-Hello, and welcome to No Jacket Required. I am your host, Chris Pagnozzi. Today I have Bobcat Goldwaith with me.
-Bob, thank you for coming. -Well thanks for having on the show, I'm a huge fan.
-Well thank you, I'm a huge fan of yours. -Oh, thanks.No, I've never seen the show. know you said you were told that if not members instead of that
-No one has. -I'm sorry. Well, you know.
-"One Crazy Summer" is one of my favorite films of all time.
-Joel Murray, who was just in the movie I made called "God Bless America,"
I met on "One Crazy Summer."
But he reminded me of something I didn't know.
Well, I did know, but I forgot.
I guess Cusack had left his credit card out,
so I wrote down the numbers and i started ordering things
to the hotel, like bamboo steamers and
thigh masters, if it was on late night television. Freedom rock albums...
Well, Cusack was like, "Aren't you guys getting free gifts?"
-So he thought all these nice things were being sent? You just mentioned your film "God Bless America" --
I absolutely loved it.
-Oh, thanks.
-It's so good. I'm
curious, was it something that
came to you by
frustration? -A couple things were the germ of it. One was the actual show "My Super
Sweet Sixteen."
I was in London, they were having a festival of the American version, and it really bothered
me that that's what we're exporting to the rest of the world. I also wrote it
as a Christmas present to my wife because she hates babies. I thought, I'm gonna write a
movie where -- spoiler alert -- I shoot a baby at the beginnin. I'd like to say it's a violent
movie about kindness.
-We're all supporting these awful shows
by watching and saying, "I only watch it beacuse it's terrible."
I do it, I'm guilty of it. -I was interested about why we're so
distracted, you know, we do spend all of our time
involved in shows like that and let them form their ideas for them. I guess
that's a lot easier to do than actually thinking.
You know, "God Bless America" just played government displayed at the Deauville Film Festival. It was, like,
1400 people, standing ovation. -"World's Greatest Dad" is probably my favorite
comedy
in the last thirty years. I love it. -Thanks.
-Absolutely.
Was Robin Williams always in mind?
-No he thought he was going to help me out and do a solid and play, like,
a teacher, you know, like, "Paging Mr. Herman, Mr. Pee-wee Herman." He thought he'd do
a small part and it would help get the movie financed.
But he read the script and was like, "I'd like to be the guy" -- you know, Lance.
And I was like,
"Okay."
I mean, if I was gonna write a movie for Robin, I would've stayed away from a
poetry teacher.
Robin was just
being a nice friend.
I was worried when we were working together, because I've known him since I was nineteen. -Really?
-Yeah.
I get nervous, like, is he gonna listen to me on the set? Or will he say, "I have an
Oscar, and you're in "Hot to Trot. I think we're gonna do it my way." But
that wasn't the case at all. We really collaborated.
I like to be extremely anonymous in real life.
I truly do.
I feel like a lot of comics are out all the time, or need to fill this
attention hole, and I'm the direct opposite. I really consider it a good day when I
go under the wire.
I just shot a Bigfoot movie, and when I was out in the middle of
the woods, there's no planes going over, no phone service,
I couldn't have been happier.
-Yeah? -Yeah, I was like, "Ahhhh."
I think it was because
mountain lions don't ask you about "Police Academy." You know what's weird?
People always tell me how tall they were when they saw "Police Academy."
"Dude,
uh, I was this big!"
-Is that the one question you wish people would never ask you again? -It's not
that, because I know that's how people know me...
Here's the problem:
It's hard for me to continually
feign enthusiasm
when people bring that up and meet me.
That's the only problem -- I feel bad.
It's like, "Hey, 'Police Academy!'"
And I'm supposed to go, "Yeah! Fuck yeah!"
I don't know what my reaction is, I go, "Oh, thank you." -Yeah.
-And really when I say thank you, what I'm thinking about is
that I'm usually pretending I'm gutting myself and pulling my entrails out
while they continue to talk to me and ask me questions, if the
black guy really made those
noises.
-Well, here goes... -No, but seriously -- "Did Michael Winslow really make those noises?" I wonder
if he's gotta listen to questions about me. I wonder if that's the flip side,
people going,
"Is that guy really crazy? Does he got brain damage? Why does he talk like that?"
But when I directed the Kimmel show --
I did that, people don't know that, I did that for like three years, and I
did almost 300 episodes -- but
if I had a note, you know, and I'd be talking to Jimmy from the booth, and I'd go, "Jimmy," and I'd go,
"Do the voice!"
Only if I really needed something for him to do
but I think people thought I was in the booth, going, "Ready camera one!"
You know, I've noticed that I don't sound like
me anymore. I can't even do an impression of me.
-You haven't done it in so long.
-Well, I'll dust it off, you know, for like,
sick kids, and...
that's not true.
-You had a
thing, though. -I had a hook. -I need a thing. -You need a thing? No, because then...
That's my advice. Don't get a thing. 'Cause then you'll
always be trying to get back to you.
Now I've met Carol Channing,
and I can say that this is the actual booth because it smells like her
a little bit.
I mean, she's a delightful lady... -I've never met her. -Really?
That's pure Channing. That's pure, 100%, uncut Channing.
My wife tried to get me a a star on the Walk of Fame
as a surprise,
and she called them up and said, you know.
They go, "Well, who's this for?" "Well, for
Bobcat Godlthwait." "Oh, we don't deal with
posthumous, you know, the dead celebrities. That's another uh..."
She goes, "He's not dead." He goes, "Why?" She goes, "It's my husband!"
"Are you sure he's not dead?"
-"Pretty sure."
-Yeah. I would like a star. I would
like a star. -Absolutely. -I mean, not that I think I warrant it, but when you see, you know,
Ryan Seacrest you go, "Oh, please," you know. But then, when you see a hobo
urinating on it, it kind of takes all the magic away anyways.
-I imagine there's better parts of Hollywood Boulevard. -Oh yeah, definitely. -Well, I thank you
so much for coming and doing this. -Well, thanks for having me on. And thanks for the kind
words, it's nice to ... I'm not that jaded when someone likes my movies, it does
mean something to me. -I love your movies, and I'm really looking forward to
your future movies. -I just keep making them. I sound like Dirk Diggler -- "I'll keep rockin' and
rollin' if you keep watching them." You know, but, it's nice to meet someone that watches
my movies.
It doesn't happen a lot.
-Thank you.