The ‘American Pie’ star recalls a prank played on him in this Saturday’s episode. By Henna Kathiya Chris Klein on “When I Was 17” Photo: MTV Chris Klein was already 20 when he played all-American lacrosse-player Oz, one of four friends trying to get laid by prom night in “American Pie.” But the movie’s hijinks and pranks weren’t far from his real-life experience in high school. In the latest episode of “When I Was 17,” airing Saturday at 11 a.m., Chris reminisces about a prank that was played at his expense in high school. “I went to public school, but I myself had a uniform, which was a white T-shirt, loose blue jeans and Airwalk shoes,” says the actor, who is reprising his Oz role for next year’s “American Reunion.” “Oh, and then there were the necklaces,” he adds, recalling the beaded necklaces in school colors that were made by the cheerleaders. “I was a huge fan of the necklaces.” Because the actor wore the same outfit without fail every single day, his fashion sense was something of notice for his fellow classmates. “One day, I walked into school and all of a sudden there is a bit of an uproar and everyone is clapping and laughing and having a good time. I look around and nearly everyone in my class was dressed exactly how I dressed every day,” he says. “It was dress like Chris Klein day.” His whole class showed up to school wearing white T-shirts and blue jeans, making sure not to forget the key element: the beaded necklaces. His classmates punked him for sure, which probably made acting in “American Pie” a piece of cake. For more stories from Chris’ youth, don’t miss the new episode of “When I Was 17,” also featuring Amy Lee and Theophilus London , airing Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on MTV. Related Videos ‘When I Was 17’ Sneak Peek Featuring Evanescence’s Amy Lee
It was important to ‘create a shoe that would absolutely, 100 percent look like the shoe from the movie,’ Bob Gale says. By Eric Ditzian Nike Air McFlys Photo: Nike The news is 88 mph of awesome: The neon-lit Nikes that Marty McFly rocked in “Back to the Future Part II” are no longer part of a fictional 2015 but will soon be available for anyone willing to plunk down a hefty chunk of change. After a daylong buildup of viral videos and a Los Angeles announcement event lighting up the Web like a lightning-struck clock tower, Michael J. Fox himself appeared on “Late Show With David Letterman” on Thursday to show off the limited-edition Air McFlys (formally known as the Nike Air Mag). The proceeds from the 1,500 pairs of shoes, which will be auctioned off on eBay, will go to the actor’s Parkinson’s disease research foundation. “It’s kind of cool because it brings together three populations of people with major joneses,” Fox told Letterman. “The sneaker-heads who love sneakers, the ‘Back to the Future’ guys who, believe me, are out of their minds, in a good way, thank God for them. And people in the Parkinson’s community.” Shortly before Fox’s TV appearance and after a day of hanging out with Universal and Nike execs for the rollout, “Back to the Future” writer Bob Gale called up MTV News to talk about the development. Gale has geeked out with us before about “BTTF” memorabilia, including the Mr. Fusion he turned into a desk lamp , so we figured he’d be the perfect guy to lend insight into the new shoe’s development and how it connects back to their first appearance in 1989. He did just that, as well as assuage our concerns that the Air Mags don’t come with auto laces as Marty’s did in the film. Be patient, Gale counseled us … all in good time. MTV : How did this whole thing come together? Bob Gale : Nike has been thinking about this for quite some time. They came out with those other shoes a couple years ago that were sort of like these, and at that time, [producers] Bob Zemeckis, Frank Marshall and I were approached by Nike saying what they wanted to do was see if they could develop the actual shoe from “Back to the Future Part II.” They expected to do various versions building up to 2015. They would make sure it was all to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation. They had me at hello. When we made the movie back in 1989, we had the shoe designed by Nike. Tinker [Hatfield], the designer over there, went back into his old notebooks saying, “What did I do back then? What did I draw?” MTV : So Nike went back to the original concept art for inspiration? Gale : Well, they basically used the movies. There are drawings, which they unveiled during the Universal event. Some of those drawings are Tinker’s original drawings. The one thing they wanted to make sure they got absolutely right was to create a shoe that would absolutely, 