Over the course of a 60-minute interview, one can learn a lot about a person.
Dane Cook keeps in contact with his fans on a daily basis, doesn't like high-maintenance women and thinks babies are hilarious. Jessica Alba never danced before being cast in Honey, said "no worries" 18 times throughout the course of the interview and has awkwardly obsessive journalist fans in the San Francisco Bay area.
Cook and Alba star in Good Luck Chuck, which premieres tomorrow. Cook plays Chuck, a man with a unique trait: Every woman that sleeps with him once finds their true love in the next person they meet. The curse is seen as a blessing at first until he meets Cam (Alba) and falls in love for himself. Chuck must then find a way to break the curse before sleeping with Cam, or risk losing her forever.
Dane Cook
Q: In 2006, you were named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. How do you feel you've made a difference to influence others?
A: If I read you some of my e-mails on a daily basis, it's like reading a great book. I received an e-mail just last night that was like, "sometimes I feel like I want to end my life and I put your CD on, and it makes me positive again." A 15-year-old kid wrote me that, by the way. I put my head on my pillow at night and that brings me great joy.
Q: Who would be your dream co-star, male or female?
A: Oh gosh. Well I think Harrison Ford. I loved Star Wars growing up and I wanted to be Han Solo. The Fugitive is one my favorite movies. You know, I'd love to make a movie that has that kind of excitement. So that's a guy that I'd love to work with at some point. I'm a fan through and through.
Q: You've never done drugs or drank alcohol. Could you explain that decision?
A: I wish I knew. I had an epiphany when I was in eighth grade that said to me, "you know, it's just not for you." I started to realize that I'm very self-competitive and something inside me said, "I would have to be the drunkest person. I would have to like challenge myself to take a new kind of heroin." I didn't know if that would last, but here I am all these years later, and it's fine by me.
Q: In Good Luck Chuck, your character has women chasing him all the time. Do you have any stories of fans that may have gotten a little too close?
A: I have some crazy-ass looney tune fans. I'm talking about the, you know, photos of the girls doing the SuFi and like naked, you know, standing in a tub of pudding, tapioca pudding. Just mental, mental craziness.I have to go under aliases now at the hotels because last year, I had a girl show up nude at my door at like two in the morning yelling my Kool-Aid bit in the hall. She was like "oh yeah. I want to bang you, Dane Cook." And I opened the door like slightly, and she was literally naked screaming "oh yeah" in the hallway. I have crazy, crazy fans. But, you know, hey it keeps life entertaining, right?
Q: In Good Luck Chuck, your character is also considered a good luck charm by the women he sleeps with. What do you consider your good luck charm?
A: What I'm really good at is getting dumped. I have the power to be dumped by any woman. If you date me, you will dump me. Hopefully, I'm embellishing about myself and that's a bit of a joke, but yeah, playing a guy that may have this blessing/curse, depending on what your stance is was certainly far, far out of the world I live in.I'm pretty shy. I'm actually introverted in my regular life. And I'm not a guy that, like Chuck, can even really go full tilt boogie and just kind of get any girl that he wants. I'm a little bit more of a, you know, romantic type.
Q: Did your sisters really bedazzle your clothes when you were younger?
A: Yes. They bedazzled me. They slapped on lipstick. I would wear Jellies and wigs. Yeah, the whole thing. I had Strawberry Shortcake sneakers and a pink Huffy. I'm not even kidding you. I hung around with them so much, I finally started getting a period.
Q: What's the funniest thing to you in the entire world?
A: A baby making a really serious face. It gets me every time. A baby that has a face that looks like it wants to talk about like, you know, home equities. The baby has that look like you think the baby's just going to speak. It would be like, "I have something to say."
Jessica Alba
Q: You haven't done much comedy acting before. What was it like working with an experienced comedian like Dane Cook, and what did you learn from him?
A: I was freaked out big time because I knew he was so good at what he does, and he does all physical stuff when he's on stage. Dane encouraged me to take everything a step further; and I think if I didn't work with him, I probably wouldn't have. I probably would've been a bit more reserved, but he definitely gave me the freedom to go all the way.
Q: Are you ever really afraid of getting typecast or pigeonholed as a sex symbol?
A: I always do things that challenge me and that interest me and inspire me. And I think if I was doing the same thing over and over again, it would be boring.
Q: What do you think about the title of sex symbol? Does it make you feel uncomfortable, or do you see it as a form of flattery?
A: It's kind of a double-edged sword. I don't look at myself that way. I mean when I do photo shoots and things, I'm going through two-and-a-half hours of hair and make-up and they're putting all these crazy clothes on you and the photographer uses all these special lights. It's like getting glamour shots on crack, basically. But it is quite flattering because I didn't grow up being the cutest girl on the block.
Q: Do you have any favorite characters from romantic comedies like Good Luck Chuck?
A: Yes, Goldie Hawn. She always plays great roles. Private Benjamin is great.
Q:Your character in Good Luck Chuck is pretty clumsy. What's the clumsiest thing you've ever done on the red carpet?
A:I was doing interviews in Mexico City. We had our premiere for Fantastic Four, and I had this huge $1 million diamond on my finger. I talk with my hands and I was getting really excited or something, and it flew into this crowd of people. So everyone in the crowd was going underneath the bleachers searching for this $1 million ring. I'm like, "OK, I'm 15. I find $1 million ring. Am I giving it back?" Probably not, unless you're a Catholic, like I am, and you have lots of guilt. But, yes, we found it. It was crushed.
Q: Since you've worked in a few different genres of film now, do you have preference for one over the other?
A: Not yet. I thought maybe after doing this I'd find something that feels most like what I want to do. But I really haven't. It's all so different and brings out different things in me as a performer and certainly as a person.
Q: Your character is a different kind of role for you, being a goofy, clumsy girl. What was it like playing a character that is so different from others you've been cast as before?
A: Not everyone enjoys comedy or wants to do it. I've always wanted to do comedy and I never got a shot at it. That's one of the reasons why I got into the business in the first place. I love making people laugh. It's kind of what I did as a kid for my family. People sort of limited how they saw me. Certainly after Dark Angel and Fantastic Four and doing more action roles, they didn't think that I could have fun and be goofy. But I did the MTV Movie Awards, so I can kind of show people that I can have fun and that's how Dane hired me for Good Luck Chuck.
