Tom Green is one of the most legendary provocateurs of all time. Through The Tom Green Show and Freddy Got Fingered, the actor and comedian has always thrived on the edge of sanity, pushing society's buttons and making fun of the various mediums through which audiences consume their entertainment.
For his latest film, Iron Sky: The Coming Race, Tom Green tackles a unique challenge: delivering a straightforward villainous performance in a film with extremely heightened sensibilities. In Iron Sky, Green's character, Donald, is the leader of a cult who worship Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple. Donald's strict adherence to the idea of a "closed system" is a source of both comedy and tension, and Green's performance is one of the stand-out elements of the broadly entertaining science fiction action/comedy.
Related: Udo Kier Interview – Iron Sky: The Coming Race
While promoting the release of Iron Sky: The Coming Race, Tom Green spoke to Screen Rant about his role in the film, as well as his career in Hollywood, including the enduring popularity of Freddy Got Fingered, a cult classic satire of Americana which only grows in popularity as the years go by. He also discusses his recent activism regarding the hotel Château Laurier in his hometown of Ottawa, Canada.
It's a pleasure to get to talk to you, Tom!
Nice to talk to you, also! I'm in Ottawa, Canada, where I'm from, my hometown. I'm visiting family for the Summer. I'm also talking to the municipal and federal governments about an important issue up here. I've taken up activism during my Summer vacation!
Ooh, what's the issue, if I may ask?
Well, they are making an addition to a piece of famous heritage hotel, the Château Laurier, up here, and it overlooks the Ottawa River. It's an issue that's very close to my heart, so I'm involved with that. It's a very complex and big issue, with lots of interesting twists and turns, but there is some information out there. I've shared a few articles about it on my social media, so you can check on that to see what I'm up to. Other than that, though, I'm on vacation.
That's great. So, let's talk about Iron Sky. Were you aware of the first film when that came out and made its splash?
I had heard of the film, for sure, yes. But I believe I had not seen it until Timo Vuorensola, the director and creator, sent me the film and said he wanted me to do the sequel with him. I was certainly excited to be asked. First of all, it was a cool experience for me to get to be part of it, and to shoot the movie. It was shot in Antwerp, Belgium. I believe it was six weeks in Antwerp. We were filming the movie on incredible sound stages there. There was so much green screen and CGI, it was a very big production. Great people. I got to meet and work with some people that I've always admired, like Udo Kier and, I certainly had a great time in the city. It was great. I love my character, too, and what I got to do with my character. Timo definitely created a really interesting world, here. To get to play a villainous character, a psychotic, villainous cult leader, it's a departure from some of the things I've done on film before, and in my comedy. It's definitely exciting and fun, and I enjoyed building that character to add to that world.
I was glad to see somebody throw some shade at Steve Jobs!
Yeah... I mean, it was all it good fun, you know? I admire Steve Jobs. He changed the world. I'm a very active user of technology and of Apple products in particular. I use Mac computers for my music. I record music on Pro Tools, and I edit video on Final Cut Pro. I'm using Premier now, but on my Mac. It's such an efficient thing. I have a lot of respect for them, but this was an opportunity to play a villainous character, and I had a good time doing it! It was fun to be in that kind of production. It was interesting, you know?
In talking to you, and I also got to talk to Udo Kier about the movie, as well, but I get the sense that Timo is someone who really has the vision of how to assemble a film, from the script to the final cut. I wonder if part of that is because so much of it is shot on green screen, like it's already made in his imagination. Do you have any insight into his process?
Absolutely, I think so. I think, when you get on board with a project like this, that is so... Off the wall, right? It's visionary. It's a sequel, I'm stepping into an existing world. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Timo is a fun guy. He's a hilarious, great guy. He was so much fun, and brought such positive energy to the set. Sometimes, when you make movies, things can be stressful, and that can affect the whole energy of performances and change things. But Timo had a way of making things fun, and I really appreciated him asking me to be part of this.
Okay, I'm 28 years old. When I was 11, my mom showed me Freddy Got Fingered. My dad was furious, but that movie, to this day, is one of my mother's all-time favorite movies.
All right!
For the longest time, my dad just didn't get it. He was like, "Why?" I feel like, in recent years, that movie has really come around and been accepted as the amazing satire it really is. Seeing this movie's lifespan go from completely misunderstood to an American classic in 2019, how has that journey been for you?
I am so proud of that movie, of the absurdity of that movie. I'm proud that we committed to our vision of making something completely ridiculous and silly and outrageous. What always surprised me was that people felt the need to take this movie so seriously. They were so concerned about this movie, when it come out, that they had to write things and say things about it. Meanwhile, right from the get-go, it received a very nice review from The New York Times the weekend it came out. And financially, it was a very successful movie. One thing people don't necessarily know about Freddy Got Fingered is that it was a highly profitable movie. It was a reasonably small budget, $14 million, and it made that money back at the box office. Then it did extremely well on DVD, making I think close to $30 million on DVD, which is something that does not happen that often. And now, here I am, 20 years later, and I can't go anywhere in the world without people coming up to me and going, "Daddy would you like some sausage."
(Laughs) That was such a good scene.
Or they'll tell me a story like the one you just told me. And I mean every day of my life. I tour the world and do stand-up comedy. I was in Hong Kong, Singapore, all over Australia, every city in Canada, the US, England... I've been doing this full-time for about ten years, traveling the world and doing stand-up. I love it. I meet people all over the world. I was just in Israel doing stand-up. The shows are selling out, and people come up to me and we have long talks about the movie. A lot of people love Freddy Got Fingered. People have moments they just remember and love to repeat with their friends. There's so many good things about that movie. It's fun to see the movie take on a life of its own. