'Movie Chicks' Interview

Nearing the end of a long press tour, Devon Sawa talked about days of traveling to cities he doesn't get to see, meeting with the press (who may or may not like his latest film), what it's been like for this Canadian growing up on the big screen, the kind of roles he's taken over the years, and how much fun he had making his new movie — 'Slackers'.

Question: Are you going to the premiere in New York or L.A.?

Devon: L.A. on Tuesday — it should be interesting. It's good to get the cast all back together again; they were a great group of people to work with.

Question: It's been wrapped for a while, right?

Devon: A year and a half, actually almost two years.

Question: Did they hold it for a reason?

Devon: The studio that originally did it went bankrupt and so it got stuck in legal battles. Everybody was fighting for it. It was Destination and now it's Columbia.

Question: When you changed studios did you have to go back and re-shoot anything?

Devon: No. Thank god. 'Final Destination' we did — we changed it. About 3/4 of a year later, we went back and re-shot the ending — it used to be where I die, and now…

Question: Did they use test audiences? How did they come up with that?

Devon: I guess they did a test audience and apparently they didn't want the hero to die.

Question: It looked like a pretty rowdy bunch on the set [of 'Slackers'].

Devon: It was hard to work on the set because we all would bust up during takes. Jason Schwartzman who's hysterical and very talented — kept us laughing all day. There were literally scenes where I was crying at the end. It was just a lot of fun.

Question: Did you get to work with Mamie Van Doren?

Devon: I didn't get to meet her. You know, none of that stuff was actually in the script.

Question: Was there a lot of improv on the set?

Devon: Tons. We basically used the script as a blueprint. We knew what we had to do in a scene. We knew what lines we had to definitely hit. We'd do it the way it's in the script and then after that the [director would] be like, "You know what guys, try it whatever way you want."

Question: Did it make the shoot longer because of this?

Devon: No. Longer days sometimes, but we had to get done by six weeks.

Question: This is a little bit different from what you have become known for with your two horror films, 'Idle Hands' and 'Final Destination'. You've done some comedy, but not a straight-out comedy like this. Did you choose it as a bit of a change of pace?

Devon: I like to do different things, everything from 'Idle Hands' to 'S.L.C. Punk'. Everything just to keep it edgy and different and now I'm going to go do more of a romantic comedy, without any of this wacky stuff in it — no dancing penises or anything like that. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll be able to do something more dramatic.

Question: Will you have to go outside of the studios, back to the independent films to get a dramatic role?

Devon: I'm sure I'm going to have to, because I don't want to do something that's so controlled by the studio, so Blockbustery, fluffy teen comedies. I would like to do something a little bit more edgy.

Question: I was doing a little bit of research on-line and there's an enormous amount of websites dedicated to you that I found — is that kind of a weird feeling?

Devon: I don't go on them. I went on them a few years ago and there's the Devon Sawa look-alike website and it's scary. And then there's the Devon Sawa gay page, which is fine, but I don't want to hear detailed things about anything like that. For every 10 good things, there's always some jerk that wants to say something bad. And I don't need to see it. Let them do what they want. I'm glad that there's a lot of people that are supportive and fans.

Question: Are you able to watch yourself on screen or does it make you nervous or uncomfortable?

Devon: When the movie's on, I usually watch more of the audience. For instance, when I go to the premiere on Tuesday I probably won't watch the film at all — I'll be watching the audience just to see their reaction to different moments, what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, stuff like that.

Question: You haven't seen this film with an audience?

Devon: No, 'cause 30 press people is not really an audience. I saw it first with all my agents, managers, and publicist — they're not going to not laugh. I'd like to see it with a real audience at least one time — go to a random theater with a hat on.

Question: One thing about this movie 'Slackers', it's not afraid to just throw everything out there.

Devon: We were nervous about that in a way, but we decided before we started doing it that we were just going to go for it. We might have a lot of people saying, "That's not the right thing to do. That's a little bit too much." For instance, the dancing penis and the lesbian make-out scenes and the nudity, the gimp and all the other stuff. But it's funny. It's definitely got an audience, we're gonna see — fingers are crossed.

Question: Was that the first time that you dropped trou on screen?

Devon: No, at the age of 15 I did a movie called 'Now And Then' where they gave me this little sock and we had to run naked. We're skinny-dipping in the water, the girls steal the clothes, and so we were running down a dirt path. The little sock thing that didn't stay on very well — you can ask the other girls — Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, Gabby Hoffman, Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson.

Question: Did your friends give you a hard time about that?

Devon: Yeah, they did at the time. I didn't tell anybody and nobody really got to know except for my close friends because it wasn't the biggest part ever and no one saw the movie, fortunately. So I kind of kept that hush-hush. But this one — they had me working out for 'Slackers' — you can't tell right now because I had to put weight on for another part ("Really, I swear!"). I gained 20 pounds since the film. They had me working out for about 4 months before, working with a trainer and a nutritionist, so I think I looked pretty good, so I was happy to drop my trousers until Jason Segel did and it seemed he was a little bit… we won't get into that. Anyways, it was fine — it was a very closed set.

Question: Dewey Nicks' first film, how was it working with a first-time director?

Devon: I wasn't nervous at all working with him. When I initially met him, I was familiar with his photography and he just seemed to know what he was going to do, he was on top of it.

Question: Was there a lot of stuff you had to cut out for ratings reasons?

Devon: Yes. The original dancing penis was Mike Maronna's real penis. They had strings from the prop-man above and it had a CGI mouth on it — and for some reason the studio said that was a little too much and they put a sock on it.

Question: Have your parents seen this movie yet?

Devon: Not yet. My mom was mad at me for 'Idle Hands' because I was smoking a bong, "Why do you have to do that in your movies? Do 'Wild America 2', what's wrong with 'Casper 2'?" She's going to see dancing penises and me making out with a girl. Oh well, they're supportive.

Question: How early did you start out in this business?

Devon: Age 11. In elementary school, the teacher thought I had a little bit too much energy so to channel my energy they put me into theater. It didn't help with school, but it eventually became a good career. I started doing commercials, TV shows, and then I landed 'Casper' and that's it.

Question: You have a film called 'The Extremists' coming out.

Devon: The title is changing on that one. It's called 'The Untitled Ski Project' now, that's until they find an appropriate name for it. That comes out in September and it's about four sport kids that are extreme — they do sky diving, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, you name it they do it. And they get mixed up with some terrorists and use their extreme powers to get out of it.

Question: Are you into extreme sports?

Devon: I ski, I do kayak — that's about it. They had us doing a lot of the stuff; they hung us off some cliffs. We shot in Germany for four or five months.

Question: Are you going to try to get out of the younger movies now?

Devon: I figure I did 'Idle Hands' — I was in high school and I graduated. Then I went to college for 'Slackers'. So the next movie, I'm playing an advertising agent, so I'm kind of work my way through the system. Next I'll be an executive, maybe a president, then who knows — maybe retire by 30. I don't think I want to play a teenager anymore. I'm done with that.

Question: Did you go to college at all?

Devon: No, just for this film. It was good because I didn't have homework at the end of the day.

Question: But you got that degree — I'm sure they gave you a diploma with your name on it?

Devon: No, it says Dave.

Question: Does it seem kind of weird to do a press junket sitting with press that may or may not like the movie?

Devon: It's weird. I've never liked the press part of it (no offense), but it comes with the job. I can't do talk shows, I don't do them, just because I get really nervous and fidgeting and shaky.

Question: Did you get many chances of doing roles such as the one you did in 'S.L.C. Punk' — really edgy smaller roles? Do you get many offers like that?

Devon: Yeah. 'Extreme Dating', the one I'm going to do, is a role that's like that — I'm pretty much working for free. That's where you have more creative input and you can do different stuff. I'm sure if the studio was controlling 'S.L.C. Punk' it would have been a lot tamer.

Question: Are you interested in doing theater at all?

Devon: I am, but there's not a lot out there right now in theater for my age — maybe one day.

Question: How do you decide what you're going to do next?

Devon: It's whatever clicks. You read a script and if it clicks, if you feel like "Wow, I really want to do this." Then you have to go to the next process, whether it's reading for the director or meeting with the director or whatever it is.

Question: Are you one of the many actors who would like to direct?

Devon: It's such a responsibility — 12 hours is enough for me for 3 months and then a little break. The director is 16 hours a day for a whole year and it's so much work and so much stress — it becomes your life. So I don't know if I'm ready for that yet — I've got a girlfriend.

Question: Have you ever passed on a role, then saw it on the big screen and thought — that could have been me?

Devon: Oh yeah. I actually passed on a movie that you might have heard of called 'American Pie' saying that would never ever work and I told my agent, "How dare you send me scripts like this. It's horrible." And then — it did all right in the theater. I'm not going to say which role. Now they're getting sequels; they're all getting their own TV shows. I'm doing independents.

Question: Given the fact that you have such a large younger fan base, does that affect your personal life at all?

Devon: If I go to the Beverly Center on a Friday afternoon, it's pretty wacky. The people are two different groups — there's the young girls that will follow and shout out, it's all innocent. Then there's the other side, 'Idle Hands' and 'Final Destination', more of the college [crowd] — they are like, "I saw your movie, real cool." That's always good to hear. No one's ever been rude or anything like that.

Question: When does your next movie start? Devon: Tuesday's the premiere, then Wednesday we start rehearsals 'til Sunday, Monday we go to principal photography. [The movie is] called 'Extreme Dating' with Amanda Detmer, the girl that got hit by the bus in 'Final Destination'. She recovered and she'll be there.

Back 12.31.2007.