The romantic comedy Valentine’s Day starts out on a romantic note between Reed Bennett, played by Ashton Kutcher, and his girlfriend Morley, played by Jessica Alba. As the owner of Siena Bouquet, a flower shop and café, Reed is the ultimate romantic and he is ecstatic when the woman he’s sure he loves accepts his proposal.
But, news of Reed’s engagement is met with skepticism by his best friend, Julia Fitzpatrick, played by Jennifer Garner. Morley quickly gets cold feet and Reed starts to see something more in his friendship with Julia, which leads to a Valentine’s Day that none of them will forget.
At a press conference for the film, co-stars Jennifer Garner, Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Alba talked about the pursuit of love and the key to a successful relationship.
Q: A theme of this film is the idea that the right person for you could be your best friend that’s been there all along. For the ladies, was there a moment you realized you had a friendship that became more?
Garner: Somewhere around the second kid, I thought, “This is turning into something.”
Alba: I married my best friend. We were friends first. It lasted 10 days.
Q: Can you give any tips for a healthy Valentine’s Day?
Kutcher: I think watching this movie is a healthy Valentine. We had a green set, so there was a lot of dedication to using solar panels and clean energy, and recycling. Due to the fact that the movie was shot in L.A., that was actually an easier thing to make happen. I think that every opportunity we have in our industry to make what we’re doing something more environmentally conscious is a good thing. So, this movie was mostly a green movie and coming and supporting a movie that was made that way can contribute to that.
Garner: And you get popcorn, which has lots of fiber.
Q: Ashton, are you romantic in real life, like your character in the film is?
Kutcher: I had the good fortune of playing a florist in this movie, and one of my best friends is a florist, so I got to work with him. What I really learned about that was that these guys are like the real cupids, passing these messages off from one person to the next person. The way that an arrangement shows up can affect a relationship. It’s almost like, if you can find something like that, that can really translate what it is that you’re trying to say, it’s a big deal. That was my experience on this movie. As far as being a romantic, I don’t know. I love life, I love people and I love sharing, so I would say that I’m romantic.
Q: For the parents, how do you find time for romance with kids at home?
Alba: Mine goes to bed at 7, but I’m usually too tired, unfortunately.
Garner: You change the definition of romance. Romance is romance, but in addition, romance can just be breakfast over the tops of heads. You just have to get through the day. You’ve got to create that romance.
Q: Was there another character in the film that you would have liked to play?
Garner: Well, Julia [Roberts] got to sit the whole time, and she pushed the cry button, at the end. I knew it was coming, and I still cried.
Q: Jennifer, you did great work with the baseball bat and the pinata. How did you prepare for that?
Garner: I like batting cages, as much as the next girl. Girls can do that stuff, too. I’m from West Virginia and we tip our cows like that.
Q: This film is a love letter to Los Angeles. What do you love about L.A.?
Kutcher: I love the weather.
Alba: I second that.
Garner: Farmer’s Market.
Q: What do you think about the film’s representation of L.A.? Is that how you see it?
Garner: What’s great about the way Garry [Marshall] uses L.A. in the film is that it’s just a city. It’s not celebrity central. It’s not about Hollywood. It’s a city, and you never see it that way. You always see it as the backdrop for some other world. This reminds you that L.A. is just a city full of people going through the same little triumphs and tragedies in their love lives as anyone, anywhere else in the world.
Kutcher: A friend of mine once told me that Los Angeles is a city filled with the second best looking person from every town across the America. The best looking person stays home because they have it good there. The best looking guy in Iowa (where Kutcher is from) was Casey Prince.
Q: How will you celebrate Valentine’s Day this year?
Garner: I think most of us will be promoting this movie. That’ll be romantic.
Alba: We’re pretty spontaneous. We try to squeeze in a smooch here and there, or a little card or note to say, “I love you.”
Q: What’s the key to a successful relationship?
Alba: I think communicating is important.
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?
Kutcher: When it comes to love, everyone wants to receive it, but at the end of the day, you don’t get to receive it until you start to give it. That goes for everything. What you give is what you receive. If you want the drug, you have to give the drug.
Q: Why is Valentine’s Day so important? How do you know if you’re doing the right thing for that day?
Kutcher: For the movie, we’re doing a thing online where people are posting their best Valentine’s Day gifts and their worst Valentine’s Day gifts, tagged V-Day Gifts. They’re going to compile them into the 100 best gifts and the 100 worst gifts, so just go to the best list and pick something off of that for your significant other.
VALENTINE’S DAY opens on February 12th
Source: http://www.iesb.net/
