Zachary Levi and Joel David Moore Get Random

After talking with me about their new movie Spiral (which you can read at Film Gecko), Zachary Levi of Chuck and Joel David Moore of Avatar played a round of “Dueling Random Questions”.  Enjoy.

What was the last video game you played?

Zach: Rock Band for Xbox. That way I can get all my friends playing so I don’t feel like I’m alone. It’s like Karaoke on steroids.

Joel: The last video game I played was Assassin’s Creed. I got about an hour into it and went eh, this isn’t my favorite game, so I gave up on it. I’m going to back to a game I left off in New Zealand (where he’s been filming Avatar) called Bioshock for Xbox 360 and it’s phenomenal, a wonderful game and it still lies in New Zealand waiting for me to beat it. I’m going to go back there and kick the shit out of it.

You have $200 to spend a Best Buy. What are you going to buy?

Zach: I going straight for the video game section, but since I already own everything I want, I’d probably buy movies on DVD.

Joel: I’d get every single movie I’ve ever made because screw other people, I’m really happy with my own work so I want to own my movies. I’m going to lay them around my living room on the floor and I’m going to stand on top of my couch like my own proverbial soapbox and judge all others around me.

Captain Kirk Vs. Captain Jack Sparrow?

Zach: Kirk always. 10 out of 10.

Joel: In a cage match, no weapons of any sort, then Captain Kirk, because that guy can fight with his hands better than most of us. He did a lot of hand-to-hand combat. But if they met in a bar, Captain Jack Sparrow would win because he would try to find any blunt object to fight with to get out of the situation as soon as he could. (At which point he begins to ponder the possibilities of turning this into a short but funny video. “In this corner. . . “)

What item have you kept since you were a kid?

Zach: A dresser that belonged to my dad. I’ve held on to that all these years and I plan to hand it to my kid one day.

Joel: I had a Raggedy Andy blanket that I have had since I was in the crib. It literally stayed on the end of my bed through high school and college; it’s somewhere here in LA I’m sure. I actually remember asking my mom where it came from and I think my grandmother made it for me. So I’m going to go put that at the end of my bed after this conversation. (At which point he ponders the idea of bringing his blanket on every movie set from now on. It could be my trademark. I could work under it. My blankie, like the dude on Charlie Brown.)

Zach, tell me something people need to know about Joel.

Zach: He has no concept of time. He has this seven-minute rule. He thinks he can get anywhere in seven minutes. Burbank to Santa Monica in 7 minutes. I’ve learned never to travel with him. We live down the street from each other so it would be convenient to carpool, but I know I’ll be late.

Joel, tell me something people need to know about Zach.

Joel: I have a fun answer and serious answer. This movie is a perfect example of what people need to know about Zach, this is a wonderful character piece and something we wrote for him that can sort of be a catalyst to what I believe he’ll be doing in the future - this kind of drama, acting that’s not always comedy.

On the other side of it, he loves to play hours and hours of video games even when we all need to go and get something to eat and we can’t get him out the door. Sometimes I literally have to drag him out and away from his video games.

And on a more serious note:

What does the future hold for you?

Zach: It’s all about character to me. It’s about entertaining people. If I make them laugh or cry, I want to do it all. I’ll do any role people will trust me with. I also see myself writing, directing, producing. I want to do it all.

Joel: What’s nice about this industry is that I don’t have to choose; I can continue to act and direct. I can write while I’m doing a project. I’ve been shooting a movie all this year and my partner, Jeremy and I are now writing a comedy. So it’s something Zach and I could go and I could direct, if that’s the way it goes.

I definitely will be directing in the future and I will of course, continue to get better unless I get worse. . . . I’ll get a bigger head and get jaded about it and be like, ‘look if you can’t do this get off my set!’

What do you want people to know about Spiral

Zach: We’re three guys that never made a movie before. We worked really hard and we’re proud of it. It’s the real deal and I think people will be pleasantly surprised when they see it.

Joel: The biggest thing we want people to know is that it comes out in a limited theatrical release February 8 then we turn it right around and go into a DVD release on February 19. So check their local listings and if you’re in a city it’s playing in watch this movie in the theater. It’s cinematic and that’s one of the things we’re most proud of.

Spiral opens in select theaters on February 8 and on DVD every place on February 18.  In the meantime, read my interview with the boys over at Film Gecko, then check out the MySpace and Official Spiral Website.