WEBVTT - Jon Heder 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:24.520 That's that's okay, becaus no one. 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:29.840 Here is hello and welcome back to teen Beat. 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.199 I'm your host, Danielle Fischel, back again, ready to interview 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:37.760 interesting people who have done interesting things, all about their childhoods. 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:40.640 I've realized that you can't know where you're going without 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:42.040 remembering where you've been. 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:44.080 That's not only a saying you. 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.000 Can buy on an embroidered throw pillow at hobby lobby. 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:50.600 It is also the truth. I see it this way. 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.720 I gave you my childhood. It's time we hear yours. 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:57.120 And this week I am thrilled to dig a little 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.880 deeper with a very special guest. It's impossible to recount 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.520 the pop culture landscape of the two thousands without this 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:07.640 Man's dance Solo, a cinematic moment that captured a nation, 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:12.320 turning a micro budget indie movie into a worldwide phenomenon. 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:17.480 Thanks to his legendary portrayal of Pedro's campaign manager, moviegoers 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.040 fell in love with him somehow, turning one of the 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:24.000 most ridiculous characters of the decade into also the most 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:27.480 earnest and heartfelt. He went on to star in movies 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:31.839 like Benchwarmers, Blades of Glory, and surfs up. Constantly working 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.640 since he first stumbled into the spotlight when a college 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.640 friend asked him to star in a short film, and 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.960 now he's sort of returning to academia in the form 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:45.360 of Fox's new reality hit Nation's Dumbest. He's competing in 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.800 brain challenging games and physical challenges to find out if 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.800 he's smarter than fellow celebs like Carmen Electra or Mattleinert. 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.639 But you can form your own opinion right now, because 0:01:55.680 --> 0:02:00.960 this week on teen Beat, it's a man with great skills. John, John, 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.120 thank you so much for hanging out with me on 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:03.680 teen Beat. 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:05.400 We have never met. 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.359 Yet I feel a very special connection to you because 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.360 we are two people who will forever be called by 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:16.040 our character names. You know, Tapanga and Napoleon will be 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.919 mentioned first in our obituaries, and that is a special bond. 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.440 What do you think the ratio is between John and 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.880 Napoleon When people yell at you in airports? 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:32.480 Oh boy, I avoid the airports. I just take boat. Now. 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:34.880 It's hard, it's much longer I have. 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.160 To know, But you avoid being yelled at? 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:43.560 Uh yeah, you know when I it's I mean, you know, 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.680 the older we get the more cantankerous old man I become. 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.760 I don't get you know, I never I would never yell, 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.640 but you know, sometimes I play, I. 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.400 Play the game game, I play the game. If someone 0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:00.160 is someone obnoxious, will just yell out Napoleon. Sometimes I 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:04.040 just pretend I don't hear or anything. And then especially 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.560 if they're younger, if it's like like a teenager kid 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.000 that come up, like I was like, oh you mean John, 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.840 you know? Or me? Are you talking to me? You 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.200 know kind of thing, or if they're far enough in 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:19.040 an airport, I just like, I always have my headphones 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.440 on it. I pretend I don't hear. Half the times 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:23.160 I probably don't hear exactly. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:25.360 Yeah, you're like, never mind. 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.720 You're also an identical twin, which is the second identical 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:31.720 twin I have interviewed on our podcast. 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.080 We had Nikki and Bribella on the podcast. 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:39.000 Does your brother hate being mistaken as both John and Napoleon? 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:45.360 That's funny. No, he doesn't mind getting mistaken as as 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.360 I guess me, meaning like he grew up his whole life, 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.360 We both grew up getting called His name is Dan, 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.440 so we'd always joke like, well, my name is John, 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.400 but I'm also known as Dan and Vice. He would 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.680 say the same thing. So we always had that and 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.560 then you know, he just doesn't go to airport. 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:05.560 He just truly. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.200 He's saying he's he doesn't get it as much, but 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.640 he would still you know, you get that look or 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:16.320 someone would know, or more and more people are starting 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:18.160 to become aware that I have a twin brother, so 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:21.640 they can kind of, oh, yeah, he's the the lame 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:27.320 man's he's the layman's job. We tell we could tell you. 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:28.839 Guys have lots of identities. 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:33.280 Did you ever participate in twin Shenanigans Switcher Roose? Did 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:34.760 it ever benefit you in any way? 