'Sex' Appeal: Stoller Is Unabashed Fan

Nicholas Stoller, the Harvard-educated director of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," is an unabashed fan of "Sex and the City."

"I get made fun of a little," Mr. Stoller said recently over breakfast downtown. "But I don't care. It's the best, and I have no shame."

"You know the opening montage in the first movie?" Mr. Stoller asked. "I teared up. I went with my wife and a bunch of friends on opening night. I remember running into the theater and it's me and all women wearing halter tops. The only rule was we were not watching this ironically. We were not making fun of this."

Mr. Stoller, who is 34 years old, said he has watched the entire series twice. "At 24, I was totally on Carrie's side, and then at 30, I was totally on Aiden's side. At 30, I thought: How could Carrie wear that ring around her neck and do that to Aiden?" Choosing which character he prefers is like choosing between "chocolate ice cream and coffee ice cream. I like them both."

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall," released in 2008, was originally supposed to open against the first "Sex" movie. "I told them we couldn't do it. The powers that be said, 'Why not?' I knew it was going to be the biggest thing ever. So they moved us, thank God."

Mr. Stoller's new film, "Get Him to the Greek" opens June 4 and follows some of the characters from "Sarah Marshall." A record executive (Jonah Hill) takes an unruly rock-star (Russell Brand) from London to Los Angeles. It's part road movie, part "Devil Wears Prada" for guys, part relationship comedy.

"We tested the movie and we found out that women over 30 actually liked it the most," Mr. Stoller explained. "I don't know how we're going to get them to see it, because it looks like it's not for them."

Besides "Sex and the City," as a kid, Mr. Stoller also was addicted to "The Muppet Show" and its ancillary films. "I call the Muppets the gateway drug for comedy nerds" he said. His new Muppets project, which he co-wrote with the actor Jason Segal, will be "kind of a reunion movie. We want it to have a lot of cameos."