-This is such a wonderful film.
You play someone who's about to go to Yale
and feels like they maybe missed out on high school.
Set it up for us a little bit.
-Yeah, so "Booksmart" is about two characters.
Molly, who I play, and Amy,
who the incredible Kaitlyn Dever plays,
and they're inseparable best friends
who have basically decided high school is about each other
and academics.
And on the last day of school,
my character learns that the kids that she thought
were just being like frivolous and going out
actually got into very good schools, as well,
and maybe that they should have some fun.
And so they go on this incredible adventurous night out
to prove that they are smart and fun.
-Were you -- were you someone who book smart
and being smart was important to you?
-Yes. So from a very young age,
I was, like, obsessed with being smart.
And when I was 3 -- I'm the youngest.
so, I really wanted to, like, do everything
that everyone else could do.
So, I wanted to prove that I could read and write
at, like, an advanced level.
And mind you, I was 3. Like, I couldn't really do anything.
[ Laughter ]
Could maybe point to a "B," or an "A."
But I begged my brother to write down --
-Your brother Jonah Hill. Yes. -My brother Jonah Hill --
I begged him -- [ Scattered cheers ]
Whoo!
[ Laughter ]
I begged him to write down
"Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory"
on a piece of paper for me
'cause that sounded very astute to me.
I was like, "That is a big word.
-Yes. -And a lot of them in a row."
-Yeah. -So, I begged him,
and he was like 13 at the time.
So he was like, "Ugh fine."
So he writes it down, and I go into my mom and dad's room,
and I'm like, "Mom, look what I wrote."
And she was like, "Jonah!"
And I was like, "No, I wrote it. I wrote it."
She was like, "You did not write this!"
And I run up to Jonah. I'm like, "What did you write?"
He was like, "I wrote 'Eff you.'"
[ Laughter and applause ]
So my attempt at being book smart --
-Yeah, did not --
-My first attempt at being book smart did not work out.
-It is a nice -- this film is a nice companion film
to "Superbad." -Yeah, it's --
-I mean, it is these kind of like, two characters
who really love each other. -Yes.
-In a way that I feel like, you know --
I felt like I hadn't seen it before that,
and I certainly haven't seen it from this perspective.
-Yeah. -And it must just be so nice
to do something, you know, very, very different,
but also has that same quality of heart.
-Yeah, I think if "Booksmart" owes to "Superbad,"
I think we owe this like true celebration of friendship
as you said. -Yeah.
-Like, these girls are in love with each other.
And I think "Booksmart," it's so 2019.
It's rooted in now. It feels so fresh,
and it's female. -Yeah.
-And it's just like, these girls are so smart.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And they're unapologetic about how smart they are,
and it's not an assimilation story.
It's a story of girls just owning their intellect
and their love for each other, and their confidence.
It's great. -It's nice how few of the --
There's none of those cliché moves
that you become accustomed to... -Yes.
-...in those high school movies.
I heard that, you know, obviously,
you're playing friends, and you did not know Kaitlyn
before this, I'm assuming. -Yeah. No.
-But you guys lived together during the shoot.
You kind of went all in on the idea of being old friends?
-Exactly. We went all in.
Basically, we knew -- Molly and Amy had been
inseparable for over ten years.
So we were like, "We have to make up for lost time.
We just met."
And so we thought, "There's no better way
to do that than living together."
Olivia brought it up the first time we met like, very casually.
She's like, "Maybe you could live together."
And Kaitlyn and I were like, "I'm down if you're down."
And this was like before the appetizers had even arrived.
It was like ten minutes into knowing each other.
We were like fully roomies, but it was incredible.
We just like ate like snacks,
and like got ready and brushed our teeth together,
and ran lines, and it was -- it was honestly heaven.
I can't imagine doing the movie without that.
-And you mentioned Olivia Wilde.
This was her first directing gig.
-Yeah.
-And she just does an amazing job.
And do you remember the first time you met her?
-Yeah. So I met her once briefly before this.
But the first time we like sat down together was at this café
in Times Square because she was doing "1984,"
and I was doing "Hello, Dolly!" at that time,
and I was just so deeply inspired
by just sitting next to her.
But we had very different approaches
to our, like, preshow ritual.
So, I was doing "Hello, Dolly!" and she was doing "1984,"
and it was like right before our shows, like an hour.
And I was sitting there like a grandma with my little
like, hot water and honey,
and she had like six shots of espresso.
[ Laughter ]
It was like one after the other.
Just like, pitching me the movie in the best way,
and I was just enthralled.
She's radiant, she's brilliant,
and she led our film with such humanity and confidence,
and it was just -- It was wonderful.
-You mentioned "Hello, Dolly!" and I'm so -- I'm so delighted
that I got to see you onstage in that show.
-Yes. -And I know we sort of might
have established that Jonah was not the best older brother.
But... -He is.
-He is. And I know how much you guys --
-It's been like 20 years since that story.
-Yeah, exactly. Well, he more than made up for it
because he got a "Hello, Beanie!" tattoo
to honor your Broadway debut. [ Audience awws ]
-It's insane. He said it very like, offhand.
He was like, "Maybe I'll get a 'Hello, Beanie!' tattoo."
I was like, "Ha-ha." [ Laughter ]
And then, he was like, "Where should I get it?"
I was like, "Maybe like here." Expecting it to be this big.
It's like that. I mean, you can see.
-Yeah, I know. -And they had to shave his arm,
which is my favorite part. [ Laughter ]
-I also -- I love talking about your mom, Sharon.
-Yes, the queen. -Last time you were here,
it was about how your vet -- your veterinarian fired her
because -- -She got fully fired.
-Yeah, she was difficult to deal with.
[ Laughter ]
I want to show your beautiful mom.
There she is. -Look at her.
-She's gorgeous. -She's so gorgeous.
-What's new with Sharon? How's she doing?
-We found a new vet. -Okay, you found a new vet.
-We found a more accepting vet of her --
What do you call it? Her -- -Peccadillos?
-Sure. [ Laughter ]
You know, she found a new vet, but she's incredible.
She has this incredible charity called Your Mom Cares.
-Great. -That she is just working
so hard on. They're bringing awareness
to children's mental health issues.
I'm so proud of her.
She's the most incredible inspiration to me.
-And then there's some great guest stars, I should say,
you know, co-stars in the film,
Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis... -Some people you know.
-...Mike O'Brien, some people I know.
And Lisa Kudrow. And is it true that Lisa Kudrow
was, of all the people,
she could recognize from your family.
She saw your mom, and was into that.
-Yeah, so we're at the premiere last week.
And she walks by me. She walks by Jonah,
and she turns around to my mom.
She goes, "Oh, my God. You're on a commercial!"
And my mom -- I never have seen her -- she's never rattled.
But my mom is in fact, on a Facebook Portal commercial.
[ Laughter ] And Lisa knew, baby. Lisa knew.
-Good for you, Sharon. -You go, Shay.
-You go. Hey, thanks for being here.
-So good to see you again. -Congrats on the film.
-That's Beanie Feldstein, everybody.