The 80's was a big decade for Teresa Palmer, one of the stars of the new comedy "Take Me Home Tonight."
"I remember learning to walk," jokes the Australian actress, who was born in 1986 yet had to essentially travel back in time to play a character seemingly resurrected from something akin to “The Breakfast Club” or “Ferris Bueller's Day Off.”
In "Take Me Home Tonight," Topher Grace stars as an aimless college graduate who pursues his dream girl (Palmer) at a wild Labor Day weekend party. He, his sister (Anna Faris) and their best friend (Dan Fogler) struggle with their burgeoning adulthood over the course of the night.
It is a story with which the beautiful Palmer, whose recent filmography includes "I Am Number Four" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," can actually relate. She recalls having a crush on one of her elementary school classmates yet was tragically perceived to be too unpopular to associate with him.
"I, unfortunately, didn't understand that wearing socks with your sandals was not a cool thing and that meant that I was very much an outcast in primary school," Palmer explains. "But, when I turned 14 ... I dyed my hair blonde, I got a little bit edgier, I ditched the socks and sandals and all of the sudden he asked me out on a date."
In fact, that crush ended up being Palmer's first kiss. On the other hand, crushing on a classmate is not the only aspect of "Take Me Home Tonight" with which the actress can relate. She also recalls having a party that was even crazier than the one shown in the film.
"I got the keys to my dad's investment property," says Palmer, explaining that her father intended on knocking down the house and replace it with apartments. "I ended up inviting like 300 people to this party, it got gate-crashed by even more people, it was on the news and then the house burned down."
Fortunately, much like the characters in "Take Me Home Tonight," Palmer did not get into too much trouble for creating so much chaos. Yet, chaos - fueled by cocaine - may very well have been the reason the movie, originally titled "Kids in America," has undergone so many release date changes since filming wrapped up a few years ago.
Palmer explains that the studio that originally financed the film eventually felt conflicted about releasing a motion picture with so much cocaine usage. Said studio stripped the movie of the cocaine which then resulted in less than favorable reactions from test audiences.
"If you make a film about prohibition, you have got to have alcohol in there," Palmer continues. "If you make a film about the 80's - especially with going to parties in Beverly Hills - there's going to be cocaine. The cocaine is almost like a whole other character in the film."
The controversial bits eventually made their way back into "Take Me Home Tonight" after Relativity Media fell in love with the flick and Palmer could not be more proud of the product audiences will see this weekend on the big screen in theaters throughout the Valley - which, coincidentally, served as the location for the film's production.
"Phoenix embraced us as a crew," Palmer says. "We had an amazing group of extras who came in day in and day out. They were so enthusiastic. The people of Phoenix are just kind, warmhearted, lovely people. We were very blessed to shoot here."
“Take Me Home Tonight” (R – 97 minutes) opens Friday, March 4 in theaters throughout the Valley. Visit NCM.com for specific showtimes.
Listen to Joseph J. Airdo's movie review segment every Friday morning during “The Daily Blender with Jeffry O'Brien,” 6-9 a.m. weekdays on NBC 1260.
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