Skylar Astin Talks 21 & Over, in theaters this March

From Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers of the original The Hangover, comes the next great party movie 21 & Over, which follows one crazy night as Jeff Chang (Justin Chon) celebrates his milestone birthday party with his two best friends (Miles Teller; Skylar Astin). What is supposed to be one quick drink at the bar soon turns into a non-stop thunder roll of depravity that will alter the course of Jeff Chang's destiny forever.

We recently caught up with Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect), who plays Casey, the instigator of drink, to chat about his role in this March comedy. Here is our conversation.

21 & Over comes out soon. This has the potential to be another big hit for you. I've seen the trailer. Give me the timeline of this story. Does it take place over the course of just one night?

Skylar Astin: It all takes place over one crazy night. Basically, what happens is, Justin Chon's character Jeff Chang, is turning 21. So, his two best friends, myself and Miles Teller's character, drive up to his college to give him a crazy twenty-first birthday. When we get there, he can't go out. He has a huge med school interview the following morning. We make a deal, "Okay, man, we'll take you out for one drink." One drink turns into the most epic, crazy, mayhem filled night. Its written by the writers of The Hangover, so you can only imagine what ensues. What I love about the movie is that it stays grounded in its nature. The performances are solid. We played the situations out as if, "What would happen if three guys who were twenty-one were reacting to this crazy situation?" That's what The Hangover does so well. When they wake up on the floor, and there is a tiger in the room. Its like, "How would you react?" There are not going to be any broad, over the top performances from the actors, you know? It is really reactive. We drag you through the mud of the entire night. All of those big laughs, and those big stunts, and those crazy scenes are totally earned. That's what I love about comedies like that. I have seen the final cut, and it's phenomenal.

You've seen the trailer, right?

Skylar Astin: Yes!

There are a lot of daylight scenes in that trailer. That's what confused me.

Skylar Astin: Well, we're saving a lot of the nighttime stuff for the movie itself. Maybe some of it will show up in the next trailer, or it will be held for the red band trailer. There's a lot of great stuff to see in that movie. I think we gave you some quick cuts. We didn't give away too much, but we gave you enough imagery to keep you guessing. I like that you have those questions, because everything gets answered in the movie. Maybe not in the trailer. But they get answered in the movie.

I like what you're telling me. I hate when trailers give away all of the best moments. The first scene in that trailer made me laugh so hard. I don't usually laugh too often when I am watching something. I'm talking about the part where they drop Jeff Chang out the window...

Skylar Astin: I don't want to hype up the movie too much, but I almost want to say...If you think that is funny, you have no idea what you're in for. But, that's what's so great about the trailer. It has great moments. It has funny moments, it gives away a lot...But not too much. It's going to keep you wanting more. I think this movie is going to deliver big time. Whether or not people see it, I can't control. But I know that we set out to make a really funny movie about a kid that turns twenty-one, and his crazy friends being along for the ride. We did that, for sure.

I think its going to get seen. We've never had a movie about someone's 21st birthday party. It's those simple ideas that are such a big hit. And its crazy that no one has ever done this before...

Skylar Astin: Exactly. Well, Pitch Perfect and 21 & Over share something. And that's the fact that they both aren't reinventing the wheel. But they are both definitely doing something that is along the lines of a genre, but they have a little something else. A little something extra that will make you want to see it. Pitch Perfect has the Acapella nature. You've seen musicals. But you've never seen Acapella. In 21 & Over, you've seen college movies, you've seen party movies, you've seen road trip movies, you've seen high school movies...But you've never seen a movie about what it is specifically like to turn 21 and what happens that night. Everyone who has turned twenty-one, or is looking forward to turning twenty-one, has an idea about the crazy stuff you get into on your twenty-first birthday. There's stuff that you remember, and stuff that you don't remember. So, I think, 21 & Over is the perfect placement in that genre. And it's going to be great.