During the “Superbad” after-party at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood on Monday, On the Town caught up with newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who won the highly coveted role as Fogell after impressing pic's star Seth Rogen and producer Judd Apatow at an open audition.
“I was scared out of my mind, man. I loved Seth Rogen from 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' and I had to go in there and improv with him. It was the scariest thing ever,” said Mintz-Plasse.
So how does a scrawny rookie make his way onto the genre’s current varsity squad? “They said that when I went in there, I just put a whole different take on the character. Everyone else who auditioned for the part was kind of wimpy and they didn’t talk back to Jonah [Hill] and I was like the only person who would say ‘screw you’ and talk back to him.”
“I just saw the tape and said that’s the guy,” said Apatow. “Jonah didn’t like him because he really went hard at Jonah in the audition and Jonah’s like, ‘He’s stepping on all my lines. I don’t like this kid.’ And I said to the guys, ‘well then we have to hire him.’ He just seemed like the right guy.”
And since the Mayor of Comedy likes to work with the same troupe of actors, does that mean we could see Mintz-Plasse pop up in one of the eleven movies currently in development at Apatow’s shingle? “Who knows? I love him. I think he’s a very talented guy. I don’t think this is some fluke where he’s just funny in this. Like Sean Penn did 'Falcon and the Snowman' after 'Fast Times,' we will see our Carlito’s Way’ with Christopher Mintz-Plasse.”
It’s a lot to live up to, but is there anything the young thesp won’t do for a laugh? “Get completely naked. I’m not down for that. Everything else is fair game.” (J. Sneider)
Comments