If there's one constant pleasure in this world -- one eency weency morsel of unadulterated delight that can bring happiness to this at times cruel and barren planet -- it's this: movies about food. Why, you may ask? Imagine the hottest of summer days days, caked in the salt your own dried sweat while breathing the toxic fumes of hundreds of New York City taxi cabs. For what? So you can wait hours just to get the perfect quote at a press conference that really captures the essence of the new reboot of the "Mannequin" franchise (oh, you know it's coming!). Or trudging through twelve inches of black soot infected snow so a story can be filed on the latest Carrot Top vehicle. Not this day, though. This day the weather was beautiful. The crisp September breeze was a constant reminder of what lay ahead. It was to be like a kid in a candy store. Well, OK, perhaps that's a bad analogy because this was the press day for "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and it was at a candy store.

Dylan's Candy Bar on the Upper East Side, to be more precise. Upon entering most press days you're likely greeted with a copy of the production notes and, perhaps, ground rules for the event; sometimes a smile. Oh, not today. Today, instead of notes, a bucket was passed out upon entering. Why a bucket? To fill up with all the free candy you want, silly. (Free Candy!) Perhaps this was strategy. Perhaps the sugar coma that the press corp would soon experience would lead to an on-topic and uneventful question and answer session with the lead voice actors, "SNL"'s Bill Hader (who which we have a one on one interview publishing later this week) and Anna Faris. Maybe? Just maybe? "Wow, those are two totally different questions," says Hader to uproarious laughter after a question concerning the relationship between people and food coupled with a question about Faris's recent nuptials. "She got married to food."

OK, maybe not.

"Yes, I did," says Faris, "and I'm super happy and it's been a great summer." She adds, "As far as food goes, my mom is an incredible cook and cooking is probably my most favorite hobby." She continues, "If I wasn't an actress, I would like to be a food critic. A restaurant critic."

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"My relationship with food is very neutral, which is good. We're just friends," Hader adds. When asked about the difficulties of voice acting Hader explains, "Initially you think, 'Hey, I can just walk in and not have to worry, you can just wake up in the morning and do some voice acting,' it's one of the hardest jobs I've ever had." He continues, "It's such a unique challenge of trying to channel everything into your voice. I remember hearing Tom Hanks talk about 'Toy Story' about how he was exhausted all the time I was like, 'OK, good, I'm not just a baby.'"

Faris adds, "We all thought it was going to be easy. They asked me to do this movie and I was so excited, it was a book I loved as a child."

In the film, Faris's character, Sam Sparks, transforms into her former nerdy self. Donning glasses and a pony tail instead of losing them. Actually embracing her inner nerd. "That can be attractive to somebody," Hader explains, "That being yourself is good. I remember the first time I met my wife, I went to her apartment and she had Star Wars curtains... I said, 'I'm going to marry you.' I like the reversal. They do that in a lot of movies where the geek girl becomes cute and I was always more attracted to the geek girl. And now it's like 'that's the girl that never talks to me now, the girl that wants nothing to do with me.'"

"Bill and I talked about this but we were both geeks in high school," Faris admits, "I used to wear a Christmas tree skirt as a cape."

On their ability to create inventions like the characters in the film, "My friend and I tried to invent a robot in his garage when we were kids," says Hader, "and my friend's name was Mark. I wanted to call the robot 'T-86' because it was 1986 -- I thought I was being a genius. And he wanted to call the robot 'Mark.' And I stopped hanging out with him. That's weird."

Faris, on the other hand, was more into inventions involving living creatures, "I was really into bugs. I still do love bumblebees." She adds, "I managed to capture the queen bumblebee when she leaves her nest in the winter. They're a little drowsy at that point so I captured her and I attempted to create a bumblebee hive. But, she died." When asked her age at the time she admitted she was, "Too old! Fourteen or fifteen." Perhaps, but that pales in comparison to the sea of grown adults salivating on this day over free candy. This glorious, glorious day. (Free Candy!)




"Mike's Pulse" is a column written by transplanted Midwesterner and current New Yorker Mike Ryan. For any compliments or complaints -- preferably the former -- you may contact Mike directly at miker@starpulse.com or submit reader questions for celebrites to Mike on Twitter.

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