Richard Linklater’s latest film, Everybody Wants Some!!, showcases college life in 1980 and three of the film’s stars, Blake Jenner, Tyler Hoechlin, and Will Brittain talk about the similarities and differences of the college life then and now.

Everybody Wants Some!! takes place in Texas in the summer of 1980. The film focuses on a college baseball team who spend the weekend before classes start going to numerous parties trying to woo any girl they run into.

Blake Jenner plays freshman pitcher, Jake, who is getting used to his new found freedom in college. Tyler Hoechlin and Will Brittain play McReynolds and Beuter, respectively, and each develop a unique relationship with Jake throughout the film. 

Hoechlin and Brittain both attended college before getting involved with the film industry, and Brittain talked about how his college experience mirrored his character’s in the film.

“I was a theater major so I’m one of those hybrid guys who was an athlete but also into the performing arts, so there was definitely a lot of partying but you did not have that great home environment because I was living in single dorms just trying to get by,” Brittain said. “There was definitely was that same vibe at the beginning of college with this sort of innocence and getting baptized in this world of cultures and different types of people and music so I could definitely relate to that.”

The film was shot in Austin, Texas, which is where Brittain’s alma mater, University of Texas, is located. Although he was certainly able to get the rest of the cast used to Austin, the guys said that it was spending three weeks on Richard Linklater’s ranch that helped them build the chemistry before shooting.

“With 12 guys, you are bound to have probably one that is probably going to not fit in or buy in. So it was great getting to know each other ahead of time and it happened to be that everyone was great, so it was a great job of casting by [Richard] and it is what set us up for that collaborative process,” Jenner said.

Even though the film is being marketed as a “spiritual sequel” to Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, the guys said that no one on set ever approached this film as a sequel, but instead as its own thing. Hoechlin explained that the two films have a similar overall feel, however. 

“When you watch the movie, you get the same tone and the same feel of Dazed and it’s kind of similar because you are kind of getting just a window into this world and this view of people who live in it. You are just experiencing it with them and you get to know them. Same thing with Dazed, you get to know these characters and you say ‘oh I know my buddy who reminds me of that character’ that’s the kind of feel you get after watching this movie, you know these 12 new people and kind of relate to them in your own personal way or through a friend,” Hoechlin said.

While Dazed and Confused took place in 1976, Everybody Wants Some!! is set in August 1980, which was different for the cast to get used to. None of the main cast was born when the movie takes place, but they said they were given an iPod with about a hundred ‘80s songs to listen to and were told to watch certain movies of that era to get used to that feel.

Despite taking place almost 36 years ago, Hoechlin said that a lot of the cast enjoyed going back in time and portraying that era. 

“I just loved living in that world for a little bit. It was nice to have music going and having people actually dancing and socializing and having a good time,” Hoechlin said.

The guys talked about the energy on set during the party scenes and said that it kind of opened their eyes to how different things were back then.

“It’s a subtle reminder to live in the now with all the things that distract us like Twitter and Facebook and social media and how connected everyone is, you kind of forget about the moment right here, right now is the most important,” Jenner said.

Things might look drastically different now, but the guys think there are a lot of things that they hope current college students take away from this movie.

“I would say all of the external things like the music, clothes, haircuts, that all changes with time, but growing up and finding out who you are, what your niche is, that all stays the same so I think that is a way that students can relate to this film,” Jenner said.

Everybody Wants Some!! is in select theaters this Friday and is rated R for language throughout, sexual content, drug use and some nudity. Check out oaklandpostonline.com/blogs on Friday to read our review of the film.