Details Behind the Bateman/Sudeikis/Forte/Helms Mumford & Sons Video Revealed

On Sunday, Mumford & Sons released a super funny music video for their song “Hopeless Wanderer,” starring Ed Helms, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Will Forte; and today, The LA Times caught up with the video’s director, Sam Jones (I Am Trying to Break Your Heart) for a look behind the scenes. Here are some bullet point facts about it:

  • The video was shot in one day in April on a Southern California movie ranch called Golden Oak Ranch.
  • The actors offered to work for free, but they had to be paid hundreds of dollars because of Screen Actors Guild minimums.
  • Director Sam Jones pitched the video idea to the record label but after they approved it, he says, “I was like, ‘Oh God,’ because I didn’t have any actors that I’d actually talked to.” He called Jason Sudeikis, who he’d worked with on a photo shoot, who called his Horrible Bosses costar Jason Bateman. Will Forte and Ed Helms came on board after that.
  • The band wanted input over which comedians were in the video, but Jones refused.
  • Sudeikis sang at the top of his lungs the whole day, despite the fact that he was lip syncing.
  • Helms wanted to play the band’s banjo player because he really plays the banjo, but Jones cast him as the pianist because he looks more like him.
  • “The band loved it — they didn’t want to change a thing,” said Jones. “I’m obviously so excited that everybody is watching it. It was one of those rare experiences where the record company and the band really let me do what I wanted to do.”
  • Details Behind the Bateman/Sudeikis/Forte/Helms […]