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:40.400 Benefit anything? Everything had to be funny to me. Everything 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.159 had to do, you know, entertain me. And that's when 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.120 I thought, that's how I you know, taking comedies or 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:47.880 if I think something good, it's got to be good 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:49.839 to me. I don't care about the audience. If I 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.880 think it's good, I do care about the audience. But yeah, 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:57.160 we uh, for sure, when we we were much younger, 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:02.080 we had when I remember in like kindergarten, we had 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.400 shirts that I think like an aunt made for us 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.440 when it had like a little hand that said like 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.680 I'm Jonathan, he's Dan, and he had the opposite one 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:13.480 with a hand pointing the other way. But we also 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.039 had belts, and I remember my I don't remember if 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:19.240 my parents bought the belts, but our belts had our 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.040 names on it, and they did it for the benefit 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:26.120 of like our teachers. So we on purpose would switch belts. 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.600 And this was like you know, kindergarten. But even up 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.640 until I remember, the biggest one we ever did, because 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:34.360 we knew it was probably the end of that era, 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:39.440 was sixth grade. We we just decided the whole day 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.280 we would switch places, even so much like on the 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.680 bus I had to go there was a girl I 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:46.839 was going out with. 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.200 Of course, yeah, which you said, next to her on 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:49.960 the bus. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.800 Exactly, that was the rule. Of course, she's sitting next 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:54.840 to the bus and we had switched that day, so 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.480 he was already sitting down. She sat down next him, 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.440 took her a hot second before she was like oh, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.640 she screamed. It was so funny. And then we like 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:07.880 switched for our classes the whole day, and his teacher 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.279 was in on it. He got it. But my teacher 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.880 was this older woman and she was like completely close. 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.880 Yeah, she was just like, Okay, this looks normal to me. 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:20.080 So you got away with it that time. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:21.760 I got it with it. Yeah. 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.320 In addition to your twin brother Daniel, you have four 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:30.080 other siblings. As a kid, how loud and chaotick. 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.560 Three year I have? I was like, wait a second round. 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:34.680 Wow, you had to count your siblings. That's a lot 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:35.320 of siblings. 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:38.599 I'm so used to say I have four, four brothers 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:39.520 and one sister. 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:43.560 Yes, right, So how loud and chaotic was your house? 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:46.359 It was? It was pretty loud in Kaotok. There was 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:51.000 especially since my parents had a girl first, and she was, 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:53.440 you know, the princess, and she was, you know, your 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:56.840 very typical all American girl, and she was sweet. And 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.080 then after that it was just five boys in a 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.200 row right to them being twins, which is already kind 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:07.200 of mayhem in itself. But we were a tight knit 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:12.160 group and so we had absolute love and respect for 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:16.320 our parents. But my poor sweet mother, you know who 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.960 I adore, she had to deal with it. And we 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:24.000 could tell we knew that when it was mom yelling time, 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.280 and there was a lot of yelling from Mom, we 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:29.760 knew half the time. I think in our hearts we 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.520 kind of make fun of it, and we were like, Okay, 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:34.960 she's yelling at us again. But any think, deep down 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.920 we knew it's like she's yelling a so that she 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.200 can we can hear her simply. It's not just it's 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:43.560 not abuse, it's not anger. It's just like. 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.480 Trually, I have to get my voice over theres I 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:46.920 have to. 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:48.880 Get I have to beat them to it. I have 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.560 to get that. And we were always like, yeah, messing 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.280 around and stuff like that, and so, but you know, 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.240 when it came time to do chores, we would eventually 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.240 by days and get the chores done. Maybe not when 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.440 we were exactly when we were supposed to, but I 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.840 was like, no, you guys, come on, like, let's get 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:08.320 let's cut moms of slack. 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.480 We love her, let's let's be a little kinder to her. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:17.280 I want to talk about your professional acting origin story. 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.440 You go to BYU and you meet a fellow film student, 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.960 Jared Hess, who is shooting a short film on sixteen 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:26.920 milimeter with a budget of under five hundred dollars, and 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.760 this becomes the birth of Napoleon Dynamite. 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.640 Where did the character come from? 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:33.440 For you? 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.559 It is so specific, so. 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:40.880 Unique, and yet we all knew a Napoleon dynamite. 