I recently had a chance to sit down with Sara Jean Underwood (2007 Playmate of the Year), Zach Cregger, and Trevor Moore (co-directors of Miss March). Sara Jean has a cameo in the film, and you might know Zach and Trevor from their show The Whitest Kids You Know [official site] -- which airs Tuesdays at 10pm on IFC. The interview was big fun, here's what transpired:

Laremy Legel: Was the genesis of this idea "How can we get playmates involved?"

Zach Cregger: No, actually FOX came to us with the existing script. It was basically the bare-bones story line. It was guy goes in coma, wakes up, goes to Playboy Mansion, gets girl. So we basically rewrote it from scratch.

To us a road-trip sex comedy isn't all that interesting. Everyone has seen so many of those. We took it as a challenge -- can we make a road-trip sex comedy that we would be interested in seeing? Both the characters have very unhealthy ideas about sex. That was kind of how we got into it.

Trevor Moore: The first idea we had was to make them come from opposite ends of the spectrum.

LL: And how did you get Sara involved? Who does one call?

Sara Jean Underwood: Originally [they] had not involved real playmates, or the mansion.

TM: Yeah, we did it without Playboy. We had Robert Wagner play Hugh Hefner originally in the movie. But then Playboy saw it ...

SJU: Yeah, and so then they just asked. It went into corporate, and they asked Hef and I to be in it.

LL: Do you own a little dog? (In the film Sara's character is obsessed with a little dog in a purse.)

SJU: No, I'd love to. That dog was amazing. I fell in love with him.

TM: Yeah, [in the movie] that real dog is thrown. That's not a toy dog.

LL: You actually chucked a real dog?

TM: They had this dog, it was the chillest dog, it must have been high.

SJU: [laughs] He told me that, and I was so mad! He was like, "We really threw the dog in that scene." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, you guys are awful."

TM: They got this dog that was completely cool with whatever. So they had the Humane Society there to make sure that the stunt wasn't going to hurt the dog. So I had to practice first with a fake dog that was weighted to be the same as the real dog would be. The first throw it went too high and hit a tree branch. So I had to do it a couple of times. There was a dude down on the balcony just waiting to catch the dog with this cradle thing.

ZC: It was terrifying on so many levels. We were worried about the dog, yes, but if he botches it and they shut us down it's over. It was terrifying.

LL: The two of you [Zach and Trevor] share writer and director credits on this film. How do you effectively direct a lesbian make out scene? What's your process?

ZC: [laughs] You've got to scream with rage as a tool to get them to do what you want.

TM: They were just on it the whole time. But girls will do that at a party just to get a free drink.

SJU: Oh my God!

ZC: C'mon, acknowledge that it's different for girls.

SJU: Gosh. When I was 17 or 18, yeah. But now ... I could never.

LL: Are you 20 now?

SJU: No, I'm 25. But thank you!

LL: So five years ago it was way different, now you're totally ...

SJU: Well, we're all guilty of that at one point.

ZC: See? Girls can say that.

TM: It's just different, like facial hair.

LL: Now then, did you actually film at the Playboy Mansion?

TM: Yep.

LL: How long were you there?

TM: One day. Originally we shot at three different mansions, before Playboy was involved. So we shot at a place for the grotto scene. We used a bunch of different mansions. But then when Playboy got involved we got to go shoot there. The only thing that is actually the mansion is the scene with Hef and Sara.

LL: Did you feel like it was holy ground or were you not overly impressed?

ZC: I was impressed. It's impressive. They've got monkeys in a cage! That's cool.

SJU: I think when people get there they expect it to be ... like the grounds are really glamorous. But inside it's just ...

ZC: It's cool to walk around and think about the history. To be like "How many people have just done it right there?"

SJU: Oh, that's great to base it on.

TM: When we were working with Hefner, when he first came in, there was this moment because this guy has probably had the most influence on western culture of anyone I've ever met. So that was a moment.

LL: You've also got Craig Robinson (The Office, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) in this one. How did you get him involved?

