Kevin Smith is back with his latest effort, the quasi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, The 4:30 movie. Set in 1986, the film follows a group of teenage boys who spend the day at their local movie theater, sneaking in and out while trying to fulfill their teenage dream: sneaking into an R-rated movie with a girl.
The 4:30 movie Starring a quartet of young actors in the leading roles: Austin Zajur plays Brian David, a character based on a teenage Kevin Smith, while Nick Cirillo and Reid Northrup play his two best friends, with Sienna Agudong as Melody, Brian David’s girlfriend . dreams In addition to the young leads, The 4:30 movie Boasts an all-star list of supporting players in minor roles, including Kevin Smith regulars like Jason Mewes, Justin Long, Jason Lee, Jeff Anderson and Method Man, among many others, including some cameos that we won’t spoil here.
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In advance of The 4:30 movies theatrical release, Screen Rant Interviewed the four young leads of the film. They talk about working with Kevin Smith, shooting at his famous SModcastle cinemas and dressing in 1980s fashion, including some accessories that were provided by various crew members from the set.
The cast of the 4:30 movie share their first experiences with R-rated movies
“We bought tickets to some PG movie and then snuck into this sold out show…”
Screen Rant: Hello, everyone!
Austin Zajur: What’s up?
Oh, man, what an odyssey this movie is! It reminded me so much of when I was, you know, in high school, skipping school to go to the movies, hanging out with my friends and talking about Star Wars all day. All this. So my first question is for the group. My first R rated movie was Starship Troopers. My dad was cool like that. He took me when I was six years old. What was your first R-rated movie in theaters? And how did you see it?
Austin Zajur: My first R rated experience was me and a couple of my best friends when I was, I believe, 12 years old. We went and saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall and we bought tickets to some PG movie and then snuck into the sold out show of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and we saw our first male genitalia on the cinema screen and it was pretty crazy. Yes, I really like Nicholas Stoller.
Nick Cirillo: Fantastic. I think when I was maybe seven or eight, I convinced my dad to take me to see Hostel, which he immediately took me out and we spent the rest of the night in the arcade. So that was very memorable. But yeah, it was a good first go-round at the cinema for an R-rated movie. I feel that this is quite difficult.
Reed Northrup: I don’t remember my first time in theaters. But I remember, my family was moving and I was really anxious about it. And so they let me watch Borat. I was too young for that, as I remember. And I think it was my first R-rated movie ever. I just remember my parents looking at each other with such revelation when I laughed at my little butt, too young to see Borat.
Siena Agudong: I don’t remember the theater either. But my whole family and I watched We’re the Millers. I don’t remember how young I was, but that definitely… it was a lot.
The 4:30 movie cast on the Kevin Smith of it all
“When Brian David says, ‘I got a 24 carat case of love,’ like, that’s a real thing that happened.”
Fantastic, fantastic. Austin, your characters are, to an extent, an avatar for Kevin Smith himself. Tell me about becoming Teen Kevin, but also getting to make Brian David your own guy. What was that weight like?
Austin Zajur: Honestly, it was super freeing, because the whole time, when we were in pre-production, when I was working on the character, I was asking Kevin, like, “Do you want me to do a little Jersey thing ?You want me to do it like you do? He kind of just gave it to me, because I think he felt weird. “Yes, do it.” Feel like with Nick or whatever, with Playing Ernie, maybe he was a little more like, “Yeah, go be like Ernie.” But he was a little more open with me, I feel.
But he sent me a lot of his old tape recorders. When Brian David says, “I got a 24 carat case of love,” like, that’s a real thing that happened on tape. If you go on YouTube and type in Emo Kev, there’s a whole podcast where Kevin and Scott Mosier listen back to all of Kevin’s old tape recording stuff that he started doing after… I looked in and kind of correlated the timeline. And, like, a month after he saw say something, he totally started using a tape recorder to record his thoughts.
For anyone who wants to answer this. Tell me about shooting at SModcastle Cinemas. I figure the vibe would be cozier than a typical Hollywood set. Did Kevin host special screenings for the cast and crew? Or is he like, “Alright, folks, we’ve got to get our shots. No goofing around.”
