Fighting on a mini-golf course, swearing in front of kids and getting locked on the roof of a shopping centre while desperately seeking a toilet — ah yes, just another day in the life of everyone’s favourite social misfits, 'The Inbetweeners'.
Joe Thomas, Simon Bird, James Buckley and Blake Harrison – better known as Simon, Will, Jay and Neil from UK comedy smash hit 'The Inbetweeners' — are back for a second film instalment, which sees them leave the drudgery of sixth-form behind as they embark on a gap year to Australia.
Anyone familiar with the show knows the sort of awkward, cringe-inducing antics the lads get up to on-screen, but it seems even when the cameras aren’t rolling they just can’t help themselves. “We had a day [filming on the Gold Coast] which was like an episode of ‘The Inbetweeners’,” James explains. “We went and got pancakes, then we went to play mini golf and me and Simon got into a fight.”
“That’s right,” Joe laughs. “You got into a fight on the crazy golf course; that was really funny … it was quite swear-y; considering the amount of kids there, there was quite a lot of lewd language.”
“It was a stand up fight in front of some quite young kids,” Simon adds.
“Then we went to play computer games at the arcades,” James continues, “then we went to the cinema and then we got locked in the Pacific Fair mall.”
“We got lost,” Blake says, “we went out the wrong exit and just got lost. We were in the car park and we got stuck behind a bunch of barriers that they had shut down.”
“Yeah, they closed the mall down while we were watching this film so when we came out we were sort of trapped in the mall. We ended up on the roof, I really needed to poo,” James laughs. “Honestly it was like: ‘guys, guys come on! We’ve got to find a way out of here; I’m going to shit myself!”
“We tried to exit out the back doors of a supermarket. You know those funny doors made of plastic flaps?” Joe asks.
“Yeah,” James says, “they’re clearly NOT the way out but I was so desperate and just saying to you, ‘guys, we’ve got to go! I need to find a toilet!”
‘The Inbetweeners 2’ also sees writers/ creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley step into director’s shoes for the first time, which was either exhilarating or exasperating depending on who you ask. “It was great,” Joe says, “well, it was really good for us and I think it was quite trying for them.”
“It was horrible for them,” Simon laughs. “Beforehand they were just writers and we had other people directing but they took on new responsibilities for this film and we absolutely laid into them. Because usually there is an authority figure who isn’t Iain or Damon [because], like the four of us, they muck around quite a lot ... [but] they started behaving professionally and trying to tell us off … and they had the audacity to try and get us to rehearse!”
Blake explains that Joe came up with the best analogy for their on-set relationship with Iain and Damon: “It’s like when you’re in a class and the teacher leaves the room and puts one of the students in charge of the class, that’s what it felt like. They had no natural kind of respect or authority from us, so we were constantly taking the mickey out of them.”
“I mean Iain’s right behind us and we’re still slagging him off,” James says, pointing at the director quietly reading a newspaper.
“He can hear us,” Joe says.
“Iain, no-one likes you,” taunts Simon.
So, although the boys agree making the film was “fun and relaxing”, Iain had a different version of events: “Relaxing?” he says with a chuckle, recounting his experience. “Imagine a warm bath with candles and aromatherapy – it was the polar opposite of that for literally months of my life.”
While ‘The Inbetweeners 2’ looks to be the final appearance of Simon, Will, Jay and Neil, the four are positive about furthering their professional futures and disarm any concerns about being typecast with similar ‘loser’ roles. “We are all incredibly lucky to be in the show,” Joe says, “and although there is that typecasting issue, you can’t have one thing and not the other.
“I’d rather be typecast because I’ve been in a very popular show … I would sooner play to my strength than deliberately do something strange just because I’m so determined not to be typecast — I know my limits.”
“Also, everyone’s typecast,” James adds. “Vince Vaughn plays the same character, Jennifer Aniston, she’s played the same character since ‘Friends’ — I don’t know why I picked those two — everyone’s typecast and that’s what you do. This is what we do, this is what we’re good at and we’re still very young and we have aspirations to do more.”
“None of us are in a mad rush,” Joe says, “we all want to wait until the right thing comes along, something that we have as much faith in as we all do in this and projects like that are comparatively rare.”
James agrees: “Yeah, I think the most important thing for me is just something I’m going to enjoy and have fun doing because this is such a treat that we got to make these films.”
“It’s a very unique set, our set,” Blake says, “and coming in to work every day knowing that you’re going to have a laugh and muck around with these boys is a real treat.”
“I love it, because it’s so unprofessional,” James says with a laugh, “no, but really we’re very close, we have a relationship like we’re family and we don’t have to tiptoe around each other, we can talk to each other however we like, we all know where we’re coming from.”
“And,” Simon adds bluntly, “Iain knows he’s not respected.”
‘The Inbetweeners 2’ is currently screening nationally.
