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All it took to make native New Yorker Jimmy Fallon a Red Sox fan was the right script — and a little coaxing from Drew Barrymore.
The former "Saturday Night Live" cast member is starring in his second film since leaving the sketch show: the upcoming Farrelly brothers project "Fever Pitch," a romantic comedy that pairs an obsessive Red Sox fan (Fallon) with a businesswoman (Barrymore) equally fanatical about her job. But just as the live-TV veteran was getting comfortable with retakes and reshoots, spontaneity reared its head as the Red Sox shocked the world — and the "Fever Pitch" screenwriters — by winning the World Series and forcing them to change the film's ending. Vanessa Minnillo of "TRL" caught up with Fallon on the film's set to talk about baseball, Barrymore and his future with Martha Stewart.
Vanessa Minnillo: It took the Red Sox 86 years to win the World Series, so what's something that we would never see you do in 86 years?
Jimmy Fallon: Marry Martha Stewart. It's probably gonna take less than that, like five or six years. I'm writing her letters furiously.
Minnillo: Continuing that theme, what's the longest stretch you've ever had in between these daily activities: showers?
Fallon: I've probably gone two days.
Minnillo: What about kissing someone?
Fallon: Probably two weeks.
Minnillo: Cooking?
Fallon: I cook, but not much. Does cereal count as cooking? Martha, if you're watching — I know how to cook!
Minnillo: Tell me what it's like working with the Farrelly brothers.
Fallon: I actually haven't seen them. I know they're here, but I haven't met them yet. [laughs] No, the Farrelly brothers are super-fun. They know where the comedy is. This one's a pretty realistic romantic comedy for them. We still do crazy scenes, but I don't know if they're going to use them in the movie. But it's a blast, dude. You want to come into work every day because you're so excited.
Minnillo: You were already acquainted with Drew Barrymore?
Fallon: Yeah, Drew hosted "Saturday Night Live" when I was on the show. She's a great actress and just lovely. She's exactly what you think she would be. She walks onto the set and wakes the whole room up. I love her.
Minnillo: And you get to make out with her!
Fallon: I'm a very lucky man. She's really good.
Minnillo: This is your second movie post-"SNL," "Taxi" being the first. What's the biggest adjustment you've had to make between the live shows and movies?
Fallon: On movies, you have to do a bunch of takes. With "Saturday Night Live," you just do it and that's it, 'cause it's live. This one, you have to do it until it's right, and sometimes I have a hard time doing that.
Minnillo: You're from New York: Did it take convincing for you to throw on the Red Sox shirt?
Fallon: All I had to hear was "Drew Barrymore" and "the Farrelly brothers."
Minnillo: Did the end of the movie have to change when the Red Sox won the World Series?
Fallon: When we first started doing the movie, we had a certain ending, and it was just like a normal romantic comedy, but then the Red Sox started winning. Then they end up winning the World Series, and we were all just like, "OK, this is insane — we gotta call the writers." It actually put a happier ending on our movie. If we had just made it up, people would be like, "That doesn't happen! The Red Sox don't win!"
Minnillo: And they actually let you guys film in the stands with real-life Boston fans.
Fallon: I think it's the first movie ever where they filmed actual games with real fans around us, with no actors. We just told them not to make eye contact with any of the cameras 'cause then you won't be in the shots, and they were like, "OK." They were so into it. Boston was great to us. And it's Fenway Park, it's not, like, Starbucks Stadium. It's a tiny little thing in the middle of Boston. It's so cool and so intimate. It was so much fun.
Minnillo: And you got to go on the field afterwards.
Fallon: We got to go on the field at the end. We had one scene where Drew runs through center field all the way down home plate. And we said, "Everyone, if you'd like, please stay for the last scene of the movie 'Fever Pitch.' " And everybody stayed, 35,000 people. I'll never forget it — it was like watching the end of a movie and being like, "Wait, I'm in this movie!"
Minnillo: We all know that baseball fans and players are very superstitious. Do you have any superstitions? Do you have to knock your head before a scene or something?
Fallon: I do actually knock my head before every scene, but it has nothing to do with superstition. I'm just very clumsy, and I have a very low ceiling in my trailer.
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Photo: MTV
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