All Pop - Movies

HOLLYWOOD -- What a difference a couple of years and a couple of movies make.

The sleeper hit of the summer of 1999 was the teen comedy American Pie.

Starring a cast of fresh-faced, virtual unknowns, this coming-of-age comedy grossed $120 million US.

On Aug. 10, American Pie 2 premieres with the original cast plus a number of guest stars.

Natasha Lyonne, who plays Jessica, the voice of reason but fabricator of tall tales, was one of the last to sign on to the sequel.

"I didn't have the sequel written into my contract and sequels don't usually appeal to me but I was in the original and I didn't want to be the only one who didn't come back," says Lyonne, who stars as the possessed teen in The Exorcist spoof in Scary Movie 2.

Lyonne was in for quite a surprise when she reported for duty.

"Everyone from American Pie seems to have become a bona fide movie star. Movies like Road Trip, Dude Where's My Car? and Evolution have made Seann (W. Scott) huge and Chris Klein is mega watt.

"Two years ago, they were just a couple of skinny boys. Now, they're buff hunks. I think they spend as much effort working out as they do on their characters."

The last thing the cast did for both films was to spend an afternoon at a photo shoot.

"For American Pie, everyone was so haphazard. They didn't care what they looked like," recalls Lyonne.

"This time around, they all arrived with their hair and make-up people. They all had opinions on how they should be photographed and when they weren't needed they were on their cell phones talking to their agents and managers."

Jennifer Coolidge, who plays Stifler's sexually ravenous mom, says she remembers "during the first shoot, the parking lot was filled with beat-up Volkswagens and trucks. This time it was all sports cars and SUVs.

"Mena Suvari came to set one day wearing a pair of boots that probably cost as much as she was paid for the first film."

She's quick to add "the same was not reflected in their attitudes. They're still really sweet young people.

Shannon Elizabeth, who plays Nadia, the sexy foreign exchange student, feared her co-stars would "be pompous over their successes. They're not at all. They're all very down-to-earth and so grateful for what they have as a result of American Pie.

"Seann is so very cool and he pretty well set the tone for all of us."

Stars grab piece of 'Pie 2'