| 
| 
With his own television show, a starring role in hit movies and a published autobiography to his credit, Jamie Kennedy is within his rights to be one of those solipsistic young comedians who thinks every joke should revolve around him. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“So many people in the business think it’s about you,” Kennedy says while sitting back in his Miami Beach hotel room wearing camouflage pants, a black shirt and slippers. “But whether it’s a movie, television show, or acting in general, it’s really not about you. It’s about the piece. On my television show [“The Jamie Kennedy Experiment”] it was about the person’s reaction to me — that’s what was funny.”
Kennedy learned this lesson early in his career while working with Oscar-winning writer/director James L. Brooks on “As Good As It Gets,” in which he had a small role that grew even smaller. “I was hired to play one of two gay hustlers named Evan and Jaron, who are friends with Skeet Ulrich’s character,” Kennedy said. “As we were shooting, my scene with Jack Nicholson got cut, as did my scene with Greg Kinnear. Finally, I got to the set on my very first day, did my line and Jim Brooks says: ‘Hey man, that was great! You’re playing Jaron. But you’re not tall enough. I want you for Evan. Are you cool with that? I’m sorry. You want a moment? You want to call your agent? I understand.’
“So I called my agent, and came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to do anything. I’m getting to work with James L. Brooks. I’m in New York for two months. It’s basically a paid vacation. And I’ll get to learn a lot. That’s when I learned, right then, that it’s all about being in the piece.”
Although the success of the “Scream” franchise, in which he played the movie-knowledgeable Randy, has propelled him to success in a variety of show-businesses outlets, Kennedy’s latest film, “Son of the Mask,” is still all about the piece. In fact, the biggest surprise for many of his fans will be that he only wears the shape-shifting mask that made Jim Carrey famous in 1994 for a few scenes — most of the time he is the one reacting to his baby and dog, who have the power of the mask.
“I wanted to take this part because I don’t wear the mask very much,” Kennedy said candidly. “I wanted to be more of the straight guy, and show myself reacting to everything going on around me, as opposed to doing the characters and crazy stuff that I do on the television show.
“But when I do wear the mask, the character I play is like Bob Eubanks,” Kennedy says while ad-libbing a “Ladies and Gentlemen” in a perfect Bob Eubanks-tone. “I knew I didn’t want the mask on for most of the movie because I knew I would be judged against what Jim Carrey did, and I wanted the movie to be different. That’s why this isn’t really a sequel to the original — it’s more of a sequel to the concept of the original.”
One of the newer challenges the film presented Kennedy was knowing that a lot of what we see on-screen will be added in post-production. “After the first hour of day one, the producer told me that the film isn’t about me cracking jokes, and that everything I have to do I have to be prepared for because we don’t have time for a lot of takes,” Kennedy said.
“I knew then and there that the movie was much bigger than me, and that I was just a player in it. So every night I’d work on a few jokes, because I knew I would only get a few chances because the effects and schedule were so intense.
“It wasn’t hard, then, though, because I just gave over to it,” he added. “In a way, it was kind of freeing because I was able to stick with one choice to the end, instead of constantly trying to come up with the perfect joke.”
Given his relative novelty to show businesses, Kennedy surprised many by releasing an autobiography in 2003. “Everybody makes fun of me for that,” Kennedy said while laughing. “A lot has happened to me from the ages of 10 to 30. I have all of these crazy stories that happened to me. These are all anecdotes of things that actually happened. Between the girls, hospitals, being poor and working with Jack Nicholson, there’s a lot in there.”
Kennedy also said that he wrote the book for the delight of people’s reactions to his life. It seems that in literature as well as on screen, it’s always about the piece.
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
