One of the most dynamic actors working today, Sam Rockwell (“Iron Man 2,” “Space Cowboys”) stars as Owen, the quirky mentor to an awkward, self-conscious teen who must learn to embrace his individuality, in Fox Searchlight's inspiring comedy-drama “The Way, Way Back.”

A humorous and heartwarming story of self-discovery from Academy Award® winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (“The Descendants”), “The Way, Way Back” will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas starting Sept. 11.

“We had a phone meeting scheduled with Sam and we were all ready to give him our spiel,” recalls Rash. “But almost immediately he just said ‘sounds great guys, let’s just do this.’”

“The Way, Way Back” is the coming of age story of 14-year-old Duncan’s (Liam James) summer vacation with his mother, Pam (Toni Collette) and her overbearing boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell). Having a rough time fitting in, the introverted Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen (Rockwell), the gregarious manager of the Water Wizz Water Park. Through his funny, clandestine friendship with Owen, Duncan slowly opens up to and begins to finally find his place in the world—all during a summer he will never forget.

It was the script and especially the character - a wisecracking motor mouth with a heart of gold - that convinced Rockwell to take the role. “For me, it’s always the part that matters, and this is a great one,” he says. “Then when I met Nat and Jim, they were awesome. Working with directors who are also actors is always easier I think. There’s shorthand and empathy there. We didn’t stray very much from the script but they were tweaking as we went and honing the comic timing.”

Owen runs the Water Wizz Water Park, and serves as unofficial camp counselor to the kids who hang out there. “He takes a lot of them under his wing,” says Rockwell. “Duncan is pretty shy and it becomes Owen’s mission to expand his horizons. The trouble with Owen is that he doesn’t take anything too seriously. Life is just non-stop giggles for him. At first Duncan doesn’t seem to have a sense of humor and that perplexes Owen. He decides to teach the kid to take more chances and carpe diem.”

But Owen’s devil-may-care approach to life doesn’t always work out for him, Rockwell observes. “It gets him in trouble with a woman he cares about. He can’t seem to get it together when it comes to her. Like a lot of comedians, he developed a veneer of silliness to push away any real feelings.”

Rockwell, known to be a fast-talking comedy whirlwind, made his own contributions to the dialogue, according to producer Tom Rice. “Sam Rockwell is one of the most brilliant improvisers I have ever seen,” says the producer. “Every take was just a little different and he never once missed the mark. I’ve never seen somebody improv so successfully before. He is unbelievably funny.”

Conclides Rash: “Sam has a natural charisma that is perfect for this role. He could improvise comic bits all day and also handle the more serious moments. Owen really recognizes himself in Duncan.”

“The Way, Way Back” is distributed by 20^th Century Fox through Warner Bros.

An eminently likeable actor, Steve Carell (“Crazy, Stupid Love”) might not seem like an obvious choice for the controlling and obnoxious character, Trent, in Fox Searchlight’s poignant, coming-of-age tale “The Way, Way Back,” but that was part of the reason the filmmakers pursued him.

“Trent sets the tone for the movie,” says producer Tom Rice. “He needs to be adversarial, but he has to have enormous charm. You want a Trent you can believe a single mother wants to be with. When we started talking about the character, we were thinking about going in a very different direction for Trent. He was more of a beach bum, a ’60s wannabe. Then we put together a list of some outside-the-box choices. Steve Carell was at the top.”

Written and directed by Academy Award-winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (“The Descendants”), “The Way, Way Back” is the coming of age story of 14-year-old Duncan’s (Liam James) summer vacation with his mother, Pam (Toni Collette), her overbearing boyfriend, Trent, and his daughter, Steph (Zoe Levin). Having a rough time fitting in, the introverted Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen (Sam Rockwell), the gregarious manager of the Water Wizz Water Park. Through his funny, clandestine friendship with Owen, Duncan slowly opens up to and begins to finally find his place in the world—all during a summer he will never forget.

“We were very excited to have Steve play so against type. He had the courage to jump into the role, which might have intimidated someone else. He did a wonderful job,” says Faxon.

Even in their first conversations, Carell had a firm grasp on Trent’s character, according to Rash. “He immediately recognized the sadness in this character. Steve understood that he starts and ends in the same place, which makes him a kind of tragic figure, trying to be a better person, but always failing.”

Carell appreciated what he calls the economy of the script. “By that I mean that the characters are not over-explained,” he says. “You get a strong sense of who these people are without having it served up to you in the obvious ways.

“I was really intrigued by Trent on paper,” he adds. “It would be so easy for him to just be a jerk, but I didn’t think that was the best approach. I wanted to know why he acts the way he does and part of the fun was finding that. He’s pretty humorless, very self-centered and he wants what he wants, but I have a degree of empathy for the guy. I don’t think he’s a villainous character and he can be fun to be around if he wants to be.”

Trent thinks he is ready to settle down again and be part of a family. “But he has these expectations that can’t be met,” Carell says. “He gets extremely agitated when people don’t live up to them, especially with Duncan. He thinks he’s helping his girlfriend’s son, Duncan, by being a strong role model, but he’s actually being very detrimental.”

Duncan, says Carell, is a character that all sorts of people will relate to as he struggles to find his way. “This kid is becoming a man over the summer. He’s about to come into his own in very painful ways and also very funny ways.

Trent’s girlfriend is played by Toni Collette who Carell co-starred in the hit indie comedy, “Little Miss Sunshine.” “I love working with Steve,” Collette says. “And it seems to be our karma to be stuck in swampy, heated cars with rolled up windows in the middle of the summer driving for hours on end! I was so excited when I knew I was going to work with him again. He’s a very sweet, lovely person and such a fine actor.”

“The Way, Way Back” is distributed by 20^th Century Fox through Warner Bros. and will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting Sept. 11.

An awkward, self-conscious teen learns to embrace his individuality with the help of an unconventional mentor in Fox Searchlight's “The Way, Way Back,” a humorous and heartwarming story of self-discovery from Academy Award® winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (“The Descendants”).

The longtime writing partners make their feature-film directing debut with an original script packed with heartfelt wit and echoes of summer vacations past and present.

The critically acclaimed film stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Allison Janney (“The Help”), AnnaSophia Robb (TV's “The Carrie Diaries”), Sam Rockwell (“Iron Man 2”), Maya Rudolph (“Bridesmaids”) and Liam James (“2012”), Amanda Peet (“Identity Thief”), Rob Corddry (“Warm Bodies”).

“The Way, Way Back” is the coming of age story of 14-year-old Duncan’s (James) summer vacation with his mother, Pam (Collette), her overbearing boyfriend, Trent (Carell), and his daughter, Steph (Zoe Levin). Having a rough time fitting in, the introverted Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen (Rockwell), the gregarious manager of the Water Wizz Water Park. Through his funny, clandestine friendship with Owen, Duncan slowly opens up to and begins to finally find his place in the world—all during a summer he will never forget.

From a quintessential moment of teenage angst, Oscar® winning screenwriters Faxon and Rash have fashioned an original screenplay that captures the self-consciousness, uncertainty and hopefulness that make up adolescence.

“That first scene of the movie actually happened to me,” says Jim Rash. “I was in the car with my mother’s second husband and he made the same speech about how I wasn’t getting out there and taking advantage of what life has to offer.”

“The first scene defines the dynamic between Duncan and the people surrounding him,” observes Faxon.

As the writing partners began to fill out the story of a young man trying to find his voice in a confusing new situation, they decided his journey should include a timeless venue of which they both have fond memories—an old fashioned water park, where their lead character finds sanctuary and independence during his transformative summer.

Faxon and Rash remember spending long days at water parks as kids, dropped off there by parents hoping to enjoy some vacation fun of a more adult variety. “Those were days of reckless abandon,” says Faxon. “The freedom was exhilarating. We saw the water park setting as an opportunity for lots of laughs that would marry well with the world of Duncan’s home life. It balanced the tone of the film.”

The pair, along with Alexander Payne, won an adapted screenplay Oscar for the 2011 film “The Descendants,” directed by Payne and starring George Clooney. The recognition that followed was what gave them the opportunity to direct “The Way, Way Back,” a script they began working on almost a decade earlier.

“Jim and I wanted to make a timeless, nostalgic movie that brings together humor and poignancy,” says Faxon.

“The films we liked best growing up didn’t talk down to kids,” says Rash. “Now that time has given me a different view on life, I can look back and laugh, understanding what came from all that angst.”

Opening across the Philippines this September, “The Way, Way Back” is distributed by 20^th Century Fox through Warner Bros.