Last week we rolled out some of our interview with Steve Carell, the star of this weekend’s upcoming magician comedy, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.” Carell spoke to us about getting the band back together for “Anchorman 2“ and his somewhat surprising dramatic turn as an eccentric millionaire schizophrenic for Bennett Miller‘s dark drama “Foxcatcher“ coming later this year.
But we also spoke to Carell about ‘Burt Wonderstone.’ Starring alongside Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, James Gandolfini, Alan Arkin and more, the picture centers on superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Buscemi), two old-school magicians who have ruled the Las Vegas Strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt’s growing ego. But in reality, the duo’s greatest deception is their public friendship, as they’ve secretly grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from a trendy guerrilla street magician (Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, Burt and Anton’s show is starting to look stale. The film charts this hubris, their friendship and their goal of getting their act back on track; which also means getting back to what made them love magic in the first place.
Todd Gilchrist spoke to Carell about being a jerk (in the movie), identifying with jerk characters (if that’s possible), how Hollywood egos grow in the first place and being grateful for what one has. “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” opens this Friday, March 15th. Check out the video interview below.