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THE MOVIE: School for Scoundrels

THE STARS:
Billy Bob Thornton • Jon Heder • Jacinda Barrett
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips

THE CONCEPT:
Roger (Heder), a timid and beleaguered New York City meter maid who is plagued by anxiety and low self-esteem, enrolls in a top-secret confidence-building class taught by the suavely underhanded Dr P (Thornton) in the hopes he will find the courage to ask his neighbor Amanda (Barrett) for a date.

U.S. RELEASE: September 29 2006, Nationwide • Rated: PG-13

THE COMMENTS:

BILLY BOY THORNTON:
“I’ve got a lot of sympathy for losers; I’ve been a loser many times. I think the point of this movie is you should be more confident, it will get you further in your life, but you can’t let it go over into arrogance and power madness. And then for Jon’s character, you should be nice and honest, but don’t let it become weakness. I think both guys have their point, and neither one of them knows how to do it properly.”

JON HEDER:
“It was easy to play a loser, because it’s just acting like me; but I was reminded yesterday when I saw the film for the first time that Roger really is a pathetic, sad person at the beginning. I’m not that sad and pathetic in real life. But I was a lot like Roger when I was in high school. I had no confidence with women.”

BARRETT:
“Jon is such a sweetheart and has such a strong moral code by which he conducts his life. He doesn’t work on Sundays, you will never hear him swear in a movie. He will never have a drop of coffee or alcohol. And then you’ve got Billy who is totally cool with the alcohol and swearing. Their personalities so fitted the roles.”

HEDER:
“Just as in the movie, we’re polar opposites. But the cool thing about acting is Billy is very different, but he’s very nice. He’d get right into character, but in between scenes we’d sit down and talk. We had a lot of fun. Everyone really liked being around him.”

THORNTON:
“Jon’s a lot looser than people might think. He’s a really good kid, I like him. Everybody talks about how he’s a Mormon, but it’s not like you had to sit there and keep your collar up and not curse, he wasn’t like that.”

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

Visit the official School for Scoundrels site
Images above © Dimension Films
Feature © 2006 Visual Imagination Limited.
Not for reproduction.

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