Siena Agudong: Well, yes, it was crazy, because this is obviously his theater. And I remember sometimes how, during lunch, Kevin would disappear. And I’d ask, “Oh, where’s Kevin?” And he’d be like, “Oh, he’s probably just editing upstairs.” And I don’t remember if it was like the second week of shooting, but Kevin took us and we watched, like, everything we’d filmed so far, and he’d already edited it. You know, roughly, but you could actually see it. And 15 minutes later, we went back down and shot. It was just so cool. And so special. That just doesn’t happen. I have never experienced anything like this.
The surprising 1980s fashion from the 4:30 movie
Siena Agudong shares that, “I kind of felt like a mannequin.”
Sienna, while I have you here, you play melody. You look like you stepped out of an issue of Seventeen magazine from 1986. The hair, the big old scrunchie, the clothes. Do you love this wife? Or are you happy to return to the present day when the shooting was over?
Sienna Agudong: I don’t think I had too strong an opinion. But I think I loved everyone… I felt like a mannequin at times. Because everyone was just so excited to like, bring the things they wore in the 80s. I mean, I had these jelly bracelets that I believe belonged to someone from set. And they’re just they’re just playing with everything. And the shock was just a piece. But I was just playing dress up every single day. It was just so exciting to see everyone replay their high school years.
Reed. The same question. Did you keep your little ponytail thing?
Reed Northrup: I have to tell you, Zach, it’s absolutely framed in my house. It’s here on my bookshelf in a little glass frame so you can see it, and I can have it forever. I will say, my mom also asked if it was my real hair, which was crazy because she had seen me the month before and it was nowhere in sight. So she thought it was biologically possible that I grew it out, which quickly really baffles me. But yes, I have the rat tail, still on my shelf.
Yes, you look like a prototype of the kid from Terminator 2.
Reed Northrup: Oh, totally. totally.
The 4:30 movie stars on the unbreakable bonds of friendship
“With them, it was so easy to feel brotherly.”
Nicholas or Nick. You get to be the louder, tougher, not quite the leader, but the immature older brother of the group. Tell me about how the weight of your guy, how much of a dick do you get to be while still being a pal?
Nick Cirillo: Well, that, I guess, was the main challenge, so to speak, of the character. You know, remaining to a point that it’s still believable that these guys are friends at the end of the day, after such a fictional performance. But really, it was so easy because it’s more like an antagonistic, as you say, older brother type of thing. This was really fun to explore with Austin and Reed. It was so easy to feel brotherly with them, I guess. We can really grasp each other and know that, in a way, we’re still on certain terms, certain boundaries, you know, not overstepping as actors, which bleeds through to the characters, I think.
Yeah, I mean, when I hang out with my really close friends and, you know, we have a couple of drinks and we’re hanging out, you know, the things that we say to each other, it’s like , from the outside in, it’s like, “You’re friends?” Of course, we wouldn’t say it any other way. Yes, in a way, it’s almost like the best thing a friend can be for you to each other, is like a punching bag sometimes, you know, a safe person to go and be toxic with together!
Austin Zajur: I feel like that connection was super organic with all of us on set. Like we would just joke about each other, like, “I feel like you pointed out the last names,” just screwed with each other and stuff.
Well, you guys, this movie is fantastic. I’ll probably watch the screener again before it expires on me. It is beautiful. It is a snapshot of America. And you are such a great camera. I can watch you shoot the shit, you know, as long as you want. So thank you so much for this film. And I hope to catch you all on what you decide to do next.
Austin Zajur: When you watch it again, make sure to … like, almost everything in it is … like Brian’s mom’s character is named Grace. There are so many easter eggs, to an extent a meta film without being like one of Kevin’s View Askewniverse meta films with like callback jokes. It’s honestly just so true. If you really dive in and, like, research stuff, it’s pretty crazy.
More about the 4:30 movie
Writer-director Kevin Smith delivers his most personal film to date with this coming-of-age story—set in the summer of 1986—that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking in movies at the local Cineplex. When one of the guys invites the girl of his dreams to see an R-rated film, all hilarity breaks out, as a self-important theater manager (Ken Jeong) and teen rivals interfere with his best-laid plans. Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Jason Biggs, and more contribute outrageous characters to this poignant comic valentine to movies and the youth of the 80s.
The 4:30 movie Releases in theaters on September 13.