Thomas Haden Church talks Easy A

In “Easy A,” Thomas Haden Church’s teacher bonds with Emma Stone’s Olive over their shared awareness that she’s not actually the slut her classmates are saying she is. In real life, the two actors bonded over something only slightly more innocent.

“She was dating somebody at the time who I kept making up songs about, sort of naughty songs which she thought was wildly entertaining,” Church says during an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival. “She’s really funny and smart and easy to talk to. I mean, I’m old enough to be her dad but we had this kind of common language of comedy. She’s great. I really like Emma.”

A lot of people like Emma Stone now. The 21-year-old’s star has been rising ever since her role as Jonah Hill’s girlfriend in “Superbad,” and “Easy A” rests comfortably on her shoulders alone. When Church talks about her, he sounds like he’s been following her career for a long time.

“I actually didn’t even know who she was until I worked with her,” he counters. “But after that, I sort of wanted to get up to speed on what she’d done. You flip around and you come across [her] movies. ‘Zombieland’ was a big hit so that wasn’t too difficult to track down. ‘House Bunny’ is not really my taste, nor is ‘Superbad’ although I thought ‘Superbad’ was funny. But yeah, I admire her for sure.”

Church has even developed an opinion on where Stone fits into the Hollywood star system. When it’s suggested she could be the next Meg Ryan, he offers, “I think it goes beyond that, because I think Emma has the ability to bring this other sort of sexy menace, like a Julia Roberts. She can bring a more intimidating dynamic while still being attractive and smart. Maybe Sandy Bullock?”

He realizes he may be pumping her up too much, so he dials it back down. “Right now she’s just girlish and I want her to enjoy that. Just be a girlish young star.”

He also wants Stone to enjoy the fact that “Easy A” is a film she can be proud to promote. Church has been describing the movie to friends as a “high school comedy but ‘Juno’-esque. Smarter than a lot of high school comedies that come out. And I like that. I think it’s a little bit more attuned to the way that kids interact. Every line is not, you know, bumper sticker clever.”

Church’s ability to analyze the movie and Stone’s place in Hollywood make sense when you learn that he once studied writing and journalism in college. He never set out to be an actor, and in fact, he doesn’t even spend much time doing it anymore. He lives full-time on a ranch in Texas, tending to cattle instead of attending cattle calls.

He doesn’t like to make comparisons between the two worlds, though. Despite what many teachers might say, working with teenagers is apparently nothing like herding cattle.

“Thankfully teenagers are on a higher intellectual plane than cattle,” he says. “Cattle can be pretty numbingly frustrating at times.”

Doesn’t that sound like life in Hollywood? “Not in my experience, not so much. Not compared to cattle. I mean, that’s sort of a baseline comparison,” he says matter-of-factly.

Church’s fondness for his young costars also extends to “Gossip Girl” heartthrob Penn Badgley. “There’s some genuine interaction between the girls and the Penn Badgley character. Penn did a terrific job in the movie.”

Badgley may not be onscreen much, but Church understands how important he is to the story. “He’s still, like, the objet d’amour. He still is somebody that they’re all sort of focused on lustily. And at the end of the movie, it all kind of comes to fruition for Emma’s character.”

Despite his Oscar-nominated turn as a playboy in “Sideways,” Church says he wasn’t the “objet d’amour” in high school himself.

“I was not a ‘Woodchuck Todd’ guy.” (That’s Badgley’s character’s nickname.) “I was an athlete. I played football. I was pretty quiet. I wasn’t a real serious student.”

At least Church didn’t have to look far for inspiration to play someone who takes school seriously.

“Both my parents were education professionals,” he says. “I have a sister that teaches at University of Texas. Academics has always sort of been around. So I would say maybe some of [my character’s] attitude was gleaned from my family.”

He adds, “I admire teachers tremendously. My fantasy was always to be a teacher and a coach.”

His family has been supportive of the career path he ended up taking. But only up to a point. He doesn’t think his sister will go see “Easy A,” alas.

“She is so far outside the target demo, I’m not sure if she would be interested,” he laughs. “They’re not always interested in every single movie that I do, but that’s just part of it. I have five brothers and sisters and I don’t expect everybody to see everything.”

-By Kim Linekin

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