Press Junket: Blades of Glory

For a casual passer by, the sight of two male, heterosexual Hollywood actors serenading each other to the tune of Aerosmith’s I Don't Want To Miss A Thing would be bemusing to say the least.

But for Jon Heder and Will Arnett it’s all part of the shenanigans of the promotional trail for their new film, the Ben Stiller produced comedy Blades of Glory, which takes aim at a sport ripe for lampooning, that of world champion pairs figure skating.

Heder, who gained cult status as the eponymous dry witted nerd Napoleon Dynamite plays the effete Jimmy MacElroy, a former child prodigy now a champion ice skater who comes to blows with his arch rival Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell again dusting of his brand of testosterone fuelled lunacy after Talladega Nights) at the ice skating world championships.

 As a consequence, both are banned from competing as individuals but in a canny loophole the enemies decide to team up as the first male paired figure skaters ever. Arnett, best known for his scene stealing role as Gob Bluth in the acclaimed sitcom Arrested Development plays Stranz Van Waldenberg one half of an unnaturally close sibling pair (Arnett’s wife Amy Poehler plays his sister) out to make sure they don’t succeed.

Sitting on a mock Olympic podium on a metropolitan ice skating rink in Sydney, Heder and Arnett have skated out for a brief press conference after the assembled media has been regaled with routines from champion ice-skaters, a much more subdued affair compared to the campily amusing routines and costumes in the film.

First up a question regarding accusations that the movie ridicules the gay community. Heder responds in jest, “I think it’s just simply a love story between two men but in the sense of brotherly love.” Next up, did Heder’s amusing dance moves as Napoleon Dynamite assist his transition to the ice? “No, not at all,” he says equivocally. “When you dance on a hard floor it’s much easier. It becomes a different language when you go on the ice because you don’t have control of your feet.”

Heder, who bravely suggested he wear a costume replete with peacock feathers in the film, reveals there was pain involved when FILMINK asks of the cast’s rigorous training regimen. “I actually broke my ankle during training so that kind of messed things up for a while,” he says. “I was off the ice for about 5 or 6 months. Most of us, aside from Will [Arnett] had to learn how to just skate in general on our own and then had to learn pairs skating along with that and then routines. Every single time we felt like we were doing pretty well they’d say ‘Oh well, here’s a new challenge’ and then we’d get down and try to kill ourselves….”

Arnett, who grew up ice skating in Canada adds “Everybody had to get up on their skating so there was a sense of camaraderie because we were all in this thing together.”

The earnestness thankfully doesn’t last long with the actors who share little actual screen time dropping gags at pace. Playing enemies in the film, they say, wasn’t a stretch. “Off the set, it was always me in my trailer thinking ‘How am I going to take out Will today?” jests Heder.

Heder jests that being a real life twin informed his portrayal of one half of a trail blazing male skating pair alongside the anarchic screen persona of Ferrell. “We shared everything,” he said “There were moments when we looked into each other’s eyes and I could read his thoughts. It wasn’t a pretty place….”

When asked why Blades of Glory achieved box office gold in the US Heder responded, “It’s colourful, it’s got a lot of costumes and crazy characters, set pieces, make up and feathers. If you hate fun……” Arnett here interjects, “Don’t come to it.”

By James Mitchell. First published online at filmink.com.au, June 2007.