ComingSoon.net: Anna, you're a producer on this movie, so did you know Marshall beforehand or how did this script come your way?
Anna Paquin: Yeah, I did. Marshall and my brother went to college together, so they've been buddies for a really long time. I knew him through my brother, and the script came about, and we all decided we wanted to do it, and so we did. (giggles)

CS: Did you know Breckin beforehand?
Paquin: No, we didn't. We sent the script to people and meet with people, and Breckin thankfully, I hope, likes it. (laughs) Otherwise, I'm not sure why he did the movie. He's fantastic.
Meyer: Anna's a big reason I actually wanted to do the movie. I read the script and went in and met with Anna, we did a couple scenes together and I was taken away by Anna.
Paquin: And it worked. You can kind of tell immediately if someone's good or if you want to work with them. Very obviously, it was the right decision, and we're very lucky that he said, "Yes." (giggles)
Meyer: I have to agree, they are very lucky I said "yes."

CS: So it wasn't one of those things where you saw "Road Trip" or "Rat Race" and thought that he'd be the best person to drive around in a car with?
Paquin: (clearly not getting the joke) Is that why we cast Breckin? No, truthfully, not to date myself in any way, probably the most vivid image of Breckin I have in my head was when I saw "Clueless" when I was 12. (laughs) I'm sure I've seen "Road Trip" at some point, but I don't think I'm the demographic that movie was targeting, so it wasn't a seminal.

CS: Being the youngest person on this phone call, I'm not sure you can date yourself.
Paquin: Yeah, but still…(laughs)
Meyer: She's an old soul.

CS: Are you both fairly political and was there anything political you wanted to address that motivated you to want to do the movie?
Paquin: I'm not really very political, but Breckin, you go. You're American, you can vote.
Meyer: I am American and I can vote and I tend to. I've voted for Sanjaya a lot. (laughs) The thing I liked about the movie is that it doesn't hammer you over the head with the politics. Marshall's been saying it and I agree with him that the politics in this movie is kind of the back drop and what's at the forefront is the love story and this road story of these two people from different worlds getting to know each other. John Logue is really very politically motivated, but Chloe (Anna's character) is not and kind of calls his, for lack of better phrasing, bullsh*t when he starts spouting off too many soundbites that he doesn't necessarily understand. A lot of times people, whether it's "The Daily Show" or whatever, they read so much and they start to spout back these soundbites when they don't necessarily know what they're saying and John Logue is definitely guilty of that. That's what I liked about it, that the politics are more of a backdrop for the movie.
Paquin: I agree with everything he just said.
Meyer: …and Breckin's awesome.
Paquin: And Breckin's awesome, we agree on that topic as well.

CS: Did you guys have to do any research for your characters whether it be political bloggers or women in the army?
Paquin: Women in the army actually. I read a bunch of stuff that Marshall had found online, various articles from the point of view of women in the army on various aspects of military life, down to funny little details like hair length regulations and things you would never think in any way would be a big deal. I did do research. I feel like you have to try to at least expose yourself to the world that you're supposed to be portraying.
Meyer: The one thing about John Logue is that a lot of it is based on Marshall's experiences, so right when I found out I was going to be doing it, I asked Marshall to send me every book he wanted to send me, everything he wanted me to know about what he did when he was stumping for Kerry and all that stuff. I'm relatively politically aware, but not nearly as much as John Logue is. The one thing I wanted to do, and Marshall and I kind of agreed on, was for me, as far as research goes, to read both sides, not just be the super-liberal that John is but also to read Hannity and Coulter's books. It was really jumping around between Kerry, Al Franken to Shawn Hannity and Anne Coulter to get every viewpoint, just because that's part of the knowledge that John Logue is armed with. It was fun to do, and because it was Marshall, it was kind of fun to get his point of view on a lot of it. He was a big stumper for Kerry, he was devastated on election day, a lot of this is based on Marshall's personal experiences.

CS: Despite not being American, you obviously have spent a lot of time here, so has any of that political cynicism rubbed off on you at all?
Paquin: Honestly, I mean sure I have political beliefs, they're not ones that I've ever expressed in a voting booth. I've never felt overly inclined to spout them out at anyone. I wouldn't say that I'm an aggressively political person.

CS: Do you think that a movie set right after the 2004 election is something that people might want to see or that most people are already over it?
Paquin: I don't think people are over it, because I think this next election is probably going to stir up a lot of the same feelings with regards to people's political views and there's just another election just around the corner. For the people who didn't agree with the way the last elections went, I think there'll still definitely be people who enjoy the humor that is the backdrop for our film.
Meyer: I think the fun thing about the film and what I liked about it is that it doesn't beat you over the head with political views and whatnot. The one thing that's funny is you look at John Logue and a lot of liberal-minded people can think, "Yeah, I think just like him" then there's certain people on the conservative side who can see the movie, and be like, "Yeah, that's exactly what's wrong with liberals. John Logue is a perfect example." I think both sides can take something from it, which I liked about it, which wasn't one of these movies where you're like, "Okay, Bush is bad. I get it already. Stop!" Especially now with an election coming up, whether it's dealing with Iraq or Katrina, young people are now more politically-minded than they used to be, whether it's because of "The Daily Show" or whatever. I know more about politics and my friends know more about politics than they used to five years ago and they're more interested in politics. I think this movie can appeal to people just based on that and the fact that it's kind of a fun love story, but I think it's quite relevant now even though it takes place back in '04.

