Caffeinated Clint
”Cop Out”, opening this weekend in the US, stars ”American Pie”’s Seann William-Scott, playing a clumsy, amateur thief who steals a valuable card from Bruce Willis’s character, NYPD officer Jimmy Monroe leading them on a city-wide chase and into a Mexican drug ring.
A relaxed and funny William-Scott spoke to Moviehole’s Tim Johnson explaining how he publicly embarrassed the Rock, his new project with Gerard Butler, and which film Seann was surprised to learn Gerard was a fan of.
But we couldn’t help but begin asking about the similarities between his role in ”Cop Out” as Dave, and Steve Stifler in ”American Pie”.
Q: Did you find this role was at all like revisiting ”American Pie”?
Seann: Of course, it is in the same world as so many of the movies that I’ve done. But to work with Bruce (Willis) and Tracy (Morgan) and Kevin, I was really happy to do it.
Q: What did you think of your character on paper? Is he gay?
Seann: Is he gay?
Q: Well, the prison sequence…
Seann: I know, right? I was thinking the same thing when I watched it, when he puts his little chin on the (prison bar, looking at his cell-mate). I know I was trying to figure out, I don’t think I knew what I was thinking at the time. We made up so much of it as we were going along, I had some ideas planned, like the night before and then while we were doing it, just kind of kept the camera rolling and I just kept talking and saying things, but then when I saw that scene, I was like, ‘I wonder if he’s in love with the other guy?’ And he might be.
Q: I heard it was you who improvised in the car…
Seann: Repeating him?
Q: Yeah, where did you come up with that?
Seann: Well it’s a rip-off of course, everybody does it, but I always do this when, in Tommy Boy (1995) when Chris Farley… basically repeats him… That was literally my inspiration for it, it just happened from the first time he goes, ‘I’m gonna shoot you in the face’, then I started to say the same thing, and it made it in the movie. I wish there was a smarter back-story to it.
Q: It’s a schoolyard thing.
Seann: Yeah, it’s true. And I think I’m getting a chance to be more the fun high schooler, but doing these movies. Because when I was in high school I was like a super-serious athlete.
Q: Were you?
Seann: Yeah, I wasn’t fun at all. I mean, I was fun with my friends, I did instigate a lot of bad things, and I never got in trouble. I was kind of like…
Q: The puppeteer?
Seann: Yeah! I was like, ‘You guys are gonna do this, and you guys are gonna do this, you’re gonna tape this freshman up to a tree. But now, I’m getting a chance to be an absolute idiot! And I’m 33.
Q: There were a lot of moments in there that were…
Seann: Stoner moments? Yeah, I know, and I never did that in high school. I did party a little bit five years ago. Not party, party, my publicist is going to be mad at that. I went through a little bit of a stoner phase maybe. Everybody has right?… Right?!
Q: Well, even Barack Obama did.
Seann: He said he inhaled? It’s so cool.
Q: Things change with time huh?
Seann: Totally, except for my movies!
Q: I heard someone surprising enjoyed ‘Mr Woodcock’ (2007).
Seann: Do you know who did? Gerard Butler. I worked with him just now, with Brett Ratner and (Johnny) Knoxville, it’s a cool movie with all these awesome actors, all short films and I was so excited to meet him, I love that cat.
Q: What was the title?
Seann: Our is called ‘Happy Birthday’. And I think Daniel Craig is doing one, Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslett are doing one. I think the whole thing is called ‘Case 49′, or something. I’m not sure. But he (Gerard Butler) saw ‘Woodcock’, he thanked me for it! He goes, and Johnny Knoxville was there and Butler goes, ‘I just want to say I saw Woodcock last week, thank you for that it was really funny’. And I’m like, What?! You’re the only person I’ve ever met that liked that movie, other than my mom!
Q: Are you now at the point, where you think about adult roles and different genres?
Seann: Yeah, I think that… there’s not that many good things out there, it’s kind of slim picking. So, as much as I see actors that I love and watch at home, even in the comedy world you got a whole new crop of guys now, the guys from (The) Hangover that are just on fire, so I got to wait until those guys pass up on some movies you know? So I still, it’s really competitive, I try to make the best of the opportunities that have been given to me, and of course, I hope to be able to have the kind of success and make the right decisions to get to a place so I can do films that, I mean I love this movie I’m very proud of it, but I would like to do more eclectic kind of films, different films. Like I tend to sit at home and watch.