TM: He just came into the audition and basically was exactly what we had in mind when we were writing the thing. He instantly got it. We'd been auditioning people all day, and a lot of people did awesome, we didn't have a clear choice. Then he came in and it was one of those things where you've got to call his agent right away.

ZC: It was the first audition he'd done since Knocked Up.

TM: And he was like four hours late.

ZC: He's so spoiled [everyone laughs].

LL: And how long did your cameo take to shoot?

SJU: Only a couple hours.

LL: Do you guys read your press?

ZC: I can't. I'm so fragile, any negative thing will send me into a depression. I used to have a Google alert, but I can't do it anymore.

TM: I read everything. Blogs, message boards, I read it all.

ZC: Does it bother you?

TM: I like it. If somebody says they don't like something then I like to be aware of it. I take it with a grain of salt, but I like to know what the kids like.

SJU: I don't. My mom does on a daily basis, so I get updates from her. (Editor's Note: Hi, Sara's mom!) I keep telling her to stop because people write some awful things and she gets so infuriated.

LL: Do you want to act going forward?

SJU: No, I don't. I've done hosting stuff, but this is the first time I've really tried to act before. It wasn't something I really pursued. I think someone saw a hosting type video I did and then they just asked me to do the part.

LL: Why don't you want to be an actor?

SJU: I don't know, I just don't have the desire to. I don't think I have a knack for it.

ZC: Well, I think you're very good at it.

SJU: Oh, thanks. But yeah, it's just never been my thing. I've always pictured myself in Oregon just doing my thing there. But it's fun. I get to do fun stuff like this every once in awhile.

LL: How did you guys get established as a directing duo so quickly? Didn't it take the Coen brothers ten years or something?

TM: We had to go in front of the DGA in order to be allowed. It's usually only brothers that they let do it. I don't know why they let us. We direct a television show together, so we had a little bit of history. But I don't understand why it was so tough for the Coen brothers.

ZC: Probably because they are so chill. It was probably like, "Just say you directed it, I don't give a F***."

LL: Are your styles different?

ZC: How it works is if he's on-screen then I'm doing it and if I'm on-screen he's doing it. Even when one of us is on-screen we talk constantly on the set. We go over everything meticulously before a shoot.

LL: Who yells action?

ZC: The A.D. [assistant director] The only thing we differ on generally is the angles. Since we wrote it together we just know how it should sound already.

LL: Are there financial goals for the movie that you have to hit? Is there a backroom with a swinging light somewhere they use?

ZC: No. That would be the most terrifying thing.

TM: When we wrote the script they were like, "We want to green-light it but we'll give you X amount of money. So if you can get the script under this amount then we're good." So we were right there, so we took a scene out, we could technically do the movie without the scene like that. But we were lucky enough that once we finished the movie they told us we could have the scene the way we wanted it, and they gave us a little extra to go get the scene. So that was cool. Stuff like that.

LL: Does Playboy have specific goals for you on something like this? As to how you represent the brand or is it more casual than that?

SJU: Way more casual than that. There's not that much thought process that goes into it. Some girls represent Playboy really well I think, and other ones don't.

LL: Did you watch Girls Next Door? I know you were in a few episodes ...

SJU: Yeah, I love that show, the girls were friends of mine. I'd love it even if I weren't involved with Playboy. It's just fun.

LL: And now there's a new one with his new girlfriends? They aren't triplets, it's just two girls and then another one, right?

SJU: Yeah, I guess they are going to start filming his new girlfriends. Twins and then one more. All blond and tan.

LL: And a bit young ...

ZC: Hey, Sara is blond and tan and young!

SJU: I'm not that young! They're like 19 years old, I think.

LL: So you can go to the mansion whenever you like, yeah?

SJU: Yep, I can go whenever. I just call and let them know when I'm going to be in town and they let me stay on the grounds.

ZC: Is that like a lifetime thing?

LL: Or can it get revoked if you do something wrong?

SJU: Oh yeah, many girls have been kicked out. But I hope it won't get revoked!

LL: Last question, can we expect an unrated DVD?

ZC: Oh yeah, there will. And there's gonna be d***s in it!