Scotty’s best friend is Cooper, played by Jacob Pitts, who remarks, "Cooper is your basic crazy, nutty best friend whose ideas are a bit out of sync with everyone else’s reality. He’s driven by his own base impulses—he’s obsessed with sex—which gets everyone else into trouble."
"Jacob has real comedy stuff," Berg states. "He doesn’t give you the obvious read. Most actors will come in and read the scene exactly the way you thought it should be read…"
"But with Jacob, it’s unique…and really funny," Schaffer steps in. "From the minute we saw that first tape of him and saw the glint in his eye, we thought, ‘This is a charming devil.’"
At the opposite end of the spectrum from Cooper is Jamie, who, with his twin sister, Jenny, had been planning a very organized tour of Europe, seeing all the sights recommended in his Frommer’s guidebook.
"Jamie is not a geek, he just has more adult wants for his trip to Europe," Schaffer comments. "He wants to tour every castle in Europe, and he loves his guidebook."
Travis Wester, who won the role of Jamie, says, "Jamie was described to me as an astronaut on vacation. He loves learning; his goal is the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge. Any time you go to Europe with a group of friends, you’re gonna need to have someone with you who loves that stuff, and Jamie’s that guy. He’s the one who can read maps. He’s the one they turn to when they don’t know where they are."
Mandel notes, "Travis brought such a nice vulnerability to his role that the relationship between Jamie and his twin sister, Jenny, became really believable."
Michelle Trachtenberg, who stars as Jenny, remarks, "Jamie is more of a bookworm. Jenny is a lot tougher and the more daring and rebellious one. She is more willing to take a chance or go on an adventure, whereas Jamie always has to be convinced. Jenny has always been one of the guys, until she surprises them and they realize that she is most definitely a girl," she laughs.
Trachtenberg is the best known of the ensemble from her role in television’s "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." "Michelle is incredible," Schaffer states. "She always gives you exactly what you need and more. She is really, really funny, and she is such a trooper. Some of the scenes she did were in the worst possible conditions."
Mandel attests, "It got to the point that we were only half joking that we never shot one of her exterior close-ups where it wasn’t raining outside. There would be a little rain…Michelle’s close-up…pouring rain. Okay, we’re done with Michelle’s close-up…moving over to Travis…the sun’s out."
Berg confirms, "And any time she had to be somewhat scantily clad…"
"…30 degrees!," the trio says in unison.
Jessica Boehrs, a young German actress and a rising pop star in Europe, was cast in the role of Scotty’s cyber pen pal, Mieke, who is also the object of the group’s European quest. The cast also includes a number of recognizable cameos who pop up along the way, including soccer star-turned-actor Vinnie Jones and Lucy Lawless, of "Xena" fame.
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