The cast of the Shakespeare adaptation piled into a tour bus to travel from L.A. to the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Things got… interesting. (UPDATED!)
On the afternoon of Thursday, March 7, Joss Whedon and much of the cast of his black-and-white feature film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing packed into a tour bus for the roughly 24 hour trip from Los Angeles to the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The crazy, kooky bus ride all came together after a few of the lesser-known castmates began trying to figure out how they were going to attend the film's U.S. premiere on Sat., March 9 at SXSW (Full disclosure: I'll be moderating a panel discussion with Whedon and his actors after the premiere). Once distributors Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate got on board with the notion of a bus tour, things snowballed. They called it "Bus Ado About Nothing."
With all that time cooped up in a tight space, life got a bit weird en route to Austin. Thanks to Twitter, Instagram, and Vine, the journey has been thoroughly documented for our enjoyment. (Note: When this was first posted, the passengers — including Whedon and actors Tom Lenk, Fran Kranz, Spencer Treat Clark, Jillian Morgese, Ashley Johnson, Nick Kocher, and Brian McElhaney — were still on the road. But it has since been UPDATED with their complete journey.)
On the bus, things were calm at first. Even dignified.
Actors Tom Lenk and Spencer Treat Clark.
From bottom left, actors Emma Bates, Jillian Morgese, Brian McElhaney, Fran Kranz, Nick Kocher, Tom Lenk, Joshua Zar, Spencer Treat Clark, and Ashley Johnson.
And things weren't always dignified.
McElhaney, Kranz, and Kocher
Two hours in, some began to turn to drink.
Kranz, Morgese, and co-producer and editor Danny Kaminsky
Maybe "magical" isn't the best word. But you get the idea.
