Sundance celebs: A chilly bootcamp amid the glitz

PARK CITY, Utah — The Sundance Film Festival, centered in this idyllic mountain town, is the perfect forum for fans and filmmakers. Movies are taken seriously. No one fiddles with a cell phone during a screening or shows up late.

But the event can still present challenges for actors there to promote their films.

Believe it or not, glitzy parties are just another work commitment.

"Half the parties are fun, half you have to go to," says Jake Johnson, who co-wrote and co-stars in Digging for Fire, an ensemble comedy about parents on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Jack Black, who stars (with James Marsden) in the dark comedy D-Train, finds the festival experience energizing.

"I like the cold actually," Black says. "I run pretty hot. I like taking long walks in the snow. I got some special Sorel boots. I'll be the guy outside the screening because I can't really watch it with people. I'm the guy pacing outside hoping to hear some laughs."

For some of the actors in attendance the elements loom large. Temps at night can dip to 10 degrees. The proper weather gear is essential, but the particulars can catch some unawares.

Jemaine Clement has two movies at the festival, People, Places,Things and Don Verdean, and for the New Zealand native the chill was something new.

"I have never been anywhere so cold," Clement says. "New Zealand doesn't get that cold, unless you're in the mountains. The first time I went to Sundance, in 2007, I had only sneakers. I had never worn boots before. So last year it was all about trying to find the right boots. If one little drop of moisture gets up in your socks, it ruins your whole experience."

Boots are key. And so is just the right coat.

Petite Big Bang Theory regular Melissa Rauch, who co-wrote and stars in The Bronze (which premiered Friday night), is attending the festival for the first time.

"I ordered 20 coats in preparation,'' says the 5-foot-tall actress, "and 19 are going back. I realized that the only coat I had was from my years in New Jersey, and it's neon bright green. I look like an alien meatball in it. My living room was filled with tons of boxes, each with a different winter coat. Coats are hard when you're my height."

For Jason Schwartzman, at Sundance with The Overnight, a comedy about two couples on a family playdate, staying healthy can present a challenge.

"You're walking someplace and you're talking, then all of a sudden it's, 'Why am I about to faint?'" he says. "Last time I was there I got pneumonia. The altitude didn't get to me, the germs did. I don't care. I love it. I'll get pneumonia again. I'm going to put sanitizer all over my body. It's not going to scare me away from that wonderful place."

Billy Crudup, who stars in The Stanford Prison Experiment, finds some surprising similarities between this mountain-ringed town and New York City (they do both have Park Avenues).

"I live in Soho in New York," he says. "And it's like Soho on a beautiful day. It's a zoo. It's just packed with people loitering around looking at windows. How much of it is people there to experience an event and how much to experience cinema is confusing to me. It does seem there are equal parts self- promotion and ambition and artistic aspiration. You end up with several scripts in your hand and you gave out your home address for no apparent reason."

The star wattage is undeniable. But the crush around certain celebrities who stop in to make the scene can surprise even veteran actors.

"Last year I was there with Selena Gomez," says Crudup. "It was absolute mayhem. I was just pushing people out of the way. I turned into a bodyguard. It turned into 'Indie-Con.'"

And then there are the too-good-to-be-true offers from what festival co-founder Robert Redford calls "the ambush marketers."

"I just got an e-mail from someone saying, 'Do you want to go to go this room where they're giving away free trips to Aruba?'" Crudup says. "All the different lobbyists confuse your agenda. That's one of the reasons I like to keep my stay short and sweet."

But his resolve could go out the window, he jokes: "Flash forward to me hanging out in every hospitality suite dropping Selena Gomez's name like a hot potato."