STACK #166 Aug 2018

DVD & BD

FEATURE

FUNNY GIRL Stand-up comedian, TV star, best-selling author, screenwriter, producer, and in-demand Hollywood actress. Amy Schumer is a true renaissance woman.

I liked playing him because I got to be the male voice of insecurity in the movie,” riffs Scovel. “To me, that’s what makes the movie really interesting. It’s about everybody’s insecurity, covering everyone’s issues with self-esteem.” Scovel says that the film’s insights into how self-sabotaging a lack of confidence can be isn’t restricted to only women. “To do stand-up comedy, you sort of have to face your insecurities and figure

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doing that. It’s much more powerful this way.” The screenwriters were adaman that I Feel Pretty also be their directing debut. When Schumer’s schedule opened up in mid-2017 following her exit from a planned big screen comedy version of Barbie (about a Barbie doll who winds up in the real world), she read Kohn and Silverstein’s script and signed on to star.

out how to write them into your comedy,” he explains. “In stand-up, you write a joke about your insecurities, and that’s part of your stage act. In a healthy way, it makes you aware of them… In this film, in one particular scene, Ethan is nervous about taking his shirt off in front of Renee. And in real life, I don’t have the physique someone may consider attractive, but this is who I am. It was interesting to [act] in that scene, and to kind of tap into a real place.” Busy Philipps, who plays Jane, also recognised how important the film’s message was. “People walk away from the film very empowered,” says Phillips. “Any time a movie can have a secondary meaning, it elevates the movie, including a romantic- comedy. The truer a person is to themselves, the more irresistible they are.” Philipps adds that Schumer is the perfect star to embody both sides of I Feel Pretty . “Amy brings so much heart to this movie, and she’s so grounded in her character. There’s a softer side to her here. And then she’s obviously a killer at the comedy.”

INSIDE AMY SCHUMER Life on the road doing stand-up helped hone Schumer's comic prowess for this TV sketch comedy series, that delivers fast-paced laughs mixed with biting satire. Often described as edgy and daring, Inside Amy Schumer would also earn a prestigious Peabody Award for contribution to entertainment.

“Amy had been working on and writing Barbie, and then we had a conversation with her about how these issues of body image and confidence have been something she’s talked about personally and that she tries to put into her work,” says Kohn. “When she read our script, she was like, ‘Oh my god, these are all the things I wanted to talk about, and you guys did it exactly as I would have done it!’

It's about everybody's insecurity, covering everyone's issues with self esteem

It dovetailed perfectly with what she wanted to say – in addition to her thinking it was really funny and she’d be able to bring her own humor to it.” To play Renee’s boyfriend, Ethan, stand- up Rory Scovel – a friend of Schumer’s who appeared on her TV show – signed on. “Ethan is not unlike myself – he doesn’t have smooth pickup lines, he’s not a ‘player’.

TRAINWRECK In a major nod to Schumer's skills as a scribe, this is the first Judd Apatow-helmed comedy that wasn't actually written by him. Schumer has admitted that she wrote the material with Apatow in mind, and this perfect match resulted in a smash hit that propelled Schumer from TV star to box office drawcard.

• I Feel Pretty is out Aug 1

SNATCHED When Schumer spotted her idol Goldie Hawn at an airport, she couldn't resist asking the screen legend and veteran comedian to work with her on a project. The resulting meeting of comedy generations sees them paired as mother and daughter on a jungle misadventure from hell.

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