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Spelling bees let children demonstrate their vocabulary prowess, though they are often rife with the drama of rivalry, pushy parents and pint-sized competitors driven to their limits to recall archaic words.
For actor Jason Bateman in his directorial debut Bad Words, the spelling bee is the stage for a middle-aged man with a meticulous plan for revenge by exploiting a loophole in the rules.
“No one needs to see another spelling bee movie, that was a repellent to me when I read the script,” Bateman said.
Bad Words, stars Bateman as Guy Trilby, whose revenge motivations are painstakingly uncovered by a hassled journalist, played by Kathryn Hahn, as he progresses through tournaments and befriends an adorable 10-year-old contestant.
For the child actor portraying Guy’s new friend, Chaitanya Chopra, Bateman, wanted ‘a kid who had an undeniable sunshine and light and ease and lack of fear, something that would perfectly counterbalance all the cynicism and darkness’ of Guy.
He chose Rohan Chand, an Indian-American from New York City who was eight at the time of filming and had appeared in Showtime’s Homeland TV series and last year’s Lone Survivor film.