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:46.920 That's yeah. Jared came to me and he had yeah, 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.240 he had this like eight page script okay, and it 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.800 was and I read it and I just was like, 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:57.880 oh my gosh, yeah, this is like I get this guy. Yeah, 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:01.160 I know this. And at the time, I remember thinking, 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:04.280 you know, this is a short film. We were just 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:08.040 film students. We weren't We didn't have like delusions of 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.480 grandeur or anything like that. But I still remember thinking, 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.240 no one has seen this character yet. Yeah. We've had 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:19.480 oddball misfits. We've had like a couple nerd movies, but 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:27.520 nothing that where we showcased this kind of awkwardness in teendom, 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:31.040 you know, in the teen years, like kind of a nerd. 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.760 But there's something besides just your typical nerds. It's not 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.960 that he's books smart. There's a social awkwardness. I mean, 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:42.480 nowadays I could probably just say, oh, go back in time. 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.200 At the time I didn't think about it, but going 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.360 but going now, I could have been like, oh, yeah, 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.280 we've never had a movie or show where an autistic kid. 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:51.920 Was a kid on the spectrum, right. 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:54.440 Yeah, kid on the spectrum. One hundred percent. But you know, 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:56.280 I don't even think I was that aware of it 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:59.280 back then. I didn't even think about it. It wasn't until 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.520 years later people started coming up to me, either like 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:05.400 my son or myself huge fan of how we connected. 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.040 I was like, oh my gosh, that clicked. That clicked, 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.720 as it makes sense, But yeah, I knew I knew 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.640 some kids who were kind of like that, but not 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.240 like pictured one hundred percent. It was. It wasn't all 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.240 on the page, the curly hair and the glasses and 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.400 the moon boots. I don't even think we're in the 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.959 script yet. It was just kind of the voice, and 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.440 Jared you know, did his version of the voice, and 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:32.640 then I was just like, yeah, this is kind of 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.000 how I used to talk when I was a kid, 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:40.240 and my younger brothers especially talked a lot like this. 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.360 And so that's when Jared and I, you know, were like, Okay, well, 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.800 so what's he gonna wear. His wife was like, oh, 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:49.839 and I think we should get you a perm So 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.440 that all the imagery of it, how he looked was 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:58.000 kind of born out of First first came like the 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.679 voice in the compos and stuff like that, and then 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:05.199 it came like the physicality came next. 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:10.719 Did you have any acting aspirations before this project? 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:16.440 I had done my Like acting was kind of big 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.360 in my family, which was weird. My dad was a doctor, 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.080 my mom had no acting experience. But my older siblings, 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:27.080 my older brother and my sister, we were always put 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:31.120 in like the local you know, kid acting summer camps 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:34.520 and it was just became a thing every year, and 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:38.000 they did really well. Especially my older brother was cast 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:40.640 like as the lead in most of the high school plays, 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.680 and so it just felt like, wow, we got to 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:48.080 do some theater education. Yeah, and I always thought it 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.760 was cool. And there's of course that feeling as a kid, 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.440 like do I that would be so rad if I 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.079 was a lead in that play or if I got 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.439 to do that. But I didn't really I could be goofy, 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.320 but I didn't know how to pitch my voice or 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.440 to really you know, be myself. I didn't. I didn't 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:09.760 understand that. And then in high school I started making 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.160 a lot of videos. I got really into video production, 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.040 like I guess you'd say filmmaking, but you know, we 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.760 had video cam. It was like the right like the 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:21.360 birth of handicams, and you had you could take cameras anywhere, 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:25.160 drop them there fine, And so I just became obsessed 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:26.640 with that, and that's when I knew I wanted to 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.880 make film. And because of that, you know, you have 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.520 to act in your own videos. You don't go to 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.800 a local casting agency, you know, in high school. So 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:38.480 I would be in my own videos. And that was 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:42.640 the beginning I would say of like Okay, stepping outside 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.160 in my shell a little bit, getting a little bit 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:49.200 more comfortable, but not understanding the principles at all. And 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.000 then it was at b YU. It was at college 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:56.040 when I studied film, and because of that, I had 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.000 to take you know, require classes, one of them being acting. 