Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine are keeping things light and fun on the red carpet, despite of the heavy plot of the dark comedy "Bernie", that revolves around the life of a killer. Jack Black:"We thought that it would be fun to come together to the premiere as a date,"Shirley MacLaine:"We're more than friends, only his children and I know," 　　Directed by Richard Linklater, the film stars Jack as Bernie, a beloved mortician in a small Texas town who committed a horrible crime, murdering wealthy 81-year-old widow Marjorie Nugent. 　　Jack Black: "It's a true story, a case that went to trial about 14 years ago. Yeah, Bernie Tiede, he's in prison right now, and this is his story, with his best friend, and he was the servant to Margie Nugent, played by Shirley, and it's a very complex tale -- a strange relationship that ended badly, to say the least." 　　Shirley MacLaine, who has plenty of experience taking on cantankerous roles, says that her character, Marjorie Nugent was definitely a tough cookie. 　　"She might be the meanest and the most irascibly difficult, yeah, more than 'Steel Magnolias,' so I think she kind of deserved to get something, maybe not death sentence, but she deserved something rather strong, yeah," 　　MacLaine goes on to talk about the underlying theme of the tale.MacLaine: "It was interesting to me how he put up with it and why he put up with it for so long, it's a story about you'll put up with anything if there's money involved," 　　"Bernie" will begin a limited run in selected cinemas in the U.S. starting next Friday. (Courtesy: Millennium Entertainment)