The stars of ''Up In the Air'' talk about award shows, press tours, and body doubles | Jan 01, 2010
Up in the Air is a movie in large part about traveling in the 21st century. So it's only fitting that when the stars of director Jason Reitman's acclaimed film — George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick — get together on a mid-December morning in Los Angeles, they compare notes on who's been logging the most air miles in the weeks surrounding the movie's release. Kendrick has been doing double PR duty for Up in the Air and New Moon, and believes she has a leg up on Farmiga: ''I definitely made one extra round-trip from New York to L.A. that you didn't make,'' she says. ''Yes, but my 11-month-old has been with me and I'm taking his points,'' says Farmiga, who's heading back home to New York with her son as soon as this interview is over. ''He has the nastiest carbon footprint of any 11-month-old you've ever met.''
Clooney, meanwhile, is strangely silent. ''I was in Italy the whole time working,'' admits the actor, who conveniently avoided much of the Up in the Air press tour. ''It worked out so nicely for me!''
All three of them had better keep their frequent-flier numbers handy: They've got countless awards ceremonies to attend. Thanks to its irresistible mix of Hollywood gloss and timely corporate-downsizing themes — including testimonials from real-life firees — Up in the Air is a surefire nominee for the Best Picture Oscar (see our predictions on page 35). The R-rated comedic drama, which arrived at Paramount via DreamWorks, won Best Picture honors from the National Board of Review and scored the most nominations at the Golden Globes. Its three main cast members all earned Globe and SAG award nods: Clooney for his breezy turn as a high-flying consultant who fires people for a living, Farmiga as a fellow traveler with whom he starts a steamy affair, and Kendrick as his type A young colleague who's been pushing their boss to save money by sacking people via videoconference. We quizzed the three likely Oscar nominees on awards campaigns, body doubles, and their preferred airplane seats.
EW: Anna has a great line about you in the film: Someone asks her if she's interested in you, and she says, ''I don't even think of him that way — he's old.'' Is this the first time you've been described as old in a movie?
Clooney No, I even wrote a line in one of the Ocean's films. I'm like, ''You think I'm 50?'' And Casey Affleck says, ''52?'' I wrote that. I actually don't mind it. If it's coming from Anna, it's even funnier.
EW: Anna, did you feel bad delivering that line?
Anna Kendrick No! Are you kidding? After the crap that I took from this guy? Jesus! [To Clooney] How's your hip, old man?
EW: Let's wrap up with a frequent-flier question. Window or aisle?
Clooney Always window for me, so I'm at least one person away from being automatically grabbed and touched [by fans]. You need a little buffer.
Farmiga Window. Because it's a nice head prop.
Kendrick Window. Which gets tricky when the person next to you is trying to sleep and you don't know them. I have actually been in the middle of crawling over a man that I did not know, thinking that I was stealth enough to get over him without waking him — and he woke up. He was looking at me as I was hovering over him.
Clooney''Not now, baby, relax!''
EW: And finally, how does it feel to know that no matter how many Oscar nominations this movie gets, it still won't make nearly as much money as Anna's other movie, New Moon?
Kendrick Yeah, take that, bitches!
Clooney [To Kendrick, sarcastically] How did it do? Did it do okay?
EW: George, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob, by the way?
Clooney I've gone right over that. I'm Team Anna
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