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:01.880 And that really was the first time I took an 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.560 acting class where I was it opened my eyes. I 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:08.040 was like, oh, it's everything fell into place. I was like, 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.240 now I get it, Now I get just you know 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.680 some of the simple principles. You're like, that makes sense 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.440 to me, That's that totally makes sense. So I really 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.199 I loved it. I enjoyed it. I started like auditioning 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.680 for student films, ok, for student plays. I never I 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:28.359 didn't get an agent, I didn't had no major aspirations, 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.400 but it kept you know. I did pay Luca was 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:33.959 the name of the short film I did with Jared 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:37.880 has and I had done that, and then, like I said, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.480 I got cast in a couple other student films. So 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:43.000 I kept thinking, you know, they keep casting me, maybe 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:47.240 there's something there, But I don't know. I can't see 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.400 myself of ever going to LA. And I saw myself 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.360 going to LA, but I was gonna I was on 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:58.000 an animation track. I was going to be an animator. 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.840 I was studying animation. I was big into art, and 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:04.840 so it was still filmmaking to a certain degree, and 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:09.200 I thought, yeah, maybe I'll go to LA, but but 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:10.120 for that reason. 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:11.640 Yeah, not for this reason. 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:16.280 So you finished the project for with Jared after it wraps, 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.000 do you ever expect it to go anywhere. 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:22.400 When we when we shot the short film. No, not 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:27.600 the short film, because short films don't go anywhere normally. 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:29.960 And I mean, as a student, I knew that. I 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.680 was aware that. All right, okay, I know sometimes you 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:36.200 can use a short film to help you a for 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:40.360 the director kind of conceive and understand like, all right, 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.680 this makes sense. This helps me. I know that you 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.120 can get them into film festivals and maybe get eyes 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:50.680 on it, but we didn't really use it for you know, 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:54.840 it was all financial. The feature film was financially produced. 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.680 It was financed by one guy, basically okay, and it 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.560 wasn't through you know, festivals. It was a friend of 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:06.520 ours brother. It was his older brother who knew about it. 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:10.600 So no, I had no I remember thinking the short 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.080 film was great, and it wasn't until Jared said, hey, 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:16.480 I want to make a feature length version of it. Yeah, 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:21.080 And this was probably like, you know, like three months 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:25.640 later after the short film that he said that. But again, 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.120 it was gonna be like another year, year and a 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.720 half before we shot the feature. So he's like, I 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:32.840 just want you to know I want to make a feature. 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.560 It's gonna be a while. You know, we got to 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:41.720 write the script, we got to figure out funding. So yeah, 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.040 but even even then, it's like I wasn't really thinking 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.520 big picture. I'm just thinking rad Of course, that makes sense, 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.240 and maybe maybe when you have something, when you have 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:54.640 a film, someone's gonna see this. Someone We're gonna get 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:59.800 more than just my extended family watching this movie, even 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:03.200 if it's in a couple film festivals, and you get 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:09.120 those kind of filmgoers who like weird, quirky independent films. Yes, 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.960 that's kind of what I said. That's where that's where 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.080 my expectations were lying at that moment. 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.360 So that time passes, that year, year and a half, 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.920 you get you guys get the funding just under half 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:23.680 a million dollars, and it's now going to be a 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.640 feature film. It's now a month long shoot and there 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:30.040 are you know, real cameras and a real cast. Dedrich Bader, 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:31.080 Hillary Duff's sister. 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:36.440 Were you nervous, Oh no, no, I wasn't nervous. I 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:41.240 was excited. I still felt like this was It felt 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.520 like a student project the whole time. You even know, 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:48.360 I knew it wasn't officially a student project, but all 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.640 the crew were. I knew all the crew because they 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.720 were just buddy like film student buddies and stuff, a 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.640 few gradualies. We were like, oh, they've worked in the local 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:02.560 Utah film commit for a couple of years. We got 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:07.560 we're legit. But you know what legitimized? It was like 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.600 you said the other actors. I was like, well, we 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:14.960 got TJ. Payter, John Grice, we got Tinami Gerino. I 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.840 was like, okay, so that's cool, that's really cool. But 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.560 I still was. I understood. I had been studying film. 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:22.639 I understood like, this is a small this is an 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.600 independent film. I don't think they're getting paid very much. 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:31.560 I just agreed to this weird project. And uh, but yeah, 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.640 I wasn't really nervous. I was you know, I get 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.080 along with people great, and it was like and plus 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:39.920 I knew it wasn't Maybe if I had I probably 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.240 would have been more nervous. If I played a small 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:46.560 role cast in like a Hollywood feature. Something was like, oh, 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:50.000 this is legit, and if I could get fired if 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:52.800 I don't do this right. I was like Jared and I. 