100 percent look like the shoe from the movie. Of course, back in 1989, there was no technology to make them light up or be power laced. There are behind-the-scenes pictures showing Michael J. Fox with all these wires coming out of his jacket and shoes to make those effects works. We had a guy off camera who pulled wires and tightened the shoes. Nike figured they better figure out how to do that for real rather than have some guy follow you around all day when you want to lace ’em. MTV : What was the announcement event like today? What was going through your head as you watched everyone go nuts for these sneakers? Gale : What’s cool about these movies is they inspire people in different ways. John Mayer said he saw the “Johnny B. Goode” scene, and that made him want to be a rock star. I meet so many screenwriters who say, “The movie that made me want to be a screenwriter was ‘Back to the Future.’ ” There are people out there trying to figure out how to make a working hoverboard. The fact that art inspires people is the greatest compliment you can have. This crazy idea about sneakers that light up and lace themselves is one step closer to being a reality. MTV : Why now? Why not five years ago or 2015? Gale : Nike wanted to do this in tiers. This is the beginning. MTV : So if this year’s shoes don’t have the auto laces, future years’ might? Gale : Yes! It’s not 2015 yet. It’s only 2011! MTV : I can’t wait that long! I can’t be patient. Gale : No one ever can. MTV : What’s your sense of what this all means to Michael J. Fox? Gale : It’s nothing but positive. He’s thrilled out it. He’s going to be on “Letterman” and you’ll hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. MTV : What’s your recollection of creating and using the shoes in the film? Gale : We were associated with Nike on the first movie because Marty McFly is wearing Nikes on that. We said, “OK, he’s wearing Nike shoes in 1985, what will the shoes of the future do?” One of the things we wanted to do was keep all the elements we had established in the first movie and bring them forward to the future. We had the Texaco station in 1985 and then 2015. We show the movie theater, from a Ronald Reagan movie to a porno movie to “Jaws 19” in 3-D. The Nikes were a continuing element to distinguish between the past, present and future. We thought it was cool at the time. The fact that people still think it’s cool is really cool. MTV : Who has the original power-lacing Nikes? Gale : I think Nike has the original pair. They’re all rotted. They weren’t built to be anything other than movie props. And for the other pairs that didn’t need to self-lace that he used as part of his wardrobe, they must have made a dozen pairs of them. Where those are, I have no idea. Whether they got ditched, stolen, sold, I have no idea. MTV : Now that the Nikes are a reality, is that a load off? No one will be coming up to you on the street and asking why they’re not available? Gale : No! They’ll stop asking me that, but then they’ll want to know when we’re getting the hoverboards. Check out everything we’ve got on “Back to the Future Part II.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Jennifer Aniston is not getting married anytime soon. But why let that stop you from scooping her wedding? That’s the question apparently asked by the editorial board at In Touch Weekly , which just devoted its cover to a magical wedding that is in no way being planned by Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. Read all about it! Good to hear they’re already talking about raising fake babies too . She and Justin Theroux are moving in together, and their romance is both very real and surprisingly public. But there is no wedding. They’re not even engaged! The lesson in all of this? Jennifer Aniston is apparently one heck of a magazine seller, ’cause fake news about her expecting twins , getting hitched and stabbing Angelina Jolie in the heart tends to take precedence over actual news about any other celebrity.
Matt Damon has a new movie out and a new look on his head. The A-lister stars in Contagion , which opens on Friday and stars… pretty much every actor on the planet, from Gwyneth Paltrow to Kate Winslet to Marion Cotillard to Laurence Fishburne. Contagion Trailer Our friends have posted a Contagion review and also chatted with the actor himself, who is teaming again with director Steven Soderbergh. The film is based around a global outbreak and Damon said of first perusing the script: “It’s just a terrific, riveting, really fast read and really exciting and really horrifying – but [it] managed to be kind of touching, too.” Read the full interview with Damon at Movie Fanatic now!
