Michael Cera Wanted ‘The Thong Song’ to Make It Into ‘Superbad’
Few if any 21st century comedies have withstood the test of time as well as Superbad has. The movie’s incredible dialog and subversively affectionate story are as effective now as they were when it first hit theaters in 2007. Superbad also serves as ground zero for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, like Michael Cera. Among his best scenes in the movie is when his character, Evan, sings “These Eyes” by The Guess Who at an increasingly sketchy house party. In an oral history based around Superbad’s 15th anniversary, the actor revealed he wanted to sing a different song.
Michael Cera is one of many future stars who got their big break in ‘Superbad’
Superbad’s origins are well known at this point. But it bears repeating given how miraculous it is that the movie came together as well as it did. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg began wiring on the screenplay in middle school. They continually added their real-life experiences to the script for over a decade before Judd Apatow helped shepherd the movie toward production.
Stars Emma Stone and Christopher Mintz-Plasse had never been in a movie before. However, Cera and Jonah Hill had slightly more pedigree as actors. Their portrayals of Seth (Hill) and Evan (Cera) as a teenage odd couple who need the film’s entire runtime to realize how much their friendship matters to them were revelatory. Hill gets more outlandish laugh lines, but Cera’s awkward straight-man routine also leads to some incredible moments, like the one in question.
He had different ideas about how the ‘These Eyes’ scene should go
During Seth and Evan’s journey to find booze, they end up at a house party with a bunch of older strangers. At one point, Evan ends up locked in a room with some men preparing to do cocaine together. One of them mistakes Evan for a singer they met at a previous party. After some slight pressure invoked by fear, Evan leads the room in a sing-a-long of “These Eyes.”
In a Vanity Fair retrospective about the movie, Cera revealed that they shot different versions of the scene using other songs. His top choice was not the one that was used. “[We did] one where I’m just dancing, one where I’m singing ‘The Thong Song,’ and then this version with ‘These Eyes,'” he said. “I was personally very hopeful “The Thong Song” would make it into the movie, but now it feels undeniably right that it should be ‘These Eyes.'”
The filmmakers made the right choice. With all due respect to Sisqo, “The Thong Song” is too obvious as a joke to really land. A more sentimental and obscure track like “These Eyes” adds a level of surprise and absurdity to the scenario that makes the whole situation funnier.
The cast knew they were part of something special during filming
Initial test screenings for Superbad were highly positive. Unfortunately, good execution isn’t enough to make a box office hit, especially with a cast of then-unknowns.
“For a while, we weren’t tracking. We had a great trailer. But it was looking like it wasn’t going to open,” said Judd Apatow, one of the movie’s producers. “And I remember jumping on a call with [Sony Pictures Co-Chairperson] Amy Pascal begging her to throw more money into commercials because we all felt like when people discover this, it’s going to take off. And she went for it.”
To get the word out, the cast hosted watch parties at colleges around America as part of a global promo tour that Cera refers to as a “publicity rocket.” As the tour rolled on, a pattern emerged: people adored what they saw.
By the time it was released on August 17, 2007, Superbad was now an event. The movie ended up making $170 million on a $20 million budget, became a cultural touchstone for a generation, and transformed the careers of all of its principal players. “[I] definitely began being recognized about 10,000 times more on the day it came out than the day right before that,” recalled Cera.
