Trippin’ the fright fantastic

Though sitting together on a small couch in a plush suite in the Merrion hotel, the difference in temperament between the two Fright Night stars is immediately evident. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is as friendly as one would expect from Superbad’s McLovin, literally bouncing up and down in his seat like a child dizzy on lemonade. Russian-born Anton Yelchin, on the other hand, is amiable but serious, becoming a caricature of cool as he continues to flick through a magazine as we chat. Though maybe he’s just feeling a bit fragile from the night before, as following the premiere of their new film, the boys celebrated in traditional Irish style – by going clubbing and getting slaughtered.

“Oh man, we had a lot of Irish whiskeys,” moans Mintz-Plasse. “And this guy ” – pointing at Yelchin – “sucks, because he’s like a whiskey connoisseur so I was trying to talk to some cute girls and he’s all, ‘No, I’m going to sit at this bar and talk intently about whiskey.’”
“But that’s the problem with you women!” Yelchin asserts, suddenly turning on me. “I want to drink it with a cute girl, but women aren’t into whiskey. Do you drink whiskey?” When I admit that I don’t, he sighs dramatically. “See, you are the problem with women! Oh god, I’ve just given you your headline, haven’t I? ‘Anton Yelchin: Chauvinist Pig!’ It’s true though.”
Now that we’ve established the major flaw of my sex, it’s time to explore the major successes of the two fine male specimens before me. Though now clearly enjoying the perks of the job, their individual roads to stardom have been completely different. Mintz-Plasse was just your average college-bound high-school student when he beat 500 hopeful auditionees and exploded onto our screens in the hit comedy Superbad, which was produced by Judd Apatow and starred comedy staples Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and Seth Rogan.

“It was crazy, it was such an unexpected overnight success. Nobody was interested in me, then one week after the movie everyone was suddenly looking at me and shouting quotes across the street at me. It was a bit overwhelming. I mean I’ll always be grateful to Superbad but the level of fame has been scary. I’ve even been put on ‘worst dressed’ lists – that’s just weird! Who are these people that care deeply about what I’m wearing?”
Yelchin’s career has been a slower climb, as his critically acclaimed roles in Alpha Dog, Charlie Bartlett, Star Trek and Terminator Salvation allowed him to steadily seep into cinema-goers’ collective consciousness. But his career hasn’t been devoid of controversy, as he had a large role in Jodie Foster’s The Beaver, which was made before – but released after – leading man Mel Gibson was publicly disgraced after tapes of his violent, abusive and racist rants to his ex-wife Oksana Grigorieva were leaked online.

“It was such a bummer because everything becomes entertainment, everything becomes about that one week that people can relish some bullshit that’s happening in someone’s personal life. It just became this thing of singling out one individual who’s in the public eye, a person who is obviously working through things that are profound. I just see it that it’s none of my business. I just know that Mel and Jodie were incredible to work with, they’re the best. Mel is the kind of guy that’ll make a joke and then the camera rolls and he’s crying. He can just bring sadness out of humour, he’s a very intense human being and feels deeply, he’s brilliant.”
However, despite their differences, Yelchin and Mintz-Plasse became fast friends during the filming of Fright Night, claiming they bonded over their shared hometown of LA, dry wit and love of both the original and the updated Fright Night – despite being born four years after the original was released.

“Making Fright Night was genuinely a blast,” enthuses Yelchin. “Colin Farrell and David Tennant are such lovely guys – I mean, how can you not fancy Colin? And our director Craig Gillespie is a genius at getting the balance right between horror and comedy, but he is such an actors’ director, he let us do what we wanted, it was very free.”
“Yeah, there was a lot of improv on set,” agrees Mintz-Plasse, “which was great, because you know that the director really trusts you and respects you and he hired you specifically so you could bring your own personal flava.”
“’Flava’?!” splutters Yelchin.
“Yeah dude! We brought our own flava and spice to the pasta dish!”
The two actors’ stars seem to be burning bright, and they’ll be bringing their – ahem – “flava” to an impressive array of projects in the near future. Yelchin has signed on to appear in the newly announced Star Trek sequel and the historical thriller The Winter Queen. As for Mintz-Plasse, he has roles in How To Train Your Dragon 2 and The To Do List, alongside The OC beauty Rachel Bilson. And as if that wasn’t enough, he’s also planning to release a hip-hop album of all things, with Harry Potter star Tom Felton.
“I’m bringing back white-boy rap, yo!”

Acting, music – world domination can surely only be an ingenious plan away.