'Man, tent, cave, pee, bush … that’s how I like it'
Screenjabber's Ariane Sherine put on her glad rags and rocked along to London's ritzy Dorchester hotel for an "intimate" chat with Ashton Kutcher ... along with several dozen other journalists.
Mon dieu! A press junket that was (a) fun, and (b) not wanky, despite being at the imposing and bombastic gilt-tripped Dorchester hotel. We were given a tacky film-branded dice pen and notebook, but bribes weren’t necessary: What Happens in Vegas, while not exactly mould-shattering, is a cracker. However, Cameron Diaz, its co-star (with Ashton Kutcher) was noticeably absent, due to her father’s death. “She said to say ‘hi’ — just ‘hi’,” Kutcher quipped.
As the film was a battle-of-the-sexes romcom, there were plenty of questions on this tip, starting with, What still mystifies you about the opposite sex? “I don’t understand shopping,” Kutcher drawled. “As I guy, I think we decide that we want something, and then we go out and buy it — and women go to the store having no idea what they’re gonna buy, or what they’re even doing. It’s like going to a football game to maybe watch a game. I don’t get it. Guys are at home, we’re working on something, we go, “I need a wrench” — we go and buy a wrench.”
He then revealed that he peed outside in the open — “man, tent, cave, pee, bush… that’s how I like it.” “I pee in my pants,” co-star Steve Corrdry added. “This is going really well,” their female co-star Lake Bell smirked.
Bar an awkward minute when Kutcher rambled on about his “spiritual teacher”, and an “open awareness of love”, he came across as likeable, engaging and witty. “If you won the lottery, like in the film,” a journalist asked, “what would you spend the money on?” “In the UK, you could get, like, a loaf of bread!” the star joked. “We were talking about it earlier — $3 million — in the UK, people are like, “I can’t even pay my rent with that!”
Another film-related question was, “Do you actually think this ‘marriage in reverse’ works? Like, starting with divorce and working your way back?” “Well,” Kutcher noted, “what we’re all normally doing doesn’t seem to be working very well with the divorce rate, so why not try something different, right?!”
Supporting leads Lake Bell and Rob Corrdry appeared to be maintaining their WHIV love-hate personas, and Corrdry had the room laughing several times. Brit director Tom Vaughan appeared a little aloof and uncertain, and answered the fewest questions, but then most journos directed their questions at Kutcher.
At the end of the conference, all paid tribute to Diaz. “When you’re with and around Cameron, it doesn’t matter who’s there — she’s the happiest person to be there,” Kutcher explained. “When I met her at my audition, she was on the phone saying ‘Perf, perf’,” Bell gasped, “and I was like, ‘Omigod, I say “Perf” too!’” “And there was some other poor girl going ‘Oh no — I don’t say “Perf”, I say perfect!’” Corrdry quipped.
As press junkets go, it was fairly close to.
• What Happens in Vegas is now showing across the UK ... and you can read our review HERE