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.199 Jared was at the Helm and Jared and I were 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:57.359 very similar, and he was just like yeah, Jared john 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.359 his directions like, yeah, you know what you did in 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:01.560 the short film, Just do more. 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:02.960 Of that, Just do that for longer. 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.800 Yeah, yeah, yeah, Like I knew I had the job. 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.919 I wasn't nervous like I was gonna get fired or 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:13.920 anything like that. And we felt so confident in what 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.439 we were bringing to the table, him and I in 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:19.800 terms of because it's like this is the main character. 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.000 We've got that down and this is the story in 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:27.600 his world, and so it's really I think I remember, 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:31.520 you know, John and Efrid more so e Frin who 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:34.440 plays pedro Y and Tina. I think they were a 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.320 little bit more nervous because e Frin has you know, 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:39.160 I've worked in Hollywood a little bit, but he wasn't 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.760 a name and this was his biggest role today. And 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:46.080 Tina major Reno, who was like a child actor but 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:50.240 hadn't done anything in her quote unquote adult years. This 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.480 is she was eighteen, so she wanted to come back 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:55.639 and say, all right, I want to do a movie. 0:18:55.720 --> 0:19:00.359 Now it's no longer cutesy little team in Majorino. I 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.440 want to do a little bit more of it sounds weird, 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:06.239 more of an adult role, but yes, a little bit 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:11.240 more mature. So I think there's nerves coming from that 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:13.520 other end, and we were all just sitting back like 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:15.640 let's do what you got, let's see what you got. 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:20.399 There is so much silence in the movie, like long 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.040 beats for jokes, and it is really one of the 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:27.879 first instances of this kind of anti comedy that's become 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.680 the norm now. But for me, I realized in sitcoms 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:35.760 where silence is like death. Do you remember Jared Editing 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:39.400 in those pauses or were they always in the script? 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:41.760 But it is so good? 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:45.280 Uh yeah, there, it was always there. That was I 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:49.800 think it was firmly get go when we did pay Luca, 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:54.720 and I could see Jared had a very specific cadence 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.280 and timing to what he thought was funny and it 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:01.840 made sense immediately anybody who got it, Yeah, anybody who 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:04.120 got it, and most people would get it right away like, oh, 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.480 I get this is a real life kind of thing. 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:09.960 This is kind of how it's his vision of because 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:14.360 he grew up in that area in Preston, Idaho, and 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:16.520 that went to that high school and everything. So it's 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:20.840 just I it was very observational. I just he his 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:23.960 approach was like, we're taking a step back, and this 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.680 is a portrait. I want you, I want my audience 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.840 to kind of see this portrait of these weird, kind 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:35.160 of awkward characters. And because of that, everybody, pretty much 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.560 all the actors, after reading the script but also seeing 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:42.600 us film just a few scenes, immediately, oh, I see 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:44.520 this is not the kind of film or we're going 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:46.800 to fill it in with improv. We're going to try 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.200 to throw in our own lines. Every line is exactly 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:55.560 to the script mostly because we want the pauses and 0:20:55.600 --> 0:21:00.000 that breath in between all the moments were so important, 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:03.040 and that was that's what helped make each of those 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.760 little lines stand out and be really funny and work. 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:09.840 And so everybody's smart, like they got it. 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:23.760 How did you stay grounded? 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.359 Then after this movie comes out, a lot of people 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.480 are kind of plucked from outside Hollywood thrown into a 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.360 once in a generation Cinderella story and then they get 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.080 into some real trouble. 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:39.080 How did you avoid the true Hollywood story? 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:47.080 I wasn't super young. That helped. I was already married, Okay, 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:52.640 that helps, Yeah, freshly married, that helped. Yeah, just having 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:56.840 some of that kind of like grounding that I was like, 0:21:57.000 --> 0:22:01.239 all right, I know what kind of per Not so 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:03.520 much actor, but I knew what kind of person I 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:07.320 wanted to be and how I conduct myself and how 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:14.400 the kind of people I you know, you know, work with, 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:18.159 and who I want to associate myself with, and just 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:20.480 kind of already had that built in a little bit. 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:24.080 And so and you know, I was aware of that story. 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:26.359 I think I think truly it was the age, you know, 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:31.040 when I shot this, I was twenty five, twenty four 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:34.000 twenty five when I shot it. So I was already 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:36.639 in my mid twenties, and I was like not that. 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.040 I was like, so I was still a baby to 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:45.240