Blue Cavern

"I've never seen an episode [of 'The Smurfs'], because my parents wouldn't let me," Perry told MTV News on the red carpet for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, hours before she debuted "Gurls" for a live TV audience. "My mom thought that Smurfette was a little bit slutty, being the only female in the village. And now I showed her. I called her up and was like, 'Guess what, Mom: I'm Smurfette!' "

We caught up with Mays yesterday to chat about Stamos, the Smurfs movie she just wrapped last week opposite Neil Patrick Harris, and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a charity for which she’s helping to raise awareness and funds.

Tell me about your character in the Smurfs movie.
I play Grace Winslow and Neil Patrick Harris is my husband, Patrick Winslow. We are pregnant, I guess that’s how they say it now, “we are pregnant,” with our first child. His character is a little bit apprehensive about that, and my character’s motherly instincts are kicking in. So when the Smurfs come into our world, it’s almost like practice in a way. [Laughs] They get sucked through this vortex and pushed out into New York City and cause mayhem and excitement and all the rest of it. It’s loosely based on a true story, obviously. New York was a great place to shoot a movie like that. Lots of scenes in Central Park and FAO Schwarz, and you’ve got the Empire State Building in the background.

What was your reaction when you were first approached about the film? Did you have any reservations?
No. I heard the idea, Smurf movie, and I was like, “Yes. Totally. Let me read the script.” And then I read the script, and I was like, “Actually, yes. Even more yes.” So I didn’t really have any apprehension about it. I mean, I grew up with the Smurfs. I was telling the people in production this: My mom actually used to make me watch The Smurfs because she liked the Smurfs. So just to spite her, I would say that Gargamel was my favorite. It was just such a big thing growing up, so I immediately thought I wanted to be a part of it. And I love movies like this. It’s 3-D. It’s live-action. It was a challenge talking to the dots.

There are so many great people voicing the Smurfs, and you didn’t get to work with any of them.
I know, it’s kind of heartbreaking. But they had lovely actors reading the lines of the Smurfs while we were doing our scenes, and that at least gave them some life and some personality, which was really helpful. But it’s strange, their voices are coming from behind you and you’re looking at a dot in front of you. It’s a very bizarre situation to be in.

Did you learn anything new about Neil Patrick Harris during shooting?
Apparently a lot of people know this about him, but I didn’t know that he was into magic, which I just found fascinating. I noticed on set that he’s pretty addicted to his iPhone. I actually think he’s got a problem. It’s actually very lovely to watch him playing games and things, but I think he needs to join a group. I’m pretty sure someone needs to intervene.

thanks for that Bradley, 'Loosely based in a true story?' ??????

The creators of the upcoming Smurfs film, opening next August, worked on redesigning the blue forest-dwellers for a year and a half, says producer Jordan Kerner (Charlotte's Web). He started by pushing the limits of realism, then walking back toward something more cute.

"One of the first things I asked the designers to do was take the cartoon as we know it, the line-drawing, make it three-dimensional, then take them all the way to creatures with veins in their eyes and arms and all those things," Kerner says with a laugh. "It becomes a cartoon on one end, and a troll on the other."

The original drawings by artist Peyo are very simplistic, and there are angles and details of a Smurf you never see. "Do the other Smurfs shave and Papa doesn't? Do they have fingernails? Do they have bellybuttons? These are all questions that had to be thought of and addressed," says Smurfs director Raja Gosnell.

Do they have bellybuttons?

Gosnell laughs. "If they do, we don't see them. They wear their pants a certain way."

I heard this movie is suposed to be 3-D. I can't see 3-D. But it does sound very intresting.