Some literary circles carry the philosophy that everyone’s first novel will be, by no fault of their own, somewhat auto-biographical. It could be argued that this principle also applies to the world of film. Is the Amy we see on the screen and on the stage a reflection of the Amy her friends and family see in real life?
“I’d the say it’s an older version of me,” she says while nursing a bottle of mineral water. “Maybe from like ten years ago, in terms of sleeping around, drinking a lot, smoking that much pot. Now I’m 34 and I’m really busy. I don’t get drunk very often – but, like, I drink. I probably drink, well, every night. I only smoke a little bit of pot these days. I don’t have very much sex at all, unfortunately. It’s more of a safety issue, really. When I was a sophomore at college I was sleeping around a lot. I was in a bad place, but I didn’t know it.”
Directed by Judd Apatow (the first of his films that he himself didn’t write), Trainwreck features an all-star cast including Bill Hader (who plays the role of Aaron Conners, a sports doctor who attempts to lull Amy out of her world of non-committal debauchery), alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, Vanessa Bayer, Mike Birbiglia, and the surprising inclusion of LeBron James, playing himself. More surprising, however, is how commendable and comical James’ performance is, leading the notorious Ian Crouch to state in The New Yorker that, “It seems safe to declare that he has given the greatest motion-picture acting performance by an active professional basketball player of all time.”
“He was hilarious,” laughs Schumer. “He just showed up like that. I’ve never actually ever seen him play basketball except in the movie. I was ready to help him get ready and coach him but he was just legitimately already hilarious.”
Crouch’s review of James’ performance is indicative of how Trainwreck has been received as a whole. Having premiered at South by Southwest in March before its proper release in the States last month, the film has garnered widespread critical acclaim.
“I was so excited when it premiered,” Schumer says. “Everyone kind of just freaked out. I haven’t been reading that much about it now. It all gets a bit too overwhelming, but people have been super sweet about it.”
Traversing from the stage and small screen to the big screen is no easy feat. Did Schumer encounter many challenges? “It was hard not having complete control,” she says. “When I do my stand-up I’m allowed to say and do whatever I want. On my TV show I always have the final say. But to collaborate with someone? To know that Judd could say, ‘No, we’re not putting that in the movie, we’re putting this in instead,’ – It was really hard to trust that. He’d say, ‘I’m going to film it this way,’ and then I’d feel scared about how it would turn out. I love the movie, I love how it turned out and I learned to trust him.”
Schumer is often referred to as a ‘feminist icon’ within comedy, alongside the ilk of Amy Poehler, Lena Dunham and Tina Fey. Although on the opening weekend of Trainwreck 69 per cent of audience members were female, she doesn’t find any form of gender divide at her stand-up performances.
“When I’m doing stand-up and I’m on the road, the audiences are always 50/50 men and women of all different ages,” she says. “I mean, if I had to pick just one gender to be in the crowd… well, it’d be both women and gay men. But I’m not writing with any particular group in mind. I just write what I think is funny.”
Schumer’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. On the eve of her promotional visit to Australia, she announced a one-off stand-up performance at Arts Centre Melbourne. When tickets went on sale the next day, the website crashed due to unprecedented traffic levels.
“Oh man, really?” she laughs. “I read somewhere that the website might have been having problems. That’s awesome. That’s so bad-arse.”
With her own love of Australia so obviously reciprocated, will she be bringing her stand-up show over for a full national tour anytime soon? “I hope to,” she enthuses. “I do. And, well, if Donald Trump wins the election I’ll be moving here no matter what.”
BY TYSON WRAY