‘If you’re not a baseball fan, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to love the movie,’ he tells MTV News in our Fall Movie Preview. By Kara Warner Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in “Moneyball” Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon/Columbia In addition to his trimmed-down figure , Jonah Hill fans will see a new side of the “Superbad” and “Get Him to the Greek” actor come September 23, when “Moneyball” drops into theaters: his dramatic acting chops. The film is inspired by Michael Lewis’ 2003 best-seller of the same name, which revolved around Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane and how he recruited undervalued yet extremely talented baseball players to build successful teams. In the film, Hill plays Peter Brand, a statistician who helps Beane (Brad Pitt) select players based on in-depth analysis of complex baseball statistics. Click for exclusive photos from Fall’s biggest flicks. When MTV News caught up with Hill recently, he was excited to talk about his dramatic work and emphasized the fact that the film is more about life than baseball. MTV : Did you read the book before you started the film? Jonah Hill : I had just been told that [director] Bennett [Miller] wanted to meet me and I should read the book “Moneyball” in preparation, and so I did, and I really, really loved it. MTV : Were you a baseball fan beforehand? And how did your appreciation for the game evolve over the course of working on the film? Hill : I grew up with baseball and really respect and appreciate the game, but in the past, since I was probably 12 or 13, I haven’t followed closely. So I wouldn’t say I was an avid fan, but I grew up being a Dodgers fan. But if you’re not a baseball fan, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to love the movie. We used baseball as such a metaphor for life. The movie is about these guys trying to create a baseball team with no money, but it’s really about choices and being an underdog, so I really can start to relate the game to the people playing it and seeing them as people and wondering about them, and I couldn’t help but start wondering about all the players as people and do their stats represent them and their value — that’s a lot of what the movies about. MTV : How is the film not just a sports movie? Hill : I hesitate to even call it a sports movie, because if you love baseball, you’re going to love it obviously that much more, but for people that I know that have seen it that don’t know the first thing about baseball, [they] love it because it’s a movie about underdogs. It’s really about being undervalued and proving your worth and value and the decisions you make in life. MTV : Everyone raves about Aaron Sorkin’s scripts and dialogue. What was your impression of the script? How does it rank versus some of the others you’ve seen? Hill : The script was written by Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian. … I don’t think there’s any debate they are the two of the most successful and respected screenwriters in Hollywood, so between them and Scott Rudin and Mike De Luca, our producers, and Bennett Miller and Michael Lewis, who wrote the book, and Brad and Philip [Seymour] Hoffman and Robin Wright, I can say it was pretty crazy to be second lead in this movie. It was a laundry list of people I admired and respected, and it kinda didn’t seem real for the first few weeks I got the part. MTV : Was there a learning curve for you? Did you feel like more of a student on this production? Hill : I think I always feel like a student. I always work with people I admire or else I don’t go to work. To me, it’s about learning from people. The best advice I ever got was “Shut up and listen.” … This was obviously the most different. Drama, I had only done one other one, this movie “Cyrus,” and for me, those were two experiences, because I had done so many comedies, where I learned something totally different. MTV : What was your experience like with Brad Pitt, as far as the actor and the person? Hill : He’s great at both. I think he and I are really close in the movie. The movie is really the two of us playing off of each other a majority of the time, so if that chemistry wasn’t there between us, I think the movie would have completely failed. So I think we both knew that going in, and I think we both happened to like each other a lot. We definitely played some pranks on each other. That part of [Brad Pitt] lore is true, that he likes to do that. We played some really funny pranks — his a lot funnier than mine — and we became cool. He’s a really admirable dude, and I think he has inspired me in a lot of ways, both creatively and personally. If you look at his filmography, his choices are so diverse and cool and eclectic that it’s something I really just took away. He was really cool about sharing his history with me and really pushing me in a great way to make interesting choices. MTV : Can you give me a couple of those pranks? Hill : There were some