Fun. Ready To Burn Bright At MTV Movie Awards

'It's an opportunity to have a performance that will be talked about forever,' band says of taking the Movie Awards stage on June 3.
By James Montgomery

Nate Ruess of fun.
Photo: Getty Images

Given that Fun. are the first musical act announced for the 2012 MTV Movie Awards, you'd think they'd be privy to all sorts of insider info on the big show, like potential hosts, nominees, etc. But, you'd be wrong. Turns out, they're just as much in the dark as the rest of us.

"We haven't heard anything. Who's going to be there?" frontman Andrew Ruess laughed. "Jackie Chan? Jon Bon Jovi? They better be there, for sure."

Sadly, we can't vouch for either gentleman's availability on June 3, when the Movie Awards air live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. But we can tell you that the guys in Fun. are planning on making the most of their time on stage, by going big with their performance of chart-topping smash "We Are Young."

"It's one of the most flattering things that's happened to us on this rollercoaster ride of this song and this album, because I just remember watching all those award shows — like the Video Music Awards and Movie Awards — and you always wonder like how they're doing it, what their big reveal is going to be, all those other type of things," Ruess said. "We've had meetings about how our set's going to be and what it's going to look like, and it's so exciting. It's so exciting how much effort MTV puts into this show, like, we have to show up and play the song, but they build this whole entire world around us, and it's so amazing."

"It's also an opportunity to have a performance that will be talked about forever," guitarist Jack Antonoff added. "Like, I still talk about [the 2000 VMAs], when Eminem had the thousand people dressed like him, or when Smashing Pumpkins did 'Tonight, Tonight' [at the '96 VMAs] ... these are moments that, for us, growing up, last forever, and if we could pull off something like that, it would be amazing."

And as if being tapped to perform at the 2012 Movie Awards wasn't already a big enough deal for the band, there's also the fact that they've got previous MTV awards-show experience ... though, to be fair, this will be the first time they've actually been invited to attend.

"I went to the Video Music Awards when I was 14. My friend from camp had a friend who had a dad who was involved, and we sat near Rebecca Lobo and the Spice Girls," Antonoff said. "It was the year that Fiona Apple gave the big speech, which, in hindsight, was pretty inspiring. My mind was blown, and I thought 'This is just filled with famous people, and somehow I'm in the middle of it.' So, to be able to go back to an MTV awards show — not through a friend of a friend who has a dad who works at Viacom — but to actually be invited, is an honor."

The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live Sunday, June 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.

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