When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Jack Black and Michael Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic road trip through the ancient world in Columbia Pictures' comedy Year One. 

ABOUT THE FILM
In the beginning, there was nothing.  Then, Harold Ramis had an idea.  "I was thinking about two things in comedy that I love," says the writer-director-producer.  "One was Mel Brooks' Two-Thousand-Year-Old Man, and the other was an improvisation I staged 35 years ago with John Belushi and Bill Murray. Bill played a Cro-Magnon man with a completely hip and contemporary vibe, and John played a Neanderthal Man as an idiot.  For this movie, I had those inspirations in mind when I thought it would be really interesting to put someone with a contemporary consciousness in an ancient setting."
That's when he hit upon the idea for Year One.  In his words: "Two innocent, know-nothing Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, Zed and Oh, get kicked out of their Garden of Eden paradise and begin a search for what life is all about." 
Taking that trek is none other than Jack Black.  "Zed is living a very tribal lifestyle in his primitive village with hunters and gatherers," he says, "but he's wondering if there's more to life than just hunting, gathering, and sleeping."
Joining Zed on the first road trip in history is Oh, played by Michael Cera.  While Zed is aggressive in his pursuit of meaning, Oh dragged into the unknown kicking and screaming.  "We called this character 'Oh' because he's completely reacting to life and everything in life that is a threat to his character -- and he does suffer a lot in the movie," the director chuckles.
Shepherding the project is producer Judd Apatow, who teams with Ramis for the first time.  "It was a dream come true to get to work with Harold Ramis.  Some of the highlights of my childhood were the days when I went with my friends to see Stripes, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack and Animal House.  He is obviously one of my main inspirations.  It has been a real honor to get to see him work up close.  Sometimes I would be watching Harold work and think to myself, 'Oh, this is where we got all these funny comedy team relationships from.'  His work is hardwired into our brains."
To write the screenplay, Ramis turned to a writing team that he knew well.  Gene Stupnitsky had once served as Ramis's intern, and Lee Eisenberg had been a waiter at one of Ramis's favorite restaurants on Martha's Vineyard.  Some years ago, the two met as production assistants on one of Ramis's films, started writing together, and then found better gigs: writing and executive producing the hit series "The Office."  "I really didn't want to write alone," Ramis explains.  "Who could I get who would really push me?  They were ready for the challenge, full of ideas, and very professional.  We had a great time."
As the characters fleshed out on the page, the director was cognizant that the actors cast would finally bring them to life.  In his mind's eye, he saw Jack Black as his hero, Zed.
"The whole time, I was thinking, 'Wow, this could be great for Jack Black," the director reminisces.  "Jack really knows how to be silly and take big chances with comedy.  He's incredibly sharp; there's a really great articulation to what he does."
"Harold loves actors - he encourages us to do our thing, he wants us to play," says Black.  Black goes on to say that it's the approach that Ramis feels is right for the film, but also what Ramis himself seems to enjoy.  "I could always hear him laughing from video village.  Whenever I heard 'snortle chortle,' it warmed me.  But I'd also be thinking, 'Keep it down and don't ruin the take!'"
Black was attracted to the project by the screenplay, which has a tone he admired.  "I liked the script's attitude - nothing is sacred.  It doesn't take anything seriously," says Black. 
"Zed is very quick to assume that he's been chosen by the gods for some great mission," Black continues.  "He thinks that will give him meaning in his life.  He's a searcher.  He wants to figure out what the hell is going on in this strange world."
Joining Zed on his epic quest is his buddy, Oh, played by Michael Cera.  "One of the great pleasures of working on this film was watching Jack Black and Michael Cera work," says Apatow.  "Individually they are two of my all time favorite comic actors, but observing them as they developed this amazing chemistry was something very special."
"I'd seen Michael on Arrested Development playing a lovable innocent," says Ramis.  "Then I saw Superbad and he was still sweet and innocent, but in the most profane setting you can imagine.  He combines a lovely intelligence with an amazing delicacy.  I love what he brings to this part."
For his part, Cera wouldn't imagine passing on the opportunity to work with Ramis.  "I love Harold's work," Cera relates.  "The thought of working with him was really exciting.  He's been a big influence on my life."
"Oh is taken along on the journey by Zed," notes Cera.  "He definitely doesn't believe everything that Zed says and is forced to put up with Zed's theories about life.  All of which leads to a lot of trouble for Oh."
"Harold is very relaxed as a director, very open to ideas but also sure of what he wants," says Cera.  "You have freedom to do whatever you want.  If it's funny, you get a laugh, and that's a great feeling.  If it's not funny, he'll tell you to move on."
Together, Zed and Oh, exiled from their village, begin their excellent adventure.  In their own way, Oh and Zed travel through history and meet some of the ancient world's most famous residents: Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac, and the denizens of the city of Sodom.
As is common, as one of the last steps before considering the screenplay ready to begin casting and shooting, the studio held a read-through.  Out of both respect for their friend Ramis and their admiration for the project, many funny actors took part.  It was a success - in fact, "our table read was so good," says Ramis, "that we got the go-ahead to make the movie and hired everybody at the table."
Joining the two for much of their quest is Cain played by David Cross, who, when they meet, is about to kill his brother Abel, played by Paul Rudd in a cameo role.
Cross was at the read-through and was thrilled to be asked to take part formally.  "It was a lot of fun - really, it's the only time I got on my phone afterwards with my manager and agent and said, 'That was really fun.  I think it's going to be a great movie.  I really want to try to be a part of this,'" he says.
