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Compiled by: Jack Foley
Q. In the production notes, you’re quoted as saying
that you found the film, in essence, rather similar to the Wizard
of Oz. Can you pick up that ball and run with it…
A. Thank you so much for asking me that, yeah. I was
referring to the performance, I said in this movie that a lot
of the characters my character comes into contact with are extreme
characters. Even the people in Average Joe’s gym are kind
of exceptional in a way. And so I said that in playing a lead
in a movie where a lot of the characters are kind of extreme,
I was this sort of Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz - someone who
the audience could see the film through their eyes, and have someone
grounded.
Q. Given your body of work - Old
School, Starsky and Hutch
and Swingers, etc - you’ve kind of got this image of being
the Dean Martin for the new millennium, being the coolest white
man in the movies. Is it difficult to live up to your screen image?
A. Not really, I mean even from the beginning with Swingers,
I always felt that the success of that film was really an innocence
that was in that movie. Those guys weren’t really that cool,
and sadly this was based on me and Jon [Favreau]. I think there’s
something universal in going through a break-up, not having your
confidence, and trying to get back out there and connect with
people.
I mean, we were out of work actors, which we were; we play a lot
of video games, and no one really hooked up with girls in the
film, so we were sort of surprised that the characters were seen
as cool. In fact, the last scene in the movie, where I sort of
think the girl’s hitting on me and really she’s talking
to a child, is indicative of this.
More so, I think, if there’s any cool in it, it’s
because there’s kind of a geekiness to it, that most people
can relate to. Kind of an awkwardness.
BEN: But I have to say that hanging out with
Vince, definitely that persona is not like a put-on thing. It’s
a natural element of your personality that has that coolness about
it.
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Q. Are there any links between
you and the character you play - this man who proudly proclaims
that ‘failure is an option’?
A. Yeah, I never have been a big work out person. So
there’s that similarity. I really liked the accepting of
Average Joe’s gym, and these people who don’t really
fit in, in a mainstream way. Peter’s not necessarily motivated
to save it; he’s kind of reluctant.
Q. Your characters seem to learn big life-lessons. Did
you learn any on-set, or is there anything you can impart that
you really think we should know?
A. I did learn a life lesson, I don’t know what
that says about me. I learned that not exercising, for a long
period of time, and then running and stopping a lot, without stretching,
is a bad idea. And I would like to pass that on if I could.
Q. Ben and Vince, this is the third movie you’re
made in a year, what with Starsky, Anchorman and now this one,
is this a deliberate thing, working together?
A. Thank you for noticing, really. I’ve always
been a big fan of Ben’s, for a long time, starting with
the show that he did, and when we were younger, we did a short
for MTV, a comedy sketch. Zoolander was really a cameo, and we
didn’t have a lot to do together with Starsky and Hutch,
so this was the first time, in a film, that we were actually having
scenes together - so it was a lot of fun, for me, and no, we will
not be working together again!
Q. Was there any sport, while you were at school, you
liked playing?
A. I did play sports in school and I was good enough
to make the team above average, without being any great shakes
at anything.
Q. So what was your favourite?
A. I liked playing American football; I played baseball,
but I was horrible at that, once the curveball was introduced,
I was no good swinging the bat. I also wrestled, from my fifth
grade through to my freshman year of High School. But at a certain
point, that wasn’t interesting any more [laughs].
Q. If you could all hurl a ball into the face of one
public or political figure, without any repercussions, who would
it be?
A. Stand up! [Motions to reach a ball]. Nobody.
CHRISTINE: There’s no right answer there!
BEN: I think most politicians could take a Dodgeball
in the face, just due to the fact they’re politicians.
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