gary marshall

Interview: Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper and Garry Marshall Celebrate

Director Garry Marshall has assembled a who's who of Hollywood cast for the romantic comedy Valentine's Day, about a diverse group of people in the Los Angeles whose lives intertwine, as they navigate their way through romance and heartbreak on what is supposed to be the most romantic day of the year.

Making Valentine's Day was a comfortable and enjoyable experience for co-stars Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper, who got to reunite with each other after having done 98 performances of the Broadway play "Three Days of Rain" together, and for Julia who got to re-team with her Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall. During a press conference for the film, the actors talked about the challenges of living, working and falling in love in Los Angeles.

Q: Garry, what challenges were there for you, in working with this big cast?

Marshall: The key is that you hire everybody who's name starts with a "J," like Jessica, Jamie, Jennifer, Julia. It all works out of that. It was good for me that I knew many of these people and to work with them recalls a shorthand because this was a tough schedule. The logistics alone were tough, so to work with them all was a pleasure because there was not much fighting. It's a nice group.

Q: A big theme of this film is that the right person for you could be your best friend that's been there all along. Julia, was there a moment you realized you had a friendship that became more?

Roberts: Gary just said he and I didn't get married, even though we are best friends.

Marshall: We're very close and we had a nice time.

Q: Julia, how do you find time for romance with kids at home?

Roberts: My kids go to bed at 7:30.

Q: How will you celebrate Valentine's Day this year?

Roberts: For Valentine's Day, we're just gonna be makin' out for the full 24 hours.

Q: What's the key to a successful relationship, especially in L.A.?

Roberts: I think it's the same in any city. L.A. isn't distinctive in its uniqueness to what makes a relationship work. Two people who work at it, in any town you go to, is what works.

Q: It seems like love and the pursuit of it is what everyone wants. It's like a drug. People want to be happy and that's really the only thing that makes us happy. Do you think that's the case?

Roberts: It is a drug though, isn't it? Love and that feeling, and what it does to make us all tingly inside, is a drug.

Q: Julia and Bradley, can you talk about shooting the sequences in the plane and what it was like to work in such a confined space?

Cooper: I liked to sit down and talk all day.

Roberts: We caught up. We hadn't seen each other for awhile and I grilled him pretty good.

Marshall: They had done many performances of a Broadway play together.

Roberts: 98 performances.

Marshall: They got to know each other through those performances on the stage together. They were the first shot in the movie. They started it. They were a little nervous, but Julia calmed everyone down.

Q: Garry, since this was such a large cast, many of the actors didn't get to work together. To what extent were they together as a cast?

Marshall: The food is free, so there are always people on a movie set, even when they're not working.

Q: Bradley, when you found out your love interest was going to be Eric Dane, what did you think?

Cooper: He has a beautiful body and succulent lips.

Q: Was there an extended version of your scene together?

Cooper: Absolutely. I have the rights to it, though.

Q: Garry, you're known for creating a family environment on set. Were you still able to do that with such a large cast?

Marshall: I also had a lot of relatives who were involved. Part of my thing is that, when you work with these stars, you have to make them comfortable. You surround them with people you like. Seated next to Bradley and Julia on that place was my grandchild, who won't say a word. She won't run up to them and say, "Give me an autograph." My assistant and her husband sat behind them and didn't say a word. And with Ashton, my daughter was the other clerk with him, so that he'd be comfortable.

Q: For Julia and Garry, how did it feel to be reunited, all these years after Pretty Woman?

Roberts: We had a lot of Pretty Woman people on the set. Our D.P., Chuck Minsky, shot Pretty Woman, and our prop department was the same. We laughed about a lot of things, particularly how old we've all gotten in 20 years. In fact, we're 20 years older, in 20 years. We seem to do this every 10 years. We did Pretty Woman, and then, 10 years later, we did Runaway Bride, and then, 10 years later we did Valentine's Day. So, I will see all of you again when I'm 51.

Marshall: I can't wait to see how beautiful you'll be.