Jason Biggs: King of Romantic Comedy - page 2

02-06-2007 07:15

or made-out with or both at the same time, and I think, 'Jesus! Lucky me!' "

Eight years on from that intimate moment with a hot pastry, Biggs, now 29, also shows no signs of developing any sense of public shame.

Refusing to 'grow up' and play sensible roles, his latest movie opens with him dressed as cupid and almost completely naked, but for a pair of red sequined panties and wings, preparing to propose to his girlfriend.

And never afraid to suffer for his art, Biggs confessed the costume resulted in some rather uncomfortable chafing, which wasn't helped by the fact that they shot the scene on one of the coldest days in New York, resulting in a frostbitten nipple!

'Wedding Daze' follows the story of yup; you guessed it, another clueless romantic hero, this time named Anderson, who - after unintentionally killing his 'perfect' girlfriend with his shock marriage proposal - turns his back on love and life.

That is until Anderson's close pal Ted (Michael Weston) decides it is time to drag his friend kicking and screaming out of his pit of depression and self-pity and back into the dating game - starting with a pep talk over breakfast at the local diner.

Taking the bait when Ted dares him to give love one final chance, Anderson goes out on a whim and asks their waitress Katie - who just happens to be a very attractive redhead in a figure-hugging t-shirt played by Isla Fisher - to marry him.

Unbeknown to Anderson, Katie is reeling from the shock of being proposed to the night before and seized by fear that saying yes to her textbook 'perfect' boyfriend will lead to a predictable life of nappies and mortgages.

A spontaneous act of romance is just what Katie is looking for, and to Anderson's horror she accepts his proposal!

'Wedding Crashers' star Fisher reveals: "Katie is someone who for a long time ignored her own heart and was pushed into relationships and into a certain type of life that wasn't her. She has an empathy when Anderson proposes to her. That's the moment when she become who she is."

What follows is a quirky tale of two strangers doing all the things an engaged couple should do - moving in together, meeting parents, planning a wedding - but all within the dizzy space of 48 hours and on the run from the police.

Despite the shockingly bad title and cheesy promotional poster for the movie - featuring Biggs with handcuffs chasing Fisher in a wedding veil - 'Wedding Daze' is a surprisingly clever and off-beat comedy, comfortably removed from the predictable slapstick of the 'American Pie' franchise.

Sharp, witty and charming performances from the supporting cast - including cult TV comic Robert Corddry as a gay policemen and Anderson's sex-crazed suburban parents - help this movie stand out from the pile of painfully obvious and unoriginal rom-coms regularly clogging up the cinemas or heading straight to DVD.

As a stand-up comic himself, director Michael Ian Black, was also open to improvisation, which was instrumental in creating a funny romantic comedy. Not an easy feat, as previous box-office failures have highlighted.

Black's field experience not only earned him the respect of the cast, but also meant they would keep coming back to him to get the right punch-line.

Biggs said: "Michael is just so smart and so funny that we were always differential to him. We would improvise and stuff but at the end of the day we would end up going back to him because he is just funnier than us frankly!"

Biggs has played the unlucky-in-love hapless dork so many times you almost imagine him to walk around in a perpetual state of absurdity coming up with one bird-brained scheme after another.

And, although he doesn't admit to owning a pair of sequined panties, Anderson and Biggs' lives do share one similarity.

Like Anderson, though thankfully not under the same bizarre circumstances, Biggs has recently come out of a long-term relationship with actress Lindsay Zir and has been chucked back into the Los Angeles dating scene.

A development that he describes as both scary and fun, he has most recently been romantically linked to 'Boston Legal' actress Lake Bell.

But, unlike most of the hopeless underdogs he plays in his movies, the actor insists he doesn't get the girl! For reasons that are unknown to him and frankly difficult to fathom.

On paper he is a catch - smart, funny, good-looking, a self-confessed spontaneous romantic and, on top of all that, successful (polite talk for loaded!).

The success of the first 'American Pie' movie not only spawned two money-spinning sequels - the three movies grossed $350 at the US box office alone - but carved a specific role for Biggs which he exploited in a string of copycat teen flicks, including 'Loser', 'Boys and Girls', 'Jersey Girl' and 'Saving Silverman', securing the actor a healthy bank balance.

However, you get the impression with Biggs that money is just an added bonus.

In fact, he has shunned the big screen for the less lucrative world of theatre, starring in the Broadway production of 'The Graduate' in 2002 and more recently Daniel Goldfarb's play 'Modern Orthodox'. He has also tried his hand at smaller independent movies such as 'Guy X'.

But, it is the role of the clumsy romantic lead that has become synonymous with the name Jason Biggs and the actor has no plans to hang up his sequined pants just yet - who knows they might even come in handy for the Los Angeles dating scene!

By Kate Sole.