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Sean Combs stars in Get Him to the Greek

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Talk about raunchy and outrageous. “Get Him to the Greek” is the story of an ambitious, but weak-willed young record executive in charge of getting a ‘drugged-out’ rock star to the Greek Theater, by way of London, Manhattan, and Las Vegas in three days no less.

Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs stars as the record mogul boss, Sergio Roma, who is directing Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) to get British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) to Los Angeles for a comeback concert. Sounds simple, but apparently because this task is fused with drugs, sex, and extreme parties it will take all Green can muster to complete the task.

If you’re looking for a breakout performance by Combs, don’t bother. He’s playing this for laughs. He’s a tough-talking hard-ass who knows the music business backwards and forwards and expects his young executive to do whatever it takes to get the ‘burnt-out’ British rocker to the States in time to perform at the Greek.

When the casting director advised the filmmakers that Combs was willing to fly himself out to audition for the part, they knew he was serious about the job. It was an unusual move for such a well-known performer, but Combs had a plan.

“When I first found out there was a chance to be in a movie with Jonah Hill and Russell Brand that was directed by Nick Stoller and produced by Judd Apatow, I would’ve given one of my arms to get the role. I prepared all of the dialogue, worked with my acting coach, walked into the audition, and they said, ‘You’re not going to need the script. We’re just going to improv.’ I thought, If I really want the role … I just have to go for it.”

Casting Combs had an unexpected benefit.

Explains Apatow: “Nick wrote Sergio as an amazing part, and then Sean was even better than what we had. We would go to him and say, ‘What would a crazy record company executive say here?’ He turned into one of the important partners of the movie, because he told us about the record industry, and he knew a lot of insane points of view that people might have.”

This added an important authenticity to the role. Stoller recalls: “It was great to turn to him and ask, ‘Would they do this?’ We had this whole plot point of Sergio telling Aaron, ‘Don’t get drunk on the road,’ which always felt a little fake to me. I said to Sean, ‘Would you ever tell a subordinate not to get drunk on the road?’ He said, ‘No, I would tell him just to keep it together.’ Which was very, ‘Oh, of course … that’s what you’d say.’”

Of course, Combs doesn’t want the audience to confuse his character with himself. “He’s an eccentric, over-the-top record executive,” the music-mogul-turned-actor notes. “I know it sounds similar to me in real life, but it’s really different. Sergio is much crazier than I am. I’m a very serious businessman. I wanted him to be just straight crazy. I can’t wait for people to meet Sergio.”

In the end, producers say, it was Combs’ performance as an actor, not his music experience, that benefited the film the most. “Sean brings this whole crazy energy to it,” Stoller says. “The comedy styles in the movie are very disparate. You have the Sean-style meeting the Russell-style meeting the Jonah-style. It all combines into a delicious frappé.”

To make their depiction of the industry authentic in “Get Him to the Greek,” the producers made the decision to populate the movie with actual musicians.

Music stars Christina Aguilera, Pink, Pharrell Williams and Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, all have cameos in the film as people who have crossed Aldous’ path … or been run over by his madness.

This is not a family movie. But for those who want a rowdy, raunchy good time at the theater, this flick is for you. “Get Him to the Greek” is in theaters Friday.

Gail can be reached at gail@hollywoodbychoice.com

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