NEIL PATRICK HARRIS RELISHES FAMILY GUY ROLE IN “THE SMURFS 2”
Smurfy Release
The lovable Smurfs once
again enlist the help of Neil Patrick Harris in Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures
Animation’s highly awaited sequel, “The Smurfs 2.”
Three
years have passed since Patrick Winslow (Harris) last saw his blue buddies. But
when the Naughties kidnap Smurfette and bring her to Paris, the Winslows get a
visit from Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy and Vanity as the Smurfs will need their human
friends to save Smurfette from their arch-nemesis.
You’d
think with Patrick having a few years ago become a father to a son, Blue, he’d
calm down, go with the flow a little bit more. Well, he might have, had he
resolved his issues with his own stepfather, Victor Doyle (Brendan Gleeson).
The two have butted heads for decades – while Patrick remembers his childhood
one way, it’s never crossed his mind that Victor might have a distinctly
different perspective. However, once the Smurfs recruit the Winslows (and
Victor!) to take part in the rescue mission, all of those feelings are exposed
when their attention should be on saving Smurfette.
As
a father in his own right, Harris identifies with his character, Patrick
Winslow. Being a part of the Smurfs franchise gives Harris the opportunity to
share the experience with his family. “I’m a dad,” says Harris. “I really
enjoyed making the first Smurfs and I was really proud of the end result. Now
that I’m a family guy myself, I think it’s good to have roles in movies that
are age appropriate for them to see, so it’s nice to be a part of The Smurfs.”
Harris
sees Patrick’s and Smurfette’s story as a parallel journey towards family. “The
story goes right to the history of Smurfette’s existence. It makes her question
who her family is, who to trust, and where she’s from,” explains Harris. “That
becomes the overriding question for all of us in our various ways within the
movie.”
In
“The Smurfs 2,” as Smurfette deals with her unresolved feelings toward her
origins, so too will Patrick Winslow have to address his own relationship with
Victor Doyle, the man who raised him. “Patrick’s father had left when he was
very young, four or five, and his stepfather, Victor, moved in with him and his
mother. They never got along, for a number of reasons,” says Harris. “And so,
when Victor comes and joins the adventure, Patrick is having the same kind of
internal struggle. He doesn’t feel like he’s Victor’s son, and he doesn’t
really want Victor to be around. But Patrick learns through the process of this
adventure with the Smurfs that your family is more about who you love and who
loves you, and less about where you actually come from. That’s a great lesson
for everyone to remember, if not learn for the first time.”
Patrick’s
and Victor’s relationship may be like oil and water, but Harris had great
chemistry with Brendan Gleeson. “He was just a terrific choice, because he’s
able to be over the top, and yet very grounded in a sense of reality,” says
Harris. “What could be a buffoon of a role, he makes it an actual person.
Acting against him is terrific.”
In
Jayma Mays, Harris could not have asked for a more perfect choice to portray
his screen wife, Grace. “I’m a big, big fan of Jayma Mays. She’s just a
bright light of adorableness, she’s smart, she’s so sharp, she’s beautiful,
she’s funny, she’s just the perfect choice for the heroine in this type of
movie,” says Harris. “We can have banter in the movie that seems like we’ve
been a couple for a long time.”
“The Smurfs 2” is
distributed in 3D, 2D and regular theaters by Columbia Pictures, local office
of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.
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