Chris Schulz: My worst ever interview experience

Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, the stars of The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro. Photo/AP

TimeOut journalist Chris Schulz details some of his worst celebrity encounters.

Foetal position is not a good position to be in at any time of the day - let alone minutes before an interview with two A-list movie stars.

That was my only thought as I staggered up the steps into Sydney's Park Hyatt Hotel, clutching my stomach while suffering one of those crippling stomach bugs that makes you regret ever eating anything.

I had been curled up on the hotel's front lawn for an hour, moaning "Urgh," "Help me", "Dear God, why?" and "Just kill me" at various intervals and well within earshot of nearby tourists and joggers.

No one came to my aid - not that they could do anything. Sweaty, shaking and slightly green, I'd fallen ill just the night before - too late to cancel my trip to interview the stars of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Besides, I'd been looking forward to it - who could say no to meeting Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone? I loved The Social Network, and SuperBad and Zombieland are two of my favourite movies.

But in my state, dealing with frantic movie promoters, stressed press handlers, Stone's snobby entourage and fellow media fretting over their makeup was not what I felt like doing.

Moments before appearing on camera with the Spider-Man stars, I was regretting every moment that had led me to being there.

As it turned out, the interviews came out okay - even if Garfield threatened to dive out the nearest window towards the end of our five-minute chat (see the video below).

As bad as that experience was, it wasn't my worst ever interview - although I've had a few.

There was the time Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am made me sit and listen to him chew on a chocolate bar for six slow, awkwardly intimate minutes before beatboxing down the phone. I didn't get many useable quotes out of that one.

I once spent a hilariously bonkers 20 minutes on the phone with Courtney Love while she carried out conversations with a hairdresser, room service staff, her personal assistant and possibly several made-up friends.

Eccentric? Yes. A force of nature? Also yes. Rude? A little, but when she started speaking fondly of her time in Nelson docking lambs during school holidays, it made my day.

Sometimes interviews are just plain hard work. Like reggae fiend Damian Marley, who offered bored answers to my questions with a thick Jamaican accent over a phone line crackling like a frying pan fire. It took me hours to decipher our 10-minute chat.

But the award for my worst interview goes to Kaiser Chiefs' front man Ricky Wilson. Granted an admittedly early-for-a-rocker interview slot of 9am, he answered the phone with one of the longest yawns I've ever heard, then unleashed a string of expletives that made it clear he was not in the mood to talk.

Turns out he was in bed, had a hangover and may very well have been curled up in foetal position. No hard feelings then, Ricky, I've been there too.

Watch my interview with Andrew Garfield below:

- TimeOut