Joining lead star Anna Faris in Columbia Pictures' new comedy "The House Bunny" are two teen children of Hollywood royalty – Rumer Willis, the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore; and Colin Hanks, the son of Tom Hanks.
Produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions and written by the same team that brought audiences the feel-good comedy "Legally Blonde," "The House Bunny" tells the story of Shelley Darlington (Faris), a Playboy Bunny who teaches an awkward group of college girls in the Zeta sorority about the opposite sex – only to learn that what boys ultimately want is what's on the inside.
Rumer Willis plays the role of Joanne, a shy girl in a back brace. "Joanne has always hidden behind her brace," says Willis. "Even though she doesn't need it anymore, it's kept her from having to show the world her true self."
"Talk about physical comedy," co-producer Allen Covert gushes. "Rumer just ran with it the minute she found out she was going to be that person. She took the brace as a prop and used it to find the comedy and become that character."
"That brace was like my purse for eight weeks – it went everywhere I went," Willis says. "At one point, we were rehearsing – I was lying on a blanket, and I couldn't stand up. [Director] Fred Wolf comes over, and goes 'Are you serious or are you just kidding?'" the actress laughs. "I was like a turtle on its back, arms waving helplessly, until somebody helped me up."
In the film, the seven sisters of Zeta House are not the only ones to get a makeover. While Shelley's mission is to transform the dowdy damsels in distress into glamour girls, the girls help Shelley with her own transformation when she meets a guy unlike any she has ever met before. Colin Hanks takes the role of Oliver, the sweet-natured administrator of a nursing home. "Shelley instantly falls for Oliver's kindness and his charm. I always imagine that she never met anybody like that. He's not the kind of guy that hangs out at the Playboy Mansion," says Anna Faris.
And Oliver had never met anyone quite like Shelley. Hanks says, "They go on a series of dates that don't really go very well because Shelley is constantly trying to impress Oliver. First she's playing the hard-to-get girl, and next, she tries to be the super-smart-bookworm, and that doesn't impress him. What impresses him is when she starts just being herself. He sees something in Shelley that is cute and endearing and special. The way that Oliver sees her is not the way that most people see her."
Colin Hanks was most recently seen in the thriller "Untraceable" opposite Diane Lane, and in Peter Jackson's "King Kong."
Rumer Willis recently wrapped "Wild Cherry" with Rob Schneider. She was most recently seen in the independent film "From Within" which premiered this April at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Opening soon across the Philippines, "The House Bunny" is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.