Los Angeles Journal


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2008-05-29

by John Esther

Interview: Jody Hill

Summary

Finding the Foot Fist Way with the actor-writer-director

Article

Anyone out there ever wanted to see someone like Frank Burns or Napoleon Dynamite open up a cup of whoop booty under the direction of someone who worships cinematic skewing a la the late film director Robert Altman (MASH; Nashville). Then Meet writer-director-actor Jody Hill and his film, Foot Fist Way.

Fred “King of the demo” Simmons (co-writer Danny McBride) is a jerk. Fred has no idea how big of a jerk he is because he is a master of Tae Kwon Do (translated “the foot fist way”) who runs his own dojo. Fred bosses around his young male students, ogles the older female ones and could not give a flying kick to the left flank what anybody thinks of him. Even when his wife (Mary Jane Bostic) cheats on him; his hero, Chuck “The Truck” Wallace (co-writer Ben Best) screws him over, and a mother (Erica Owens) screams him a new one after he beats her son (Nicholas Stanley), Fred still thinks he is the freshest.

Fred is the kind of ridiculously-delusional idiot savant Will Farrell (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; Blades of Glory) has made some of his career out of, so it is not wonder that Gary Sanchez Productions, the company Farrell and creative partner Adam McKay founded, are backing the movie. Will The Foot Fist Way #2 feature Ferrell as Simmons’ sensei? Only box office sales will say.

An irreverent somewhat funny film co-writer/director/actor Jody Hill – who knows Tae Kwon Do – knees and elbows at the myth of the American martial artist.

In this exclusive interview, we spoke to Hill.

Los Angeles Press: Why did you want to tell this story?
Jody Hill: I grew up doing martial arts. When I was 17 I opened a Tae Kwon Do club. When I went away to film school (North Carolina School of the Arts) I gave away the memberships to this guy who opened a full size school, which is where we shot the film. We got to use his students; they’re all real people. I wanted to show there’s a business element to martial arts schools. A lot of times in movies you see martial arts as something holy/artsy/Zen-type thing. There are a lot of things like signing up new students, making your monthly lease; then it’s weird to see adults bowing to other adults and calling them “Sir.”

LAJ: Or kids, if they outrank the adults.
JH: Right, if a kid outranks you like Julio (Spencer Moreno). I’m a fan of 1970s films, those character pieces like Five Easy Pieces. I wanted to nail martial arts like Robert Altman nailed the military in MASH, the recording industry in Nashville.

LAJ: What do you have in common with Fred Simmons?
JH: [Laughs]. I was always careful not to make fun of Tae Kwon Do. The breakup. There are certain elements you get when you break up with a girl. From my experience in movies, like Swingers for example, you get dumped and then you meet the next girl and everything’s okay. It didn’t happen to me like that. It’s not like a lesson I’m trying to teach, but the main character is not going to get the girl, but he’s going to be okay.

LAJ: Have people protested at your portrayal of Tae Kwon Do?
JH: A little bit, yeah. Some people get offended no matter what you do.

LAJ: The film was a success at Sundance 2006. Why did it take so long for a release?
JH: It was pretty frustrating for me because of the [delays]. It’s different and if studios can’t pinpoint numbers they get scared of it. Something like this, which is new and doesn’t have any stars, it’s only natural they would have a knee-jerk reaction to releasing something like this. Now after all this time the film has some word-of-mouth legs it seems natural to release it.

LAJ: McBride and Best are funny guys. Did the low budget prohibit some comical material from getting into the film?
JH: I’ll tell you a little bit about that. I wrote up drafts and then those guys came on. Both of them are fans of British comedy, the droll kind. American comedy sucks. A lot of times it’s somebody saying something “crazy” and there’s a counter shot where somebody makes a face. It’s disposable, throwaway. With the budget – I put the film on my credit cards – basically we did it very raw and include the roughness and make it a part of the thing; like it was coming from somebody’s backyard, or the gutter. Overtime people will see that as a cool thing, like early punk rock bands with hissing on the tape and guitar feedback, but now it’s a style people try to get. It’s feeling over professionalism.

LAJ: You say, “American comedy sucks” but you got two well-known American comedians backing your film. How did they get on board? How did that help your film?
JH: Will Farrell and Andy McKay are the exceptions. Those guys have vision. They’re really into what we’re doing. They got the joke before most people did. At Sundance the studios didn’t get this movie. They didn’t understand like Fred isn’t telling jokes but yet it’s still funny. Will Farrell got it right away.

LAJ: Why do you think your film received an R-rating?
JH: That always surprised me. When I was growing up seeing movies I never thought of that. Out here in Hollywood you think about that. It’s cool.

LAJ: How accurate were the board breakings?
JH: We scored it. We had Ben and Danny train for three weeks. We had stunt doubles. A lot of old school stunt double tricks. We didn’t have computers.

LAJ: What can you tell us about your upcoming film, Observe and Report?
JH: It’s about a security guard who gets in a turf war with the cops when a perpetrator strikes the mall. Ray Liotta plays his nemesis. Michael Pena is in it and he’s funny. It might be a big breakout role for him.

LAJ: Lastly, what do you think about these interviews? Do they serve the work? Should the work speak for itself?
JH: That’s a good question; probably the cool answer is “the work should speak for itself.” I grew up talking films with my buddies so as long as it’s like that and I’m not asked about “the state of independent film,” which I don’t think I should say.