Q: Keanu Reeves was also in that type of genre with ”Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures” and you just don’t think about him that way any more.
Seann: You know what’s funny? When I did Evolution, another classic, David Duchovny I think said he got offered Keanu Reeve’s part in Matrix. He passed on it, dude! One of the smartest things, he said, ‘Never get confused between an actor and the role’, and I realized, but sometimes you have an actor like Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, like I’m sure that was so well written, but Christoph was like, best performance of all time to me. I mean it was just unbelievable. But then you go, ‘Well who else could have played the Matrix?’ Would Keanu be the best? I’m like, ‘I think he would be’.
Q: If somebody else did it, do you think the film would have been as good? What if you were in it?
Seann: What if I was in it? Dude, that would be awesome! Yeah, I saw that movie like three times the first weekend. I love that movie. It’s kind of everybody’s dream, right? It’s either that, or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, like flying around in trees. I always have flying dreams, do you?
Q: Wow, that’s too personal!
Seann: It’s too personal, haha!
Q: You said you were an athlete in Minnesota, what did you play?
Seann: I played basketball, baseball and football.
Q: Did you want to go pro?
Seann: Baseball I did yeah. And one of the reasons I became an actor is because I realized I wasn’t going to. I wasn’t going to have a long career.
Q: I thought you would say you were injured, because there’s such a long list of actors who were athletes that got hurt and turned to acting.
Seann: I think I could have had a baseball career, maybe in the major leagues. I was a pitcher, I still think I can pitch, I’m not sure. But, the key words are I think! I remember we threw out the first pitch for the run down in Oakland, I was with the Rock and I told the Rock that I could pitch. He’s a super-big athlete, so he gets up and I was excited and I’m like, on the mound pitching and… the Rock bounced it. The Rock pitched it and I was like *giggles*. I was so excited, and then I get up there, I fired a pitch, and the catcher, I didn’t tell him I could pitch and I fired a perfect straight and popped his globe, and actually hurt him because he wasn’t used to it. The Rock was so mad! He literally came over, like pouty, he goes, ‘Did you practice? You didn’t tell me you were going to try!’ And I’m like, ‘Dude I didn’t tell you I was going to like bounce it twice before it got to the catcher!’
Q: Twice?
Seann: Don’t quote me, don’t quote me! I don’t want to get in an issue with the Rock.
Q: How was working with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan? Kevin (Smith, director) said he was intimidated for the first week or two, did you know them going in?
Seann: I mean, I knew of their work, I’d never met them before. I mean, I met Tracy actually, I hosted Saturday Night Live in 2001 and I just thought Tracy, back then was like, ‘This guy is going to be a big movie star. I think he deserves to be at the top, because he’s just incredibly talented. I was definitely intimidated. Sitting in the back of the car, I was so glad I was sitting in the back of the car, because I was like, I kept watching Bruce Willis and like, ‘Whoa’. And he just came in to the room just now, and I was like, even now it just blows my mind. You know, that’s all I do, is sit at home and watch movies. And it’s weird, I can’t believe it. With my mom, my brother up here for the premiere, it’s going to be so cool, he just came in, in one of my interviews and said the nicest thing about me, and I was like, ‘That’s Bruce Willis!’ I was like, I had my little camera, I wish I had filmed it.
Q: Would you ever do Broadway, a stage show?
Seann: I have an idea. You know what my dream is? Is The Nightmare Before Christmas, I want to do that on Broadway. I want to play Jack Skellington, because I grew up singing and I thought that would be. Because I’m a much better singer than an actor, which doesn’t really say a whole lot. But that would be an incredible musical. So I’m going to record myself for Tim Burton, and then pitch myself to him and say…
Q: Is he doing it?
Seann: No, he’s not doing it.
Q: Well he will when he hears the tape!
Seann: He should though. I sing a lot like Danny Elfman’s voice in that… and it’s one of my favorite movies. And I think that would be awesome. It would be great, right?
Q: And if they book Justin Timberlake with your idea, then what?
Seann: I’ll be pi**ed!
Q: Thanks Seann, great to meet you.
Seann: Nice to meet you, thank you.