Cain was a character that Cross could relish.  "It's very much fun to play a guy who doesn't have any morals and is manipulative and threatening.  He's just a nasty guy," the actor grins.
Both Black and Cera have a long history working with Cross.  Before he broke out as one of the biggest comedy stars in the world, Black appeared in bit parts on Cross's HBO series "Mr. Show with Bob and David."  Cera co-starred with Cross on "Arrested Development."
For Cain's partner-in-crime - that is, his victim - Ramis had a very specific actor in mind.  "I wanted Abel to be a paragon of goodness, handsome and strong.  I really admire Paul Rudd, a really facile and gifted actor, so incredibly likeable," and a perfect foil to Cross's Cain.  Ramis goes on, "He really delivered, even though he was only in for a couple of days.  It would have been nice to have Paul for more scenes - it's too bad Abel gets killed."
When pondering who to cast as the 137-year-old father of all religions, Ramis thought of Hank Azaria.  "Way back when, George C. Scott played Abraham in a John Huston film called The Bible.  I had this notion of getting Hank Azaria playing George C. Scott playing Abraham," laughs Ramis.  It would be the director's private joke.  "I thought if I could get Hank to do this -- I could push him all the way to Patton.  That's what Hank did at the table reading and it was hysterical.  It was just no question we were going to get Hank to do the movie after that."
Once he got to set and went through the hair, make-up and the wardrobe process, Azaria seemed a little concerned, "I'd sit there looking like one of the Hasidic trading cards," the actor jokes.  "It's disturbing to me how authentic I looked.  How old, and how Jewish."  But Hank, you are Jewish.  "So I guess it stands to reason."
"You know," Azaria starts, "if anyone came around today saying, 'Listen.  God told me you have to cut the end of your schmeckle off,' he'd probably meet with some resistance.  I guess it helps if you look like this.  Helps sell it."
Playing his hapless son and soon to be recipient of the first recorded circumcision is Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Isaac.
Says Ramis, "After seeing Superbad, it was an irresistible temptation to make Christopher the whiny, complaining son of Abraham.  He just seemed perfect for the part."
"When Judd Apatow and Harold Ramis offer you a part and say, here, you should play this… well, I thought, I might as well do it," says Mintz-Plasse, understatedly.  "I'm a huge Jack Black fan and a big Tenacious D fan, and I wanted to work with Michael again, and I wanted to work with Harold and Hank.  It was great."
When Isaac leads them to Sodom, Zed and Oh enter an entirely new world.  An actual city built with stone and mortar, with colors, foods, sights and sounds unlike anything they've seen before. 
"Of course, it ends in Sodom," says Ramis.  Whether the director intends it as a metaphor for modern society is a conjecture best left to the viewer.
In Sodom, Zed and Oh meet the king, queen, princess and high priest - whose role in this new society seems to correlate to their own shaman back at their village.
Ramis did not think long when looking to cast the flamboyant priest.  "Oliver Platt and I had a great, great experience with The Ice Harvest.  He's really thoughtful and comes with more ideas than any actor I've worked with.  He forces you to really think about what he's doing.  What you get is a brave performance."
Platt loved the screenplay.  "Just the whole sensibility of the thing," he says. "It had a wonderful and very dry sensibility that still allowed you to believe that it all could be.  There is also a certain kind of brutality in the film too, a very kind of Old Testament brutality."
The character was unlike anything Platt had tackled before.  He continues, "It all fell into place when Harold told me that he wanted everyone in the royal family to do some sort of Shakespearean accent.  I am doing about six different British accents," Platt jokes. 
Michael Cera chimes in on the subject, "I don't know where he got that accent from, but he's really awesome and funny in the movie."
Along their way, Zed and Oh's quest becomes not simply figuring out what life is all about, but saving two women from their village - Maya and Eema, who also happen to be the objects of their affections.
Like all good love stories, theirs was not without obstacles.  Zed has strong feelings for Maya, but finds himself rebuffed at every turn.  Oh has a crush on Zed's sister, Eema, but he can't quite admit it to her.
It was not easy to find an actress who could hold her own opposite Jack Black.  "When June Raphael auditioned for Maya, she was sensational.  For that audition, we gave her a scene in the Garden of Eden - she's with Jack and she wants some fruit.  When Jack starts asking which fruit she wants; apple, pear and so on, she says 'no' to every fruit.  That's the only line she got.  Jack must have named 40 different fruits, and all she said was 'no,' but every time she got funnier and funnier.
But that wasn't all that impressed the director.  Ramis praises Raphael, "She has a combination of intelligence, beauty, and comedy that reminds me of Elaine May."
"I think the reason Zed is so attractive to Maya is because he's got an idea for a bigger life - there's more to the world than their little village," says Raphael.  "So as frustrating as he is, she can't give him up."
For Oh's love interest, Eema, the filmmakers turned to Juno Temple.  Ramis thought her to be "pre-Raphaelite, but I could see her as this hunter-gatherer girl. I just thought her kind of waif quality with Michael's innocence would be a great combination, and it turned out to be true."  And although Juno is British, "her American accent in her audition was perfect," Ramis adds.
"Eema might secretly like Oh, but she doesn't let on," says Temple.  "Only after they go through their ordeal together is she blown away by him.  She has a transition that's fun to play."
Olivia Wilde as Princess Ianna, on the other hand, is an American who perfected an English accent.  In fact, Ramis thought her accent to be authentic.  "It was perfect - and then I find out she doesn't have an English accent.  It was something she perfected during the audition." 
Wilde, a regular on the television series "House," says, "Ianna is a wonderfully manipulative character.  It's great not to have to be likable.  Trying to win the hearts and minds of the audience can hold you back from taking risks.  I felt free to go over the top and make Ianna as ridiculous as I could imagine."

