Tom Hardy, Chris Pine & Chelsea Handler Interview For ‘This Means War’

Two of the world’s top secret agents (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) are best friends who never let anything come between them – until they inadvertently fall for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). It’s all-out war, as the two spies battle each other with high-tech surveillance, advanced tactics, and an arsenal capable of bringing down a small country. Directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation), ‘This Means War’ co-stars Chelsea Handler, Til Schweiger, Laura Vandervoort, Leela Savasta, Angela Bassett, and Abigail Spencer. The film is set for release Febuary 17th in the US, and March 2nd in the UK.

‘This Means War’ blends the comedy with the naughty, the funny with the action.…

Tom Hardy: Yeah, even though it’s a light hearted comedy, you’re taking someone like James Bond or Jason Bourne, and you’re saying, “What would they be like dating a girl online,” and it’s very funny, but at the same time it’s quite sad in it (laughs)? When you think about it. I think things that are honest are even funnier, than things that are just set up as gags. So you take a lad who desperately wants to change his life and be normal, he goes online to find somebody to present himself as someone he’s not. It’s definitely a nice blend of naughty and funny, it’s its own beast, ‘This Means War.’

You’ve got some great action and fight scenes with Chris Pine in ‘This Means War,’ what was that like for you shooting and training for?

Tom Hardy: There were two fight scenes really, with Chris. There was one in the restaurant and the rest of it was just hanging onto a car, and then the beginning with the helicopter. It was good fun. Chris is a good fighter. He’s got this kind of jazz hand style which is kind of scary. It’s like going up against someone from Westside Story (laughs). You’ve gotta keep your eyes well peeled because they can come from any angle, especially when you have that much of the dancer naturally in you. So to work with that kind of skill set, I have because I’m more used to a different kind of form of boxing in Muay Thai. I had to look out for myself because he’s got fast hands. But it was safe. Chris is tougher than he looks.

Chelsea, how did you get your head around your character?

Chelsea Handler: I just imagined what I would be like married with three kids and a fat husband, and I would be like myself – put pissed! My character Trish, I give Reese’s character a lot of really really bad advice. I’m basically living vicariously through her so it’s kind of like me and Reese’s relationship in real life, in that she’s married with kids, and I’m the single one. So it was fun to switch roles. Trish is not the best advice giver, but she’s kind of needed as a jolt of energy.

I really enjoyed a lot of the scenes you have with Reese Witherspoon in the film, how did you two meet?

Chelsea Handler: Reese and I had met a few times but we really got to know each other over the film. She met with me. We met at breakfast and she asked me if I would want to do this. film And of course I did because Reese always makes good decisions with movies so I figured if I was going to do one, it would be my best bet to do it with her. We’ve become great friends. I learned a lot by working with her. We actually had great chemistry immediately. It was so much fun because she’s a professional. I’m completely unprofessional and I have nothing prepared. I mean, I’m not even sure I read the script (laughs). So just working together and bouncing off each other in that regard was really fun. We worked a lot. We improvised a lot and it was super, super fun and we’re good friends because of it, a lot I think probably.

How was it for you Chris, playing this roguish spy?

Chris Pine: It was a lot of fun. FDR is like a boisterous, joyful, 14 year-old, brother of James Bond. He’s the very self-aware spy. He enjoys the fact cars, he enjoys the suits, he enjoys the women, he enjoys the life, he enjoys being a spy. He’s like the guy who watched the James Bond movies and said, “I wanna do that.” There’s a lot of comedy, it was a lot of fun make.