FILM

Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey were among the stars in London last week plugging ‘Horrible Bosses’. Robin Askew chuckles politely at their risqué interchanges.

Kevin Spacey, distinguished Artistic Director of London's Old Vic Theatre Company and honorary CBE, is doubled up with mirth, his face turning a dark shade of beetroot. Jennifer Aniston – aka the sweet Rachel from 'Friends' and veteran of a zillion inoffensive romantic comedies – is struggling to keep her composure. Yep, the international press conference for 'Horrible Bosses' has taken a turn for the obscene, thanks to the unruly actors who play the film's three protagonists: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis. Sadly, the rules governing New Monthly Venue mean that I am not permitted to share the shameful details with you. Suffice it to say that the phrases "squirter" and "Jackson Pollock" are involved.

Later, a possibly confused man from Austria will wonder whether Spacey could ever imagine asking Aniston to play Richard III. "Yes I can imagine that," he deadpans. "I can also imagine her telling me to go f*ck myself. 'Come play Richard III.' There's an offer!"

Directed by Seth Gordon, 'Horrible Bosses' is a comedy very much in the popular 'Hangover' mould, in which a trio of put-upon employees decide their monstrous bosses must die, but quickly find themselves out of their depth. Much of the advance publicity has focused, rightly, on Aniston's successful trashing of her increasingly tiresome 'good girl' image after a seemingly interminable series of anodyne romcoms. Here she plays a sexually aggressive dentist determined to have her way with minion Charlie Day. "Did I worry about that?" she says in reply to the obvious question. "No, not at all. That was the fun of it – how far it went. I really went for it. The whole movie really went for it. It wasn't 'Sort of Horrible Bosses'. They were really horrible."

So was her performance inspired by anyone in particular? "No, I have never come across anyone like her. So it was pretty much kind of going into my own dark imagination and seeing what I could come up with."

Someone wants to know what was the most embarrassing scene for each of the actors. "I had to remove my clothes and stand next to this woman, who looks fantastic," says Day, gesturing towards Aniston. "I was embarrassed about myself."

"It was embarrassing for me to have to meet you for one day and then straddle you," she responds. "I was embarrassed for myself. Do you forgive me?"

"Probably the scene where I stick things up my butt," interrupts Sudeikis firmly.

The inevitable question about whether any of the cast have themselves had horrible bosses provokes some unexpectedly interesting responses. "I've never had a horrible boss," insists Spacey. "But I have had really remarkably stupid bosses. And that is frustrating because you think, 'How did you get this job?' And then you realise, 'Oh right, you’re the son of…'"

"I was strongly encouraged to learn guitar for 'Juno'," reveals Bateman. "There was one scene where I play two lines from some Courtney Love song. And I just didn't see the need for it. I actually passed on the movie because they kept coming back with guitar lessons. But we managed to find a compromise, so I ended up doing the movie."

Spacey, of course, is a boss. "I've been very fortunate since I started at the Old Vic. It's now my eighth year living here and the start of my seventh season. I guess there's a little over 60 employees in the company. They get what we're about and they make me look very good."

He carries on in this vein for a couple of minutes. Yes, yes, but do they have a nickname for him? "I think it's 'Asshole', but I'm not really sure."

Bateman takes a stab at the conundrum of box office success versus critical acclaim: "I would say you care about box office dependent upon your profit participation trigger. Critical love is good if the film doesn’t make any money. You've got to come out with some sort of a plus."

This prompts Aniston to confess that she's been hurt by critics. "It's so inconsistent. And today critics… it really feels like it's personal digs as opposed to constructive critiques."

"There is a tendency to criticise a personality rather than the content or actually the performance, and that's the way it goes," chips in Spacey, importantly. "The days of Kenneth Tynan are behind us."

There's a brief pause while all hacks present reflect humbly on our inadequacies. Alas, the moment is ruined when Day pipes up: "I don't know who that is."

"He was a very, very well known, well respected critic," responds Spacey, mock-witheringly. "He would have hated you."

'Horrible Bosses' is out now. See review and Event Search for screening details.

Copyright Robin Askew 2011