Behind the Scenes of Get Smart
Get Smart stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart. That’s perfect casting, isn’t it? I’m less sure of Alan Arkin as The Chief, and even less of Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, but it would be impossible to improve on the originals for any of these key roles.
Here’s a trailer, although not the same one that we saw in San Diego:
In the preview that we saw at Comic-Con, the special effects were more evident, there were more laughs, and we saw more of Agent 99. Although the crowd loved it, the guy next to me said it looked pretty stupid. Well, really, would you expect something else from Get Smart? If you know the series at all, or are a fan of any of Mel Brooks’ work, there’s definitely an element of stupidity, yet it works brilliantly. One can only hope that Peter Segal has found that delicate balance.
Pete Segal is the director of this remake, and he told San Diego’s Comic-Con audience, “We are all HUGE fans of the original series, and there’s no way we can ever achieve the greatness that they…We’re living in their shadow. We’re just trying to bring the spirit of the show. We are bringing as many of the characters, the gadgets, the kind of humor. We’re working with Mel [Brooks] land Buck [Henry], and Leonard Stern; they’ve given us their blessing. They’re great. Some of them you may see in the movie even. So what I think you’ll see is the spirit of the show. Obviously you know it’s a different era, wherein that show was born in the cold war era. But we’ve got a lot of political things to satirize today. And so it’s very much in keeping with the original spirit; we did not want to stray from that. We’re not reinventing it at all. We’re just trying to, again, be that the other car in the garage next to that classic corvette.”
Asked for funny behind-the-scenes stories about shooting this film, Steve Carell revealed, “Pete Segal never wore pants the entire shooting schedule, and he never wore underwear either. And I found that funny.” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson added “Especially since he wanted to call himself Big Pete.” Then Johnson and Carell just looked at each other and shook their heads.
When Carell was asked how he feels playing Maxwell Smart, he said that it’s very, very exciting . He grew up with the show, and it was one of his favorites.
He originally thought that he was called in to Warner Bros. to audition for the role, so he brought his picture and resume. He was simply asked whether he wanted to play Maxwell Smart, and he described it as “one of those surreal moments in my life certainly. And I have to say it’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had doing anything in my life. And I have such respect for Don Adams, and what he did. And I think what we’re all trying to do is honor the original and take absolutely nothing away from it. Frankly, I don’t think I can ever be as good as he was. I’m just trying to do the best that I can within the context of the movie, and it’s an honor.”
When asked how it was shooting this film, with what looks like such a huge budget, Ken Davitian stopped the show when he looked at his fellow actors and asked, “You people got paid?!” Steve Carell said he thinks the budget was $14 trillion.
When they first started talking about the movie, what Carell wanted the movie to look like was sort of a comedic Bourne Identity. When the crowd stopped laughing, he went on to explain that he wanted these people to live in a real world, and it might be a parallel reality, but real nonetheless. He never wanted the characters to be indicating that they’re in a comedy, because he always thinks it’s funnier if a character doesn’t actually know they’re in a comedy. He went on, “So this is a real world, and the villains are quite ominous and scary. And so I think in that way, it will be both extremely funny, but it will be a sense of action and jeopardy. And so far as I can tell, that’s being achieved, so I’m very psyched about it.”
Johnson was asked what his funniest film was, and as might be expected, he chose Get Smart. He said he had a ton of fun on this movie. He was excited to be working with Steve Carell. From the moment they sat down at the read, Steve essentially became Maxwell Smart. He knew that Steve was going to be awesome. The experience was amazing, and working with all of these guys, he had a blast.
When asked what the best part of playing spies and secret agents was, Carell answered, “Well, personally, I get to look like I’m athletic, coordinated, intelligent, and sexy, when in real life, I am none of the above.”
A lovely young woman then asked the Rock how much he can bench, so he asked her how much she weighs, with a broad smile. When pressed further by the crowd, he guessed that he presses about 500.
A general question went out to the dais about their roles in the film. Nate Torrence said he’s sort of Masi’s second guy, and they make the inventions for Maxwell Smart, but Masi Oka said that they don’t quite seem to work the way they’re advertised. Ken Davitian said that he got to wear clothes, and Johnson replied, “Thank God!”
Dwayne Johnson plays Agent 23, a new character that serves as Max’s mentor. Johnson said 23 has a great relationship with Max, loves him, and wants to see him do well. 
Terence Stamp rounds out the cast as Siegfried, and yes, Hymie the Robot is in the movie. According to Segal, there’s also a pretty cool cameo as Agent 13, but he wouldn’t say who it is.
Last of all, Carell was asked about the upcoming season of The Office. He said that 13 episodes have been written, but he doesn’t know what direction things are going to happen. He did say that Ryan will now be his superior, and that will change the landscape quite a bit. He also mentioned that at the end of last season, Jan moved in with him, so they’re shacking up.
Expect more commentary from Comic-Con 2007 in coming days (or weeks). We’re only up to Friday morning so far.
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