Exclusive Interview: 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' stars Michael Cera & Anna Kendrick

Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is out in theaters now, and stars Michael Cera and Anna Kendrick stopped by in San Francisco recently to chat about the movie and their experiences shooting it.

Check out our exclusive interview below. Cera ("Youth in Revolt") and Kendrick ("Up in the Air") talk a bit about comics, character, Edgar Wright and working on a big film filled with awesome special effects.

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" follows a dude names Scott, who falls in love with a chick but realizes he must first defeat her seven evil exes. It sounds cool, and it really is. You can read my review here...

• The Screening Log: How familiar were you guys with the source material before shooting the film, and are you comic geeks?

Michael Cera: I've never read comics but I have read this one for one reason. A friend of mine described it for me one day and it sounded really good, so I went and got it. And it was like the first two volumes had been out and I loved them. And I'm from Toronto.

Anna Kendrick: Not not me. Loser.

• The Screening Log: There's always the issue of how likable and unlikable a character is. It feels like between your performance and Edgar Wright's writing, they really push him into that unlikable part. Did you have discussions about how far to push the character?

Michael Cera: None that I was involved in but I'm sure Michael [Bacall] and Edgar talked about that a lot, because I was surprised when I watched the movie how heartless he is.

Anna Kendrick: But I feel like he's like that in the books.

Michael Cera: He is.

Anna Kendrick: I just read volume 6 and he's definitely the hero of his own story, but sometimes you think like 'oh wow.' But I guess that's what makes you relate to him when you realize you probably messed up a lot but you're always the hero of your own story.

• The Screening Log: How was it like to work with Edgar Wright for you?

Michael Cera: It was amazing, and really different from anything I had ever done. Very different kind of actor-director relationship as far as what he was asking of people, because he knew what he wanted and he knew exactly what he was making. But at the same time, I always felt like I had ownership of the character. But it was amazing getting to watch him put this movie together with such a vision and such clarity, his choices in shots and set designs and ideas, and all of it works I think really well.

• The Screening Log: How much did he present to you visually, especially since the film carries effects-heavy shots?

Michael Cera: He showed us everything that he could. Every test that he did…

Anna Kendrick: He certainly wasn't trying to keep us in the dark, and I know that some directors do that, which I find strange.

Michael Cera: Right. Yeah, which I thought made total sense, you know. The more he showed us, the more we knew what we were making, which really was very helpful for all of the actors I think. We were shooting for some weeks, and people would show up to shoot their scenes, and he would have some cut footage of what we shot to show them, which really gave a good sense of the tone and comedy.

• The Screening Log: How physically demanding was the role, and were you excited to be able to kick some ass?

Michael Cera: Yeah, yeah, I was. It was pretty physically demanding. We did training for a few months just to get to the point where we could like do that without feeling sick, and if hadn't done that I think it would have been really disastrous. Just moving your body like that over and over take after take is really exhausting, even if you're just doing short little moves. It starts to really get tiring. So it was nice to get in shape just to be able to survive that.

• The Screening Log: This role is different from most you played. What is different in shooting this compared to the more traditional films?

Michael Cera: There is some blue screen stuff in this. I've never really done too much of that. That was all new. Oh, and wire work. That was completely new for me. And air canons. Light bulbs exploding too. In the fight sequences whenever there's contacts, there's a lightbulb that pops off somewhere. You can't really tell but you can feel it, and that was crazy. Some of them exploded and the glass actually shattered.

• The Screening Log: Anna, as Scott's sister in the movie, your scenes in the movie are shorter and you're on the phone mostly talking very fast. What was the process of shooting those scenes? Was it challenging?

Anna Kendrick: Yeah, I mean, I don't want to say challenging, but it was tricky. I almost hesitate to say challenging because I think it implies a greater emotion. It's weird when I watch it, all I see is me sort of counting in my head. I feel like I'm the girl on the dance floor who's just going one-two-three, one-two-three and isn't really relaxed. So it was definitely tricky to just try to fit in the pauses and then hope that it was fine.

• The Screening Log: How do you guys feel about the audience reactions? This film was huge at Comic-Con.

Michael Cera: It was amazing. Comic-Con was incredible. That was overwhelmingly positive. All the screenings were playing like a rock concert. I think we've been spoiled by that because any time we see it now, they're not like cheering. But that was amazing.

• The Screening Log: You guys have been doing a lot of press tours. Is this something you can get used to or do you consider it part of the job?

Michael Cera: I think it gets easier.

Anna Kendrick: I have to say I like doing it with Michael. Doing it alone is taxing. It's a lonely, sad dark place.  

Michael: It is. It's better with a friend.

• The Screening Log: Is there one question that keeps coming you and you wish would just go away?

Anna Kendrick: So many.

Michael Cera: Many people say to me, like, what's going on? Michael, what's going on? I get really tired of that.

Anna Kendrick: I'm done talking about George Clooney. And Robert Pattinson. I'm done.