MANILA, Philippines - A rambunctious bunch of talented actors led by Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter and Ed Helms raises the marquee value of New Line Cinema's action comedy “We’re the Millers.â€
Jason Sudeikis (“Horrible Bossesâ€) plays David Clark, a small-time pot dealer whose clientele includes chefs and soccer moms, but no kids—after all, he has his scruples. So what could go wrong? Plenty. A trio of gutter punks steals his stash and cash, leaving him in major debt to his supplier, Brad.
In order to wipe the slate clean—and maintain a clean bill of health—David must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad’s latest shipment in from Mexico. Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose and wannabe customer Kenny, as well as streetwise teen Casey, David devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the “Millers†are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.
Jennifer Aniston (“Just Go With Itâ€) portrays Rose who reluctantly accepts David’s proposal to be his “wife†only after she realizes she has no other choice. “She does not initially agree to sign on for this adventure because, despite being a stripper, she has morals, she has boundaries, and breaking the law is not something she is willing to do,†Aniston says. “But the rules are changing at work in a way that she doesn’t agree with, and she’s broke. And David’s offered to pay her a lot of money, so she feels she has no choice but to go along.â€
But a wife is not going to be enough. To be a real family, they’ll need some fake kids. Along for the weekend as their “son,†is Kenny, played by young British actor Will Poulter (“The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treaderâ€). A lonely latchkey teen, who lives in David's building with his absentee mother, “Kenny is this 18-year-old virgin who views a local drug dealer as a father figure, and in many ways, he really is the heart of the movie,†director Rawson Marshall Thurber states. “Will plays him with just the right balance of sweetness and intelligence and naïveté.â€
Pierced street punk Casey, played by Emma Roberts (“Valentine's Dayâ€), rounds out the Miller family as the daughter David never wanted. Roberts allows that her character “is a runaway and a bit of a delinquent, a brat, a rebel, and in it for the money. The four of them, the Millers, could not be any more different; they’re all kind of loveable, but each character has a quirky shortcoming of some kind, which makes for a funny group. And a pretty realistic family, I think,†she laughs.
The Millers’ assignment comes at the behest of Brad, a major player in the Denver drug market and beyond. Ed Helms (“The Hangover†trilogy) took on the small but critical role and, much to the filmmakers’ delight, brought his own sense of wackiness to the part.
“Brad is a drug kingpin who is both preppy and a little bit obsessed with orcas, and a very fun and very weird character to play,†Helms says. “He’s chipper, happy about life, but also somewhat sociopathic, which was a terrific combination of things to work with.â€
New Line Cinema’s “We’re The Millers†opens across the Philippines on Sept. 18 and is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.