courtney from Detroit Mommies asked Steve what he enjoyed best about making the film. And, of course, Steve delivered with dead pan humor:

“Ryan Gosling’s abs…they were not Photoshopped. They were real. I can’t tell you how many questions I’ve received about his body, which frankly, makes me feel terrible.”

All kidding aside, Steve said the most fun he had making Crazy, Stupid, Love was working with Gosling and Moore.

“Most of my scenes were with them and they are wonderful actors. I hadn’t worked with them before and I was a big fan of both of them. I just think when you work with people that are that good you are inherently better and it’s just very exciting.”

Steve also discussed how he and his wife stay grounded while working and raising kids in L.A.

“The toughest part of that equation is when you drive by a billboard with your face on it and they look quizically at it and don’t really understand why there is a picture of you on the side of a bus or on the side of a building and I just don’t want that to interfere with my relationship with them or to take it in any way. I just want to think of both of us as their parents and what I do as a job and have it not define me or define them. For the most part they understand what I do, but they don’t really put any major weight on it. Neither do we. It doesn’t make me special and it doesn’t make them special. It’s just what I do. We just keep it simple that way.”

I couldn’t end the call without asking a question for my girls. I asked Steve about a sequel to Despicable Me and he confirmed that yes, indeed, Despicable Me 2, Gru, and his minions will be released in July 2013 and he says he should start filming it this fall.

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