In case you have a little more room in your brain for Anchorman 2 promotion, the US premiere happened last night at New York’s Beacon Theatre, complete with a fancy red carpet lineup of the film’s stars and a handful of other entertainment reporter bait. Here’s a recap of the night from Splitsider’s post near the end of the press line, complete with photos and a few quotes from the attendees.
One of the first stars to walk the carpet was Anchorman’s canine star Baxter, who was generous with answering all the reporters’ questions.
Billy Eichner showed up! If you haven’t seen his Billy on the Street with Amy Poehler, check it out here.
Judah Nelson, who made his onscreen debut in 2011 on Portlandia, handled the relentless press questions like a total champ. He plays Ron Burgundy’s son Walter in the film.
Here’s a fuzzy photo of Fred Willard. I asked him which Christopher Guest movie he liked to work on the most, and his response: “My favorite one to work on was the first one I did with him, which was Waiting for Guffman. The one that helped me the most was Best in Show because people remember that, and that was the most successful. But everything with him is great.”
Meagan Good and I briefly bonded over our similar names and love for cats, which is another way of saying she won me over with little effort. It should be interesting to see how this comedy newcomer holds up against her costars.
I asked Kate McKinnon about her new web series “Hudson Valley Ballers” and she had this to say: “All I can say is that it’s very very funny. Paula Pell is the funniest woman alive and an angel, James Anderson is the funniest man alive and an angel. It’s very funny, I’ve seen much of it.”
Will Ferrell showed up on the carpet ten minutes early and took his time through the whole thing, which really says a lot about the guy after the millions of promos he’s already done for this film.
I also asked Paul Rudd about “Hudson Valley Ballers,” and he agreed that it looks “ridiculous” and he’s curious to see how it turns out. Like Ferrell, Rudd took his time down the press line and was obviously hilarious and adorable the whole time.
Judd Apatow is answering some fashion-related questions here, so I didn’t get a chance to ask him about his upcoming film projects with Amy Schumer and Key and Peele. Fashion wins this round.
Tina Fey, with Apatow staring at her in awe.
David Koechner remained on the carpet even past the start of the premiere screening so that I could ask him the most important question on my mind that night: What’s Todd Packer up to now? “Jesus,” he said, shaking his head. “Trying to get his car out of a ditch.”
I asked Adam McKay what he thinks about SNL’s writing this season and if there’s been a sketch this year that particularly impressed him. “You know, my daughter is 13 years old and she watches every show, so I watch them with her,” he said. “I like the one with Cecily Strong and Kristen Wiig with two guys, and they were like ten year olds on a date with them – that was my favorite sketch of the year, that made me laugh. I actually watched that sketch twice. Taran Killam came in a bunch of times and was being really funny, and yeah – that’s my favorite sketch I’ve seen so far on the show this season.”