golf-cart wars. We had these golf carts, and we would race them all the time to set and crash into each other. And he started messing with mine and eventually turned mine into a full-fledged Wham! mobile — the band Wham! — where eventually there was a bigger-than-life-sized portrait of myself as a member of Wham! next to George Michael on the front of it. It was bright pink, and eventually, by the end, if you turned on my golf cart, it blasted “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and could not be turned off unless the engine was turned off. Sometimes I feel like he has a team of scientists working on f—ing with me. MTV : So what was your best retaliation you think? Hill : I got him with a prank to his car that I’m not going to reveal yet. It’s a secret. From “Abduction” to “Muppets, “Moneyball” to “Breaking Dawn,” the MTV Movies team is delving into the hottest upcoming flicks in our 2011 Fall Movie Preview. Check back daily for exclusive clips, photos and interviews with the films’ biggest stars. Check out everything we’ve got on “Moneyball.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos Fall Movie Preview 2011 Related Photos Exclusive Photos From Fall’s Biggest Flicks
Movies teem with ridiculous dialogue, but only a few pop with memorably bad one-liners. Our friends at BuzzFeed compiled a list of 20 dubious movie lines, and while I’d have suggested more material from The Room or, say, anything in Black Swan , I’m more interested in what the Movieline hivemind thinks are worst. What say you, elite?
Earlier today, various trades reported that Chris Tucker is circling two big Hollywood roles — one in David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook and the other in Neighborhood Watch opposite Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill. Nearly all reports also noted that Tucker has been curiously absent from the box office since 2007’s Rush Hour 3 , which is strange considering that the actor was in the middle of a career upswing that started with Friday , continued with his Jackie Chan franchise and could have ended with the actor becoming one of the most marketable movie stars this decade. But after some careful math, Movieline HQ can tell you exactly why Tucker was free to retreat from the box office…
According to insiders who spoke to TMZ, the actor confronted his neighbor because the latter was hanging towels outside his home. The neighbor tells authorities that Fisher grabbed him and choked him, but he managed to escape and call 911. The police soon arrived, this man was driven to the hospital and Fisher was arrested for felony battery. He was taken into custody and bail set at $50,000. David Fisher, who has starred on NCIS as Trent Kort since 2006, was arrested yesterday for an alleged
Photo from the set shows Franco covered in blood. By Terri Schwartz Steve Burton and James Franco on the set of “General Hospital” Photo: ABC There will be blood when James Franco returns to “General Hospital” on September 20. Despite Franco’s earlier statements to the contrary , E! landed a photo of Franco on the set of the ABC daytime soap that proves that he will in fact be reprising the role of his appropriately named serial killer, Franco. It looks like things don’t end so well for Franco’s soap alter ego, based on the smear of blood on the wall behind his head and the trickle coming out of his mouth in the photo. Or there’s a chance he’ll be bringing back the creepy by again playing a dead man in one of his character’s art exhibits, considering that’s how he was introduced to the show originally. The plot thickens! Franco made his Port Charles debut in November 2009 as an artist/serial killer who becomes obsessed with Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), who can also be seen in the recent photo. His plot arc lasted for 41 episodes and ended last August with the killer Franco vanishing without a trace. Six months later, Franco returned and filmed three more episodes in which his character tried to bust up a pretty big wedding. Franco is going to try to do that again in the upcoming episode, according to E!. This new appearance takes place on the eve of Jason Morgan and Samantha McCall’s wedding. Franco returns to Port Charles to wreak havoc on their lives after already trying to separate them in his first plot arc. When MTV caught up with the actor at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Franco called his relationship with “General Hospital” an “ongoing thing.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com .
Back when Movieline posted the bonkers-adorable trailer for genre master Takashi Miike’s Ninja Kids!!! , about — what else — children studying at a school for ninjas, it seemed unlikely that the family-friendly manga and anime adaptation would go much farther than the genre/foreign crowd. However, that was before plans were reportedly in the works to adapt Miike’s film into an Americanized remake. After all, every generation deserves their own 3 Ninjas !
