Everybody Wants Some follows the young life of college baseball players as they navigate adulthood and the fun that comes along with it. Directed by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Boyhood, School of Rock, etc.) and featuring performances from Teen Wolf’s Tyler Hoechlin, Glee’s Blake Jenner, and newcomer Will Brittain.

The Dolphin, along with other reporters, got the chance to speak with Tyler Hoechlin and Will Brittain during a conference call about the upcoming film.

The Dolphin: I know you attended college in real life, and I was just wondering what were some of the differences between college life in the ‘80s and college life now?

Tyler Hoechlin: The similarities as far as the experiences go; I remember my parents driving all my stuff out and I was driving in my other car. I got there and we unloaded everything and once they left, I remember this feeling, like, “Wow, this is really happening and now I’m on my own.” That initial sense of freedom, I think that is  something anybody can relate to who sees the movie when Jake pulls up and is meeting the guys for the first time. For me, I played college ball, so it was kind of like going back and reliving the glory days. But, I actually had a little bit more fun this time. When I was actually playing, it was a little more focused and I actually had to show up for practice and perform. This time when we showed up to the parties, it wasn’t like, you know, “Coach is going to find out tomorrow.” It was like, “Well, our coach is here and directing us to have more fun, so I guess we get to.”

Will Brittain: Well, my college experience was great. I was a theater major, so a lot of experience reflects what you see at the end of the film, where these guys are at this crazy theater party. I was one of these hybrid guys, who was an athlete, but also into the performing arts. There was definitely a lot of partying, but you didn’t have that great home environment because I was living in tiny little shacks and dorms, just trying to get by. But, there definitely was that same vibe, for me, at the beginning of college that Billy Beuter has coming in with this innocence, kind of this whole experience and getting baptized into this world of cultures and different kinds of people in music. I can definitely relate to that.

TD: Where did you guys go to college?

TH: I went to Arizona State and  UC Irvine.

WB: UT Austin. I was a Longhorn.

TD: What was it like portraying these real life places in Texas with nostalgic value? I know everyone who has seen Dazed and Confused and Boyhood can tell it’s cool to go to Austin and the places they were filmed. Was that important to you?

WB: It wasn’t so much that it was important to go to these places that were reminiscent, but it was that I was able to make a movie in Texas with Richard Linklater, who’s sort of the grandfather of the Austin Film Society and probably one of the most reputable filmmakers in the world and definitely one of the most reputable in Texas. So, it was great to be part of that experience and to make a movie in the same town you went to college in, and also to get to introduce it to all these guys and show them what a great city it is.

TD: Since this is a movie about college in the ‘80s, how do you think this movie can relate to college students in this day and age?

Blake Jenner: I always say that all the external things–like music, the clothes, the haircuts, the facial hair–that all changes over time, but the relationships, finding out who you are, finding your niche in the world, that all stays the same, so I think that’s where students can relate to this film.

WB: Just like with every new batch of college students, you have a bunch of people questioning the world and seeing it in a new way, and that’s the beauty of college. You’re introduced to the world on a larger scale with this safety net of academics and structure and it sort of allows you to raise those bigger questions without fear of not being able to pay your bills and, you know, that’s sort of what these guys are doing; they’re living in this bubble of their glory days and they’re able to really observe the world around them and yada yada yada.

TH: Going off to school, I remember when I got dropped off, those first couple of days and that feeling of freedom and realizing you’re on your own. It’s that initial “I’m responsible for my actions and the consequences are going to slowly fall on me,” so I think that’s something everyone can kind of identify with as well. Meeting new people with new ideas and things like that.

TD: What was your favorite scene that you shot?

BJ: I’d be copping out by saying the truth, which is that every single scene was a blast to shoot. But, if I had to pick one, I really dug shooting the punk rock scene because for my character, that was really a checkpoint in his journey, calling out everything he had been through. For a second, taking a step back and thinking, “Who am I really?”

TH: We really want to say the whole thing because it kind blends into this one experience for us. But, if I had to pick one, I’d probably pick the group of days we were on the baseball field because that felt so much like home to me. I loved being back out on the field with the guys and even sitting on the stretch line. Doing that whole thing kind of brought me back to the old days; not really talking about anything important, but just kind of talking. And that’s really what it ended up being. That was really what it was like the first few days of shooting and it really set the tone for the rest of the shoot.

WB: For me, it was really being back on the baseball field with all these guys. I hadn’t been out to the ballpark since I was a kid, so being able to go out and shoot a movie on such a beautiful day and beautiful location with all my buddies–it was really an incredible experience.

TD: Since this is referenced a lot with Dazed and Confused, which characters do you identify most with in that movie?

TH: It’s hard because I think it’s kind of the way Rick [Linklater] talked about someone asking him the other day “Which character in this movie is you?” You gotta say “Well, I’m kind of sprinkled throughout with all the guys,” so I think a lot of us feel that way with these characters, as well. I think we all tapped into a specific thing with each guy, so that kind of amplifies that. But, I guess the great thing about this is working with such a great team in a collaborative way. There’s a lot of input that everybody kind of had in the whole group dynamic. So I think we all kind of found a way into a lot of the characters. So, to pick one out of Dazed is the same kind of concept. A little bit of everybody is scattered throughout.

BJ: It has different shades of everyone’s human persona. I think every character in Dazed makes one really cool guy.