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

HAROLD RAMIS (Director/Story by/Screenplay by/Producer) is a screenwriter, director and actor whose films include some of the most popular and influential comedies of our time, including Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, National Lampoon's Vacation, Ghostbusters, Back to School, Groundhog Day, Multiplicity, Analyze This, Bedazzled, Analyze That, and The Ice Harvest. Having received his BA from Washington University in St. Louis, Ramis has been awarded honorary Doctorates in Arts from both Columbia College Chicago and Washington University, and is a former member of the Washington University Board of Trustees.  Among his numerous professional honors and awards, Ramis is the recipient of the American Comedy Award, the British Comedy Award, and the BAFTA (British Academy) award for screenwriting (Groundhog Day).  Four of his films were listed among the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest Movies and Groundhog Day was recently chosen as one of the 101 Greatest Screenplays by the Writers Guild of America.  Ramis recently directed several episodes of television's acclaimed series "The Office" and is currently developing two film projects with plans to direct in the coming year.

GENE STUPNITSKY, a Chicago native, & LEE EISENBERG (Screenplay by), born and raised in Boston, met in 2000 on the set of the Harold Ramis' Bedazzled.  After toiling away as assistants, the duo sold their first project, the magician-inspired comedy Lonny and Gordo to 20th Century Television in 2005.
On the feature side, the two wrote Bad Teacher for Columbia Pictures and have projects in development at several studios, including Ghostbusters 3, also at Columbia.
In TV, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky are writer/producers on the Emmy-winning comedy, "The Office," starring Steve Carell.  The two have written 13 episodes and were Emmy nominated in 2008 for their episode "Dinner Party."  Eisenberg and Stupnitsky have also won a Writer's Guild Award, and in 2007, Variety heralded them among 10 Comics to Watch.


READ MORE ABOUT THE LOOK OF YEAR ONE - DESIGN AND COSTUMES

THE ART OF ORIGINAL FILMMAKING

HOME