Joey Kern – Totally Awesome

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  I have a couple things coming out, I have Totally Awesome on VH1 this weekend.  Neal Brennan wrote and directed it, it’s like an 80’s spoof movie.  Neal Brennan wrote and directed and co-wrote it with Michael Schur, one of the producers and writers of the show “The Office.”  It’s like totally radical 80s movie that was supposedly made in the 80s and got lost in this vault.  Now we’ve discovered it and VH1 decided they just didn’t have enough 80s memorabilia movies or TV shows.  They need to release it, I play the William Zabka role, the guy that you love to hate in all of those 80s movies.  I have been trying to get this movie out called The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang.  It’s produced by the same guy who did Napoleon Dynamite and was made by pretty much the exact same people.  Except our writer and director was the first AD on Napoleon Dynamite.  It’s awesome, it’s so good, I’m so proud of it and happy to be a part of it.  It’s kind of going through development hell right now.  In the mean time I’ve been doing a lot of festivals with it and promote it and push it along.  People really dig it, audiences love it, and word of mouth needs to be really good.  The reviews have been excellent and I’m really hoping that one comes out and people can see it because I think they’ll really like it.  It’s a little bit of a different character than I normally play. 

Q.  What made you want to be a part of the film Totally Awesome?

A.  It was made by VH1 and it was just released from VH1 and on DVD is not something I normally I jump at.  The script was so funny, it’s such a funny script.  The movie just kind of lampoons every movie but it’s a movie within itself.  So, it’s not really blatant like hit you over the head like Scary Movie.  But, this is more like a movie that has all of these elements in it.  It’s almost like they were stolen from these movies blatantly.  I always wanted to play that 80s, blonde, preppy, rich guy.  I always liked those characters because it’s such a great character.  I think people watching those movies think, “Oh, those guys were jerks!”  Obviously those actors weren’t but the role was a character they had to do.  I always dug that character and I think it’s underplayed sometimes.  I just shot it through the roof and it’s like William Zabka on crack. 

Q.  So, you feel like the cast had a lot of chemistry together?

A.  Yeah, it was interesting because my character is like the bad guy of the movie.  I also got up there to the set a couple days after everyone else had been up there.  So, everyone else had bonded so I kind of felt like an outsider a little bit at times.  Not on set, but in the whole movie making process.  It was kind of fun, I didn’t mind it, it wasn’t like people were being jerks to me at all.  They just had already become friends and bonded.  They were definitely open to me but I kind of liked being the bad character.  It was fun, we had a great time and like I said, Neal is really open to people finding the funny.  We shot it really fast but that just really let people, especially people like Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan and Mikey Day, they are really great improvisers.  I love doing it as well so it was great to find stuff in the moment.

Q.  Is comedic timing something that comes naturally to you or are you constantly working at it?

A.  Well, I am taking an Improv class right now, more to just keep my Improv motor going.  I haven’t been working on many comedies lately.  I’ve just been doing it for fun, to keep my brain fresh.  Growing up I never thought of myself as a comedian and wanting to do comedy stuff. When I went to college, I went to NYU, I met my roommate and he loved to write comedy.  He was like, “I want to start a comedy group,” and I thought that sounded like fun.  So, we started this sketch comedy group with a couple of other guys.  I started doing all of these weird characters and I would play all of the dark characters.  I am kind of relishing going really far with these bizarre characters.  In New York I started doing a lot of theater, Shakespeare and doing a lot of drama.  People knew me as that, I had a hard time getting auditions for comedy movies.  Finally I booked a couple comedy movies like Super Troopers and I Improvised a lot in that movie.  All of a sudden I started doing these movies, these comedy roles, then people wouldn’t see me for dramas. 

Q.  What would you say is your most memorable moment from filming Totally Awesome?

A.  Probably being in the track outfit in Canada in the cold was not my favorite or the most flattering.  That’s my most emasculating moment, but one that was really funny was that I kept going up to Neal – the guy that Mikey Day plays is Charlie Gunderson.  I don’t know where I got this from but I was always saying “Son of a Gunderson!”  So, I asked Neal if we could write a scene where I say “Son of a Gunderson.”  He was like alright, that’s kind of funny.  He wrote this scene but I didn’t end up getting to say it, the coach gets to say it.  It wasn’t really that funny but it was fun to shoot it.  The eclipse is happening and the coach is saying that he won’t be able to jump in the dark.  I say no, don’t you understand when you’re doing an eclipse your body is half the weight that it is, the gravitational pull is less.  The coach says, “Son of a Gunderson!”  I just think that’s so funny and so dumb.  We only had to do one take and it actually made the movie.  I love working in an atmosphere like that where you can just go up to the director and say, “Hey, what if we do this?”  And the director say, “Yeah, let’s shoot it even though we’re pressed for time” and shoot it once and it makes the movie.

Q.  Why should people take the time to check out the film Totally Awesome?

A.  Well, I think that the main reason is that it’s funny, it’s a very entertaining movie.  It’s not trying to be a revolutionary film, it’s just pure funny.  I think that people say they really like the trailer on TV and people are going to watch it.  I think also a movie like this doesn’t come out on TV very often.  I think a movie with this kind of cast, with this kind of funny, with this kind of writing, with this kind of directing it really doesn’t get released on TV ever.  I think movies are kind of going this way in this sense, Steven Soderbergh did it with Bubble.  That was a big step, who knows if this is the direction that they’re going.  I love going to movies but if there is a chance to see a free movie, I’ll take it!  Especially a good movie and I think that this one is.  It’s a chance for a free movie on television that you haven’t seen.  My God, why wouldn’t you tune in?

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  Right now I’m in a coffee shop drinking coffee and I do a lot of crossword puzzles.  I’m not very good at them, I have the New York Times crossword puzzle book.  I only do the Monday and Tuesday edition, I can’t even get to the Tuesday/Wednesday books.  I don’t know, besides that I love to run.  I run a lot, I like to exercise and obviously from all of my movies I have a very Adonis like body.  That’s not easy, that’s not easy, a lot of people think I’m naturally born with this great physique.  And that’s not true, it takes a lot of work and I think people should know that.  I put a lot of hours in at various Pilates and Yoga.  That’s not really true, I just run and drink alcohol. 

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  Oh my God, I love you!  I hope to keep doing lots and lots of work for you guys.  I hope if nothing else that I entertain you and bring a smile to your face.  The reason I like going to movies is that it puts me into a different world for a while.  To be able to do that for other people is pretty amazing and something I’ve always dreamed of.  I love the opportunity to be able to do that for people.  Not to get too spiritual about it, it’s really a privilege, this job, and I don’t take that for granted.  If you enjoy the work that I do, bless you and thank you.  Hopefully I won’t disappoint.