Alia Shawkat might be best known as Arrested Development‘s kissing cousin Maeby Funke, but the 19-year-old has left the West Coast in favor of West Village digs, and is starring in Bart Got A Room, an indie flick about prom night angst that just premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Shawkat updated Radar on the likelihood of an Arrested Development movie and how she yearns to make TV dad David Cross proud.
RADAR: For all the massive Arrested Development fans, what’s the status on the movie?
ALIA SHAWKAT: I think it’s happening. I don’t want to be the one who says too much though …
Your colleagues have been talking to the press. [Ed: Plus there’s this] Chat away.
They did? (Laughs.) Okay, I’m going to say a lot now …
I got a call from Mitchell Hurwitz, the creator, and he said “so have you heard about this movie we’re supposedly doing?” and I said yes. And he said he was in and it was great. And Jason [Bateman], when he was doing all the Juno press, he basically just talked up [Arrested Development] the movie. He got the publicity going before anything was real. So Mitch talked to Ron Howard, who said he would direct it, and he’s down. So I think Mitch was like, “I guess I’ll write it then,” and that’s what I think he’s doing now. And yes, I’m involved. I think everyone is.
Except Franklin [Will Arnett’s racist puppet], right?
[laughs] Maybe not. I think Franklin was thrown away by Fox executives.
Who do you see most often from the cast?
Sadly, I don’t see everyone that often. I see Michael Cera every now and again, but he’s famous now so he doesn’t want to talk to me.
He doesn’t pick up your calls anymore?
No, not as much. It’s fine. I’m handling it well. [Laughs.] I’m kidding! I saw David Cross once when I moved to NYC five months ago. He was really great when I called him and I think he was really proud that I moved to New York. My entire life is to make David Cross proud of me, though.