CS: Is this organization to marry unhappy liberals to Canadians a real thing or something that Marshall made up for the movie?
Meyer: I believe it's based on a real thing.
Paquin: Really? I have no idea.
Meyer: I know it's definitely based on a real practice that various people have done as far as marrying Canadians for a citizenship, but I believe it's based loosely on a real organization. I could be wrong but Marshall would know. I know I started one.
Paquin: Really? Who were you trying to marry off?
Meyer: I did. I was just doing "Marry an American," but it was really quite boring.
Paquin: And there were no takers? (laughs)
Meyer: No takers at all. It really was quite pathetic.
Paquin: That's quite surprising.
Meyer: I know.

CS: Since Marshall is from New York, how did he come up with San Francisco and Winnipeg as the start and end point of their trip?
Meyer: I'm not exactly sure actually. I think San Francisco because it tends to be a very liberal minded city. That's where I think he thought John would thrive, and as far as Winnipeg, I'm not sure if that was from Andy (Anna's brother).
Paquin: Actually, that was a completely random coincidence that Marshall happened to write as an arbitrary Canadian town the city that my brother and my family is from.

CS: Were all of the Winnipeg scenes actually shot there?
Paquin: We shot most of the movie in Winnipeg, which is one of the few times Winnipeg was Winnipeg in the movie not pretending to be another city.
Meyer: I think it's pretty rare that you actually get to shoot a movie in the city it's supposed to be taking place in. Usually, it's Vancouver for Chicago or something, and this time it was actually Winnipeg for Winnipeg.

CS: What was it like being back up there and shooting a movie in your old hometown? Have you spent a lot of time there since you left?
Paquin: I left when I was 4 and I've been back to shoot the movie maybe two or three times since then. I don't really have a ton of memories from Winnipeg.
Meyer: We did shoot in your relative's house.
Paquin: I was going to say, aside from literally the inside of my aunt and uncle's house, which we shot in, and it looked exactly the way I remember it. (laughs) It wasn't so much about the place, but the people that are there like my family.

CS: Is "cute as an otter" a typical Winnipeg compliment?
Paquin: I really couldn't speak for your typical Winnipeg.
Meyer: But if you've ever seen Anna, she really is cute as an otter.
Paquin: Oh, SHUT UP! SHUT UP!
Meyer: I think filming up there helped a lot, actually filming in Winnipeg helped get a vibe for the city, moreso than people who film in Alberta or something.
Paquin: Yeah, I mean, regions have their own history and qualities about them.

CS: It really covers lot of ground of what it might be like to live up there including the national pastime of curling. Did the city help Marshall with that stuff?
Paquin: Yes, we had all kinds of very nice and friendly and flexible people helping us out as far as where we were shooting and when we wanted things and access to certain buildings. We were very lucky, and everyone we asked things of were very generous to us.
Meyer: Yeah, I think we shot in the oldest curling house in Winnipeg or in Canada even. I think there were two or three other movies when we were there, and we were the only one that was shooting Winnipeg for Winnipeg so they were quite proud.

CS: Who's idea was it to premiere the movie at Tribeca? It seems very much like the kind of movie that the festival tends to thrive on.
Paquin: It's a matter of which festival we were ready for. It's the perfect festival for our film. New York is a very smart, liberal place, and the kind of humor that we have in this film would really appeal to a New York audience. It was just a perfect match. Tribeca is a fantastic emerging film festival, so we're very excited to have our film premiere there.

CS: Before you got on this call, Breckin told me I should ask you a question about playing Rogue. (Note: This fabrication is what we journalists call "a segue.")
Paquin: Don't make me retaliate, Breckin!
Meyer: (laughs) I take it back. I know. "Shut up." I get it.

CS: Do you feel that phase of your career is over and this movie being the next step in your career?
Paquin: I mean, that was obviously a pretty fantastic thing to happen to my career when I was like 17 and it's been a fun ride. I have no idea if Fox intends to make any more "X-Men" movies. If they do.
Meyer: Aren't you the new Batman?
Paquin: My sheer macho-ness alone got me the part. (laughs)

CS: You were signed to do three "X-Men" movies, so if they get around to making a "Wolverine" movie, would you still be interested in playing the character or are you over it and want to move on?
Paquin: I mean, you know, I think it would be like anything else. I loved the people I worked with and they are people I've known now for a really long time, as far as a lot of the creative people behind and in the movie. If it was something that was really interesting and exciting and I got to do something cool, of course I'd want to do it, just like anything. It would be very nice to do more of that if the timing works out or whatever.

CS: Breckin, what else are you doing these days besides "Robot Chicken"?
Meyer: I'm writing that now as we speak. I'm in my office with both of the head writers writing that. I have a movie coming out called "Ted's MBA," I'm not sure exactly when it comes out, and then I'm starting another movie in May.
Paquin: Oh, what are you doing?
Meyer: I will tell you when we're not being interviewed. It's porn.

CS: I'm sure we'll read all about it in Variety tomorrow.

Blue State premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday, April 27.