Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn Talk ‘Snatched’

written by thatsit May 4, 2017

Thanks to 20^th Century Fox for hosting our trip. Opinions are our own.

Snatched centers on an impulsive young woman (Amy Schumer), who, after being dumped by her boyfriend on the eve of their vacation persuades her overly-cautious mother (Goldie Hawn) to go on an exotic trip. But what was supposed to be a mother-daughter bonding experience turns into a dangerous adventure they will never forget.

Our coverage of CinemaCon continues with interviews with Schumer and Hawn who were in Las Vegas to talk about the upcoming comedy.

– Baking Starstruck Moments

No matter if it is a celebrity or a major sports athlete, it is easy to get a little starstruck. Even movie stars experience it from time to time. For Shumer, there’s a wide range of people she is starstruck by, from a 19-year-old contestant on Netflix’s Great British Baking Show to her favorite singer, Ani DiFranco, whom she met at the Women’s March, earlier this year.

But it was her first meeting with Hawn that being starstruck really hit Schumer. Having read the script already, the comedian recalled when she was on the same plane as her, and how she “didn’t” want to go up to her number one favorite actor. “Goldie is Goldie, and just so fun,” said Schumer. “Just watching her interact, any flight attendant or anybody that come over, just so sweet. It was a long flight, so she’ s waiting for the bathroom and she’s also kind of doing yoga in the aisle. It’s like what you want.”

So she finally got the courage to talk to her about playing the mother of her character in Snatched. In fact, it was one of her ideas that she brought up during the casting process.

– Like Mother, Like Daughter

Writing about what you know may seem like a cliché, but when you are drawing from experience and turning it into a comedy with two incredible actors, when its something worth watching. So there were a couple of things taken from Schumer’s relationship with her real-life mother that made it into the script. “I think there’s a similar humor,” said Schumer. “I mean, my mom isn’t hilarious, but there is a similar effect that they both have on me where they can really make me laugh and be moved.”

Giving us an idea of just what kind of relationship she has with her mother, Schumer brought up one example. “I just drew from those moments that I think we can all relate to when you hear about something happened somewhere, and you know your kid is so far from there but you got to just check,” said Schumer. “My mom would call and be like, “There was an earthquake in California.” I’m like, “You know I’m in New York.”

For Hawn, who has been away from the big screen for quite some time, her return, after a 17-year hiatus, in Snatched was somewhat of a perfect situation. “There’s very little stuff out there for women of a certain age,” said Hawn. “And when this came about, it was sort of a dream come true, meeting Amy, who had a sensibility, a similar humor, the ability to make you laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. It’s a gift and it’s a talent.”

The veteran actor said she was proud to be a part of something that sees her in a role that tells a story as opposed to “just telling jokes.” And playing the role of the mother of Amy’s character was challenging for her as well. “I was ready for the role to take me over, and surrendering to that because this character is nothing like me,” said Hawn. ” It was a challenge because I’m not a wallflower and she was sort of a wallflower in this movie.”

Hawn added that Schumer was very helpful to her during the entire process of making this movie. And that kind of working relationship is something that makes a movie good.

– Women In A Position Of Power

The one thing that they both realize is that it is hard for a woman to be in this business. “Tina Fey has a quote in her book about how they say every woman’s crazy once you don’t want to fuck them anymore or something like that,” said Schumer. “When people get frustrated, they’re just, ‘Oh, she’s being crazy.'”

Hawn agreed by adding “there’s more scrutiny toward women, particularly that have achieved a level of power. ” So when Hawn went to produce more material, she didn’t do it to be the greatest producer, but for a more pragmatic reason. “Money, the ability to have enough talent and enough people in the room, a deal at Warner Brothers, and line producers that are with you.”

She reminisced about a movie called Private Benjamin, which was a hit, but something she was not too proud of. “It just wasn’t me, but I was on the cover of Newsweek,” said Hawn. “That was not the best thing, because suddenly I became Goldie, dumb as a fox, and “now I’m like, ‘Oh, she only wants to do her stuff, and she likes to take control of things’ And I ended up having a company that produced things other than I was in.”

Hawn said what she had to do during a time where female producers were very scarce, was to “various different challenges in terms of how you pose a problem or how you look at a movie that doesn’t work, or how you have produced a movie that the director’s taken in a completely different direction, and you know that you had the final word on it.”

“It’s all these hurdles,” chimed Schumer. “It’s just like things that you didn’t even foresee. And to not just want to quit, you’re like ‘Should I just… but you can’t because if you have the capacity and then it’s your responsibility to do it.'”

And even though it was Hawn’s choice to put acting on the backburner, she had other priorities to take care of, like the MindUp program that she helped create that helps bring a solution to kids suffering from high levels of stress and lacking the know how to navigate through a complex world. That is what inspires Schumer. My whole life I’ve looked up to Goldie and if there’s one person whose life I could live in their image it would be her,” said Schumer.

– Favorite On Set Moments

There’s definitely a lot of downtime during filming, and some of Schumer’s favorite moments of the film was just being alongside her legendary co-star mother, whom she is very humbled to be with as she could never imagine herself going toe-to-toe against her.

But one particular scene that stands out was something that literally became a running gag. “There was kind of this running thing that started because– I mean, I don’t know what she weighs,” said Schumer. “But she’s really light. And so, it became this running gag where I would kind of pick her up.”

There’s a lot of moments in the movie that were really fun that we did together,” said Goldie.

– It’s Like Looking In A Mirror

While Hawn may be a veteran actor, that doesn’t mean she stops learning from her co-stars, no matter how young they are. “We learned a lot, not from each other, I think, but we learned about each other,” said Hawn. “And when you learn about each other, you obviously learn about yourself.”

She added everyone you meet “is some form of a mirror back to yourself.” Hawn “was very impressed at how she worked with people that she didn’t necessarily agree with, had a very skillful style of being able to approach something with more aplomb.” She admits that is a trait that she lacks. “Sometimes I’m pretty straight,” said Hawn. “And I really got that from you. And I thought it was a really important quality and something that one needs to remember. You know, me being a Scorpio, sometimes that tail comes up. It takes a long time, but I just watched how patient you were when I knew you weren’t feeling it.”

– Mother-Daughter Bonding

Having forewarned us about the very emotional story that was to come, Schumer said she has a very close relationship with her mother, and but there comes that inevitable time when a child reaches the age that they believe they can be independent. Schumer admits that it was a hard time and that nobody is exempt from those years.

There’s a bit of a constant back and forth, says the actor. “At about 30, I kind of took in my whole life and saw the mistakes that she had made, and it really hurt me,” said Schumer. “Now at 35, because it’s a constant evolution and it’s a constant negotiation, your relationships with your family, your whole family.”

Despite that discovery, Schumer says she knows her mother did the best that she could and continues to do so today. “You just crave your mother,” said the actor. “I really try to just love and accept her like she’s always done for me. It’s just biological. It’s this insane connection.”

Director Jonathan Levine went through something very similar. “I was thinking about all the things that I sort of was critical of my mom for and then started to empathize a lot more as I started to make those very same mistakes,” said the new father.

– The Heart Of The Movie.

Levine says the heart of the movie comes down to two things. The first is “learning to see your mom as a person again,” said the director. “Even though you guys are all moms, I bet you guys have the same thing because I sort of think of my mom as like, ‘Oh, well, you had me and then your life ended. So, now you’re about me.'”

The second part the “need” to see your mom as a person again.

Since this is a mother-daughter bonding movie, a lot of that hinges on the two actors playing the role the ability to have audiences believe that they could actually be a mother and daughter. And the two did it with flying colors. “This chemistry is unreal,” said Levine, who saw bringing Hawn out of retirement as a special opportunity.

“We filmed a chemistry read with them where they just were doing things together,” said producer Paul Feig. “I’ve never kind of seen that both physical and just emotional connection. It was really exciting, because then you were just like, ‘Okay, this movie makes total sense now.'”

Get ready for the Mother of all Comedies!

Snatch your tickets now, and BYOM (Bring Your Own Mom) to see Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn in theaters Mother’s Day weekend.

Here’s a very important message from Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn!