I would imagine that Jon Heder is the first Mormon that I have ever interviewed for SuicideGirls. But he has every right to be here because he is the star of the film, Napoleon Dynamite, which many are saying could develop a large cult following on the scale of Donnie Darko or Ghost World.
From Preston, Idaho comes Napoleon Dynamite who spends his days drawing mythical beasts, fighting with his 32-year-old brother Kip [played by Aaron Ruell] and avoiding his creepy Uncle Rico [played by Jon Gries]. But Napoleon and his two new friends launch a campaign to elect one of them for class president. But for that to happen Napoleon will have to unleash his secret weapon.
Check out the official website for Napoleon Dynamite
Daniel Robert Epstein: You look so different from the way you did in the movie.
Jon Heder: Well its been a year since we made the movie. Also we were in the background of The Today Show trying to get people to see my Napoleon Dynamite shirt.
DRE: How close are you to the character of Napoleon?
JH: [laughs] Hes a personal friend.
[co-writer/director] Jared [Hess] and I got so much of him from our younger brothers and ourselves. I have a younger brother and Jared has four younger brothers. Thats where we got a lot of the mannerisms. My younger brother is where I got the You're so stupid.
DRE: How much do you have in common with him?
JH: In high school I used to create languages on my own. The high school jocks used to make fun of me so I decided not to do as much dorky stuff. Growing up I used to read all about the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs and that sweet kind of stuff that some people consider dorky but whatever, its sweet. Young boys think the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot are sweet because of the mystery. Napoleon wants to escape on his Pegasus into his fantasy world.
I have a lot of dorky qualities. So this role is making fun of myself in a lot ways but in high school I didnt have his dorky hair and I wasnt as socially clueless as him. Napoleon will say he has 50 million best friends but I had actual friends and I am a much better artist than him. In fact I drew the pictures that Napoleon drew in the movie.
DRE: Napoleon comes off as kind of a dick.
JH: He can be jerkish but he has a heart of gold. He says a lot but he cant do it. Did he shoot 50 wolverines? Never! He wouldnt hurt a fly. Hes the kind of guy who talks about hunting but when you give him a gun, he doesnt do anything. Hes only a jerk to those who pose a threat to him. As soon as he sees his brother Kip having a good day, he feels happy for him. Uncle Rico is a jerk to him so hes a jerk back to Uncle Rico. Hes an animal in the wild who when attacked, defends himself.
DRE: How do you see Napoleon?
JH: I make fun of so many people in my life like my wife and my best friends. We make fun of the people we love. To me life is making fun of stuff in a totally light way. I love my younger brothers but I make fun of them. If people and characters werent odd or quirky they would be boring. We definitely want people to love Napoleon but in the end he hasnt changed a lot but hes feeling like gold. He helped his best friend become class president and hes playing tetherball with the girl he likes. All he wants is someone to play tetherball with.
DRE: Why is it so funny when Napoleon gets picked on?
JH: I think people laugh because of the way he reacts to it. If I was standing there watching it happen I would wonder why they are picking on him but its still funny. But hes just going to brush it off.
DRE: Im a big fan of character actors like Jon Gries. What was it like working with him?
JH: Im 26 so I grew up watching him in Real Genius so I thought that was sweet because thats a little chunk of film history. I havent seen Running Scared but he was telling me about it, so I want to. He was awesome. I thought he was one of the coolest people to work with.
Hes been in the business for so long but still he talked to everyone on the set. Obviously he was there for the film and not for the money because it was such a low budget. He thought it was a great script.
DRE: Is being a character actor something you aspire to? Sometimes when studios see someone playing a nerd in a low budget movie they will cast them as a nerd in a big budget movie.
JH: I dont want to be a situation where they want me to be like Napoleon.
DRE: Are you being offered anything?
JH: I just moved out to Los Angeles so Ive got an agent and read scripts but nothing has been offered. Its still pretty low key so well see what happens after the movie opens.
DRE: You graduated from Brigham Young University so did you grow up a Mormon?
JH: Yes.
DRE: Did any of the Mormon experience make its way into this movie Napoleon Dynamite?
JH: Well we grow up with certain standards so that might contribute to a certain innocence. I dont think any references are in it but I grew up as a Mormon and I pulled from me so obviously it is mixed in.
DRE: I have met kids that have seen the movie six times and it hasnt even come out yet. Have you met those rabid fans?
JH: I met a few. But before we did this movie we did a short film, with the same characters, called Peluca. We did it in the same town and it became a big cult classic in the Utah area. But I was talking to my wife the other day and she said she got a call from some kids who called every state in the United States to find me. She gave them my cell phone number and they called me going Oh my gosh!
DRE: Do you think you will get sick of saying, Sweet?
JH: I say it a lot more now because its become natural. I used to say it when I was younger so its kind of getting me back to my childhood.
DRE: Jared has been described as wacky and his wife Jerusha [co-writer and costume designer] as grounded. How true is that?
JH: Definitely true. Jerusha was the total mother figure on the set. Between takes I would rush back to the wardrobe to play some videogames and she would always be there telling me to try on some clothes. She would make sure that everything is organized while Jared is floating off into his world and doing his thing.
DRE: How did you and Jared first meet at Brigham Young?
JH: We were in a couple of classes together and had worked on a few student films together. I was in one or two short films before that and after he saw those he thought I had some experience with acting. Then after the success of the short film he knew I could pull off the character.
DRE: Were you a fan of Saturday Night Fever?
JH: Oh yeah! Half the moves in the dance I do are from John Travolta.
DRE: Did you train for that dance?
JH: I didnt train, practice or do anything. I just got up and danced. My experience with dancing is a few really small talent shows that my friends put on.
We shot the movie in 22 days and the dance was one of the last days. I thought maybe I should choreograph something but I dont know how to do that. My dance experience is after a shower I put on Jamiroquai and dance. Im a huge fan of music like disco and funk, anything you can dance to. When it came down to it I just went up there and felt the music. It was one of the hardest things to shoot because when the cameras started rolling I got nervous. When my wife saw the movie she said, Thats not your best moves.
DRE: The movie got nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance [Film Festival]. What was that experience like?
JH: It was insane. Sundance is where everything happened, like it getting bought and people starting to catch onto the movie. It was never my expectation for those things to happen but I was hoping. At the first screening I realized it was funny and everyone was laughing. That was when all the agents and managers came up to us.
DRE: Do you see yourself continuing acting?
JH: I was an animation student at Brigham Young. I really want to do animation and acting. Animation is more of a tangible ability so if I dont make it in acting I can do animation but I dont want to use either as a fallback.
DRE: Could you see an animated Napoleon Dynamite?
JH: I do computer animation and I can only see Napoleon Dynamite as 2D animation.
DRE: As Napoleon Dynamite could you tell us what its like to be interviewed?
JH: [in Napoleon Dynamite voice] Um. I dont really know a lot about doing this. Its pretty weird but its pretty sweet I guess. New York is pretty sweet I guess. Theyve got that Natural Museum with the history of those sweet dinosaurs. I especially like the T-Rex cause he kills smaller weaker animals. Its pretty sweet.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
From Preston, Idaho comes Napoleon Dynamite who spends his days drawing mythical beasts, fighting with his 32-year-old brother Kip [played by Aaron Ruell] and avoiding his creepy Uncle Rico [played by Jon Gries]. But Napoleon and his two new friends launch a campaign to elect one of them for class president. But for that to happen Napoleon will have to unleash his secret weapon.
Check out the official website for Napoleon Dynamite
Daniel Robert Epstein: You look so different from the way you did in the movie.
Jon Heder: Well its been a year since we made the movie. Also we were in the background of The Today Show trying to get people to see my Napoleon Dynamite shirt.
DRE: How close are you to the character of Napoleon?
JH: [laughs] Hes a personal friend.
[co-writer/director] Jared [Hess] and I got so much of him from our younger brothers and ourselves. I have a younger brother and Jared has four younger brothers. Thats where we got a lot of the mannerisms. My younger brother is where I got the You're so stupid.
DRE: How much do you have in common with him?
JH: In high school I used to create languages on my own. The high school jocks used to make fun of me so I decided not to do as much dorky stuff. Growing up I used to read all about the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs and that sweet kind of stuff that some people consider dorky but whatever, its sweet. Young boys think the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot are sweet because of the mystery. Napoleon wants to escape on his Pegasus into his fantasy world.
I have a lot of dorky qualities. So this role is making fun of myself in a lot ways but in high school I didnt have his dorky hair and I wasnt as socially clueless as him. Napoleon will say he has 50 million best friends but I had actual friends and I am a much better artist than him. In fact I drew the pictures that Napoleon drew in the movie.
DRE: Napoleon comes off as kind of a dick.
JH: He can be jerkish but he has a heart of gold. He says a lot but he cant do it. Did he shoot 50 wolverines? Never! He wouldnt hurt a fly. Hes the kind of guy who talks about hunting but when you give him a gun, he doesnt do anything. Hes only a jerk to those who pose a threat to him. As soon as he sees his brother Kip having a good day, he feels happy for him. Uncle Rico is a jerk to him so hes a jerk back to Uncle Rico. Hes an animal in the wild who when attacked, defends himself.
DRE: How do you see Napoleon?
JH: I make fun of so many people in my life like my wife and my best friends. We make fun of the people we love. To me life is making fun of stuff in a totally light way. I love my younger brothers but I make fun of them. If people and characters werent odd or quirky they would be boring. We definitely want people to love Napoleon but in the end he hasnt changed a lot but hes feeling like gold. He helped his best friend become class president and hes playing tetherball with the girl he likes. All he wants is someone to play tetherball with.
DRE: Why is it so funny when Napoleon gets picked on?
JH: I think people laugh because of the way he reacts to it. If I was standing there watching it happen I would wonder why they are picking on him but its still funny. But hes just going to brush it off.
DRE: Im a big fan of character actors like Jon Gries. What was it like working with him?
JH: Im 26 so I grew up watching him in Real Genius so I thought that was sweet because thats a little chunk of film history. I havent seen Running Scared but he was telling me about it, so I want to. He was awesome. I thought he was one of the coolest people to work with.
Hes been in the business for so long but still he talked to everyone on the set. Obviously he was there for the film and not for the money because it was such a low budget. He thought it was a great script.
DRE: Is being a character actor something you aspire to? Sometimes when studios see someone playing a nerd in a low budget movie they will cast them as a nerd in a big budget movie.
JH: I dont want to be a situation where they want me to be like Napoleon.
DRE: Are you being offered anything?
JH: I just moved out to Los Angeles so Ive got an agent and read scripts but nothing has been offered. Its still pretty low key so well see what happens after the movie opens.
DRE: You graduated from Brigham Young University so did you grow up a Mormon?
JH: Yes.
DRE: Did any of the Mormon experience make its way into this movie Napoleon Dynamite?
JH: Well we grow up with certain standards so that might contribute to a certain innocence. I dont think any references are in it but I grew up as a Mormon and I pulled from me so obviously it is mixed in.
DRE: I have met kids that have seen the movie six times and it hasnt even come out yet. Have you met those rabid fans?
JH: I met a few. But before we did this movie we did a short film, with the same characters, called Peluca. We did it in the same town and it became a big cult classic in the Utah area. But I was talking to my wife the other day and she said she got a call from some kids who called every state in the United States to find me. She gave them my cell phone number and they called me going Oh my gosh!
DRE: Do you think you will get sick of saying, Sweet?
JH: I say it a lot more now because its become natural. I used to say it when I was younger so its kind of getting me back to my childhood.
DRE: Jared has been described as wacky and his wife Jerusha [co-writer and costume designer] as grounded. How true is that?
JH: Definitely true. Jerusha was the total mother figure on the set. Between takes I would rush back to the wardrobe to play some videogames and she would always be there telling me to try on some clothes. She would make sure that everything is organized while Jared is floating off into his world and doing his thing.
DRE: How did you and Jared first meet at Brigham Young?
JH: We were in a couple of classes together and had worked on a few student films together. I was in one or two short films before that and after he saw those he thought I had some experience with acting. Then after the success of the short film he knew I could pull off the character.
DRE: Were you a fan of Saturday Night Fever?
JH: Oh yeah! Half the moves in the dance I do are from John Travolta.
DRE: Did you train for that dance?
JH: I didnt train, practice or do anything. I just got up and danced. My experience with dancing is a few really small talent shows that my friends put on.
We shot the movie in 22 days and the dance was one of the last days. I thought maybe I should choreograph something but I dont know how to do that. My dance experience is after a shower I put on Jamiroquai and dance. Im a huge fan of music like disco and funk, anything you can dance to. When it came down to it I just went up there and felt the music. It was one of the hardest things to shoot because when the cameras started rolling I got nervous. When my wife saw the movie she said, Thats not your best moves.
DRE: The movie got nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance [Film Festival]. What was that experience like?
JH: It was insane. Sundance is where everything happened, like it getting bought and people starting to catch onto the movie. It was never my expectation for those things to happen but I was hoping. At the first screening I realized it was funny and everyone was laughing. That was when all the agents and managers came up to us.
DRE: Do you see yourself continuing acting?
JH: I was an animation student at Brigham Young. I really want to do animation and acting. Animation is more of a tangible ability so if I dont make it in acting I can do animation but I dont want to use either as a fallback.
DRE: Could you see an animated Napoleon Dynamite?
JH: I do computer animation and I can only see Napoleon Dynamite as 2D animation.
DRE: As Napoleon Dynamite could you tell us what its like to be interviewed?
JH: [in Napoleon Dynamite voice] Um. I dont really know a lot about doing this. Its pretty weird but its pretty sweet I guess. New York is pretty sweet I guess. Theyve got that Natural Museum with the history of those sweet dinosaurs. I especially like the T-Rex cause he kills smaller weaker animals. Its pretty sweet.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
so much
i love napoelean
i love it so much
jc
xxx