PUBLISHED ONSeptember 03, 2021 10:00 AMByBryan LimCelebrities, they're just like us.
That's a tune that has been sung for the longest time but it's usually still a surprise when you find out just how similar they are to us.
Take actresses Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste, for example. They love their coupons (think vouchers) and discounts so much, they've done some questionable things just to knock some dollars off their purchase.
Unlike their roles in the upcoming comedy film Queenpins, it's nothing illegal though.
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During a roundtable interview for the film on Aug 26, Kristen was asked if she would be found lining up outside Best Buy on a Black Friday.
For context, Best Buy is a huge electronics company in the US and offers huge discounts on Black Friday, which is kind of like our Singles Day (Nov 11).
Unfortunately, you probably won't find her lining up for Black Friday deals so she's not very Singaporean in that respect. However, like kiasu Singaporeans, she likes her discount — so much that she attempted to discreetly use an expired coupon once.
The 41-year-old American actress said: "I use coupons. Those Bed Bath & Beyond coupons are the light of my life... The only time I can really relate to the illegal activity in this movie — because I'm such a goody goody and scared of breaking rules — is when I slid a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon to the teller knowing full well it's from 2016 and I'm just sort of like waiting to see if they notice and I'm, like, willing to rip it up if they say so."
Thankfully, the teller didn't call her out on it and accepted the coupon.
Kirby, on the other hand, was more brazen and admitted that she wouldn't hesitate to use the expired coupon, much to the amusement of everyone present.
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The 34-year-old British actress (who can be seen on The Good Place, Killing Eve and Cruella) said: "I will slide that 2016 coupon across the counter brazenly. I will look them in the eye and dare them to refuse it because I believe very strongly [that] corporations are not people so I don't think that when I slide that coupon, that poor teller is losing money.
"I'm like Bed Bath and Beyond, they got this, okay? They've hiked the prices up anyway so just honour the coupon and let's keep it moving."
Inspired by a true story, Queenpins is an outrageous comedy about a bored and frustrated suburban homemaker Connie (Kristen) and her best pal JoJo (Kirby), a vlogger with dreams, who turn a hobby into a multi-million dollar counterfeit coupon caper.
After firing off a letter to the conglomerate behind a box of cereal that's gone stale, and receiving an apology along with dozens of freebies, the duo hatch an illegal coupon club scheme that scams millions from mega-corporations and delivers deals to legions of fellow coupon clippers.
The film also stars Vince Vaughn, Paul Walter Hauser, and Bebe Rexha.
'Does Jeff Bezos need $10?'
Since the can of worms has been opened, we couldn't help but ask if using an expired coupon was the most extreme thing they've done to get a discount.
And boy, Kirby wasn't afraid to speak her mind and take a shot at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at the same time.
She replied: "I once argued in a Whole Foods (an American supermarket chain acquired by Amazon) for easily 20 minutes about a voucher that I realised when I got to the parking lot was only an online coupon. So yeah, but I made them honour it. Does Jeff Bezos need $10 (S$13)? No."
As for Kristen, she's a softie — we all know it — and while she likes getting the bang for her buck, she doesn't want it at the expense of others.
The Veronica Mars star recounted an incident when her husband (actor Dax Shepard) was selling their car to a man whom she described as "so sweet".
"I saw them hugging and they talked about the fact that they were both sober, and it was just this beautiful relationship."
But, when Dax revealed that he had negotiated with the man over the sale of the car, Kristen wasn't having it.
She said: "I took him aside and I said, 'You absolutely are not going to talk him down, you are going to give him way, way under what this car is worth because that is a good man.'
"Currently, my state of mind is more a give-it-away kind of thing to people who deserve it."
Queenpins opens in cinemas on Sept 9.
bryanlim@asiaone.com