ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE,
HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

Written by Kelli Gillespie

Life doesn’t always go as planned… and some days you just want to press the restart button and begin fresh. In 1972 author Judith Viorst wrote a children’s book titled, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It was a huge hit as the themes resonated with families. Now some forty years later Walt Disney has made a feature film with the same name, only this time, Alexander isn’t the only one having bad things happen to him, the entire family is finding themselves living their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner star as the parents and they talked with Risen about parenting, seeing the silver lining, and their worst days.

Interviewed for Risen Magazine in Los Angeles, California

Risen Magazine: Both of you have children, what is a piece of advice you could pass on to a new parent?
Jennifer Garner: You are just in the stage you are in… and when you are a new mom, you are a new mom. And even if there is part of you that is aware, “I’m acting a little bit crazy.” It’s okay. Don’t judge yourself. You won’t stay that way.
Steve Carell: Everyone said, “Read this book…” and “It’s going to be this way…” and it’s always different than people tell you it’s going to be because it’s your personal experience – and, it will be unique to you and your life, and your baby. It’s going to be different than you expect or anyone prepares you for.

Risen Magazine: Since this was first a beloved children’s book, and now a movie, how do you think it will resonate with families?
Steve Carell: I’ve heard this film described as a throwback to the kind of films we grew up watching. They don’t seem to be making as much live-action, family movies these days. We’ll see if it’s a classic – but I think it’s modeled after classics. It’s a movie that I really think families will relate to, and it’s very honest.

Jennifer Garner & Steve Carell from ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE,
HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

Risen Magazine: Are you both able to see the silver living in situations, or do you get frustrated at first and think, “We’ll work through it.”?
Jennifer Garner: I’m by nature probably an optimist, but I definitely allow myself those moments where there is no silver lining and things are just a bummer for a minute.

Risen Magazine: How do you handle rough days?
Jennifer Garner: I think that really no matter what happens in your day if you can come through it as a family you will be okay. And you will get to the other side if you can have a little bit of a sense of humor about it and just have each other’s backs.

Risen Magazine: Tell me about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day that you have had.
Jennifer Garner: Not that long ago I had the kids in the car ready to go to school and I was driving out of the driveway and I scraped my husband’s whole side of the car with my side of the car and ruined two cars in five seconds. That was an Alexander-esque moment.
Steve Carell: (Sarcastically) I actually scraped Ben Affleck’s car as well. That was my worst day. He got so mad.

Interview originally published in Risen Magazine, Winter 2014