Paul Rudd at the ‘Wanderlust’ screening in NYC

Last night, director David Wain, ans stars Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Kerri Kenney, and Alan Alda participated in a Q & A following a screening of their new film Wanderlust in NYC. The screening was part of Lincoln Center’s Film Comment Selects series which runs through March 1.

One of our contributors, Denise, attended the event and shared the following report, along with a few photos:

Wanderlust is about a city couple that ends up living at a commune unexpectedly and is from the same team that produced Wet Hot American Summer and Role Models.

They got the idea for the commune from a Swedish film called Together. David and Ken (who also wrote the film) gave themselves one week to do an outline and draft. David said he always enjoyed stories about groups getting together and going against the grain. They had such a “magical experience” doing Wet Hot American Summer that they wanted to recreate the setting of filming in an isolated location which helps everyone bond, David explained.

They said Jennifer Aniston came to join the cast because she was a fan of Role Models. David said she was “game” and “jumped right in.”

Alan Alda said during a scene with Paul, which was improvised, that it was the “happiest time of my life in front of the camera.”

There is a lot of nudity and Alan joked that he would only do a nude scene if it would advance the plot. He also said during a protest scene where the females went topless, he pulled up his shirt, but the scene with him got cut and he jokingly gave David a hard time about that.

David said on the DVD there will be a “bizzaro version” of the film since many risqué scenes ended up being cut.

There was a question about modesty issues and feeling uncomfortable around the nudists. Paul said the biggest challenge was keeping eye contact, but after a while you get used to it and don’t notice it much anymore. David said there was more nudity during the test screening, but they took it down a little because he thought it was too much.

Alan said the sense of community among the cast has persisted a year after and they still send group e-mails to each other. He gives the credit for that community feeling to David Wain.

After the Q&A Paul Rudd and Ken Marino hung around to chat with the fans and sign and take pictures.

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