“It was really one time when things just fell into place and I couldn’t have planned it — it just all came together,” DiMarco told XBIZ. “And when that happens, you know it’s going to be something that’s very good. It was a dream project.”
The movie is a parody on workaday life at a gay adult production company. Andrews plays the newly hired intern “Ugly Benny.” When Lucas, as the Botox-injecting company owner, decides he needs to find a new star with a huge penis to boost sales, Benny’s co-workers discover that he has talents beyond making coffee and running to the drug store to get more lube for the set.
“Ben Andrews came up with the concept and I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s a brilliant idea,’” DiMarco said. “Everything that we’ve done up until now has been very heavy drama and we’ve done that pretty well, considering we’ve won awards two years in a row. But doing a comedy for me was like a breath of fresh air because it was totally different from what we had done before.”
DiMarco said it was easy to get the performers into their character roles without much coaching on keeping the acting humorous and fun. Especially with Lucas, DiMarco hopes the audience will see a different side of the sometimes controversial Lucas Entertainment founder.
“So much has been said about Michael and the great thing about him is he’s willing to poke fun at himself,” DiMarco said. “I don’t think people realize the sense of humor he does have. They think he’s being serious when he’s actually being funny. In this case, he was able to say ‘Look, I can make fun of myself,’ and I think it was really great he did that.”
According to DiMarco, newbie performer Cruz is the perfect counterbalance to Lucas’ somewhat serious satire. Playing the role of the boss’ assistant, Cruz’s performance was over the top.
“He was brilliant. He came aboard at the right time,” DiMarco said. “You’ll see on the outtakes — he’s hysterical and always on, but he’s very serious and committed as an actor and he was really dedicated to being there. But he was also an actual comedic talent and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to play that role.”
Prior to production, Lucas Entertainment sponsored a contest to pick a blog writer to come on-set and post daily blogs about the experience of filming the movie. Winner Mike Kashey’s posts can be seen at the movie’s official blog.
“The Intern” will hit the streets on Aug. 17, but pre-orders are being accepted at the Lucas Entertainment site. Both an R-rated and XXX-rated version of the trailer also can be viewed there.
