Are there any of your own experiences in the film? Can you relate to some of the heartbreak?

JGL: Yeah, of course. I think everyone can relate to both sides. I think everyone has been Tom or been Summer at some point, to some degree or another. I certainly have, and that really was our aim; just not to make something that was just funny or pulls at the heartstrings, so to speak, but is actually heartfelt and honest.

Is sad British pop music big over in the States? And is that something you could relate to?

JGL: It is, it absolutely is, and yeah, I can relate to it for sure. The Clash, The Smiths, those bands are definitely a very big deal.

Are we generally more depressed over here [in the UK]?

JGL: We are just better at faking it over in the States!

How refreshing was it that it was the guy in this film who is the romantic, the fantasist, and it was the girl who was the cynic and the realist, as it normally is the other way round…

JGL: I like it that neither of the characters fit neatly into any gender box. Both exhibit signs of either one or another in our parents' generation of love stories. I think it is a sign of the times that we as people, as a generation, are ready to be individuals and less of a need to strictly heed to any conventions or stereotypes.

We listen to a lot of music when we are falling in love or breaking up with people. What are your tracks for those moments?

JGL: Well, it all depends. When we were shooting (500) Days Of Summer, what I listened to a lot was She&Him - everyone loves it in the States. There is a dance number in the film and Zooey Deschanel is not in it, which is a tragedy as Zooey is built for dance numbers! So, we made this little short film that is out online, the director, Zooey and I to one of her songs. So, every morning on my way to work I listen to She and Him and to hear her singing, her voice and her songs and her beautiful melodies. It made it very easy to play smitten, to have those songs in your head.

What’s your karaoke track?

JGL: I can’t tell you [that]!

Was there a Summer in your life?

JGL: Yeah, of course. There has been one in everyone’s.

Were you ever worried about the chemistry between you and Zooey as it must be so important?

JGL: The cool thing was Zooey and I have known each other for a long time as we did a movie together called Manic almost ten years ago, which was a very different movie to this. It's one I am very proud of, actually. It is a very heavy, dramatic movie and we have stayed friends since then, so the chemistry and the comfort and the trust between two people playing a love story like this is key, so to have a friend who I could trust and sensibilities who I already understood made it so much easier and a big reason why it looked so natural on screen.

As you are such good friends, was it not hard having to do those intimate scenes together?

JGL: No, it’s the opposite. It is so much easier when it is someone you know. It’s weird when it is a stranger. But when you're friends, you know… we have done this before and we are both actors. It’s much easier being friends.

At one point in the film you say that 1960s' women have the right idea for style and dressing. Is that something that you personally believe?

JGL: I do like fashion from the 60s, some of it. I think in that particular scene Tom reminds me of myself when I was younger, actually. I used to do a lot of that shit ‘Ah, everybody is so stupid today! How come nobody has any taste anymore?’ And I have kind of got over that notion and I actually don’t buy into 'the glory days' thing. I think that every time has its great things to it and the 60s was such a glorious time and it is easy to forget that there is all sorts of bullshit from the 60s.

What is great right now then?

JGL: Now is so exciting as right now some of the best stuff is being made from some kid in Japan. I watched a video recently by a band named Sour, a Japanese trio. They made this video with hundreds of collaborators, people who like their music, who obviously were very organised and coordinated, and made these beautiful images that really wouldn’t have been possible before the Internet allowed all this communication between people to upload their videos to one site, or download them all and cut them together. This sort of thing would have been near impossible even four years ago.

I can imagine a film like this is dearer to your heart than G.I. Joe? Did you just do G.I. Joe for the money?

JGL: Actually, no. G.I. Joe’s not the best-paying job I have had at all. I did that movie for fun because I got to do this cool character with this mask and makeup and costume and voice. It was a blast and I go in for diversity and an eclectic mix of creative challenges. G.I. Joe was really fun.

Did it take you by surprise when you had to do the dance routines in (500) Days?

JGL: It took me by surprise when it actually arrived; there I was when I was in front of 30 choreographed dancers who were doing all the same thing as me – bizarre experience! We have all pictured ourselves doing that. We have all watched the making of Thriller, and I never thought that would actually be me. It was very fun.

I read that you play guitar and that you and Zoey kind of jammed together. Are you musical? Are there any YouTube videos of you?

JGL: I just made a short film that played at Sundance and is going to come out on a compilation of short films… that Spike Jones actually has one on a short disk, which tickles me. The movie is called Sparks and I adapted it, cut it and scored it. It has been the first time that I have been public about music that I have made. But I have always loved music.

Is that a taster of big things to come, directing features?

JGL: I would hope! I don’t have a feature that I am working on now, but I do stuff all the time on a website called hitRECord.org. I just put up little pieces of audio, or writing, or photos and then just invite people to do the same and we just remix each others' records and just collaborate and make collages of stuff. It’s really fun.

One American review called (500) Days 'the first great cinematic romance of the Facebook generation'. How do you feel about that? You’re obviously very into that, the Internet. How do you think it has changed your life, keeping up communication with friends, lovers etc…

JGL: Yeah, well it's changed everything, hasn’t it? One thing I love about hitRECord and getting to mix stuff and out it up online is how instantaneous it is. I loved (500) Days of Summer when we shot it, and I love it now, but it is very different to be talking about and showing audiences stuff that we shot so long ago, while online you can make something and that day you can put it out and people can respond to it and maybe change it and collaborate. It's just instant and it's resonant.

Brit film Love/Loss had a live webcam set up that could be watched on the official site of all the on-set action. Is that something that would interest you?

JGL: Interesting… I don’t know if I would do that exactly but it just depends. To me a movie set is just a movie set. I like the idea of doing stuff that is live like that, but who knows? I would be interested to take a look. I have never been a huge fan of love lost, I don’t really like watching behind-the-scenes stuff on movie sets as I think you definitively look like a bad actor because you are acting to this camera and there is another camera over here that’s showing the audience that you're faking. So, I don’t know if I would do that exact thing of putting a camera right there on set, but that is just one process. Traditional movie-making is a very particular process and that’s not the only way to make movies. It's not anymore and that’s exciting. I would rather do something totally new. In my backpack I have what you need to make a movie and distribute it – I have a camera and a computer and there is Wi-Fi here.

There are so many wonderful scenes in the film, I was wondering if you have any favourites?

JGL: The realities and expectations really get at the heart of the movie as here is a guy who has built up all these expectations, build up on the music that he likes and movies and what he has heard from friends, rather than engaging with reality and the present.

Are you a cynic or a romantic at heart?

JGL: Well, I think a healthy balance of both is important, but I would probably lean more towards the romantic side these days.

How do you feel about greetings cards? Will you send one ever again, or will it be blank, no verse?

JGL: Yeah, I never liked greeting cards much! I like to give one to somebody but you have to write it yourself.

(500) Days is such an inventive film all the way through. Was it all there from the first sentence, or was it something that came out as the film went on?

JGL: Both, but a lot of it was really in the script.

Did it turn out as expected when you saw the final cut as it looks like it might be something that changed a lot in the edit?

JGL: I’ve got to say this one looked a lot like I expected it to look. It was really what I hoped it would look like and what Mark [Webb] had described. He is very savvy, technically. He has shot so many videos and he knows how to get what he wants from it and the way it should. The surprise, of course, is that he is an extremely humanistic storyteller, obsessed with story and character, and not just making it look right, which is a double treat, which is rare with directors as you usually get one or another to be honest. I think he is going to be one of the film-makers that our time is going to be remembered for.

(500) Days Of Summer is out in UK cinemas on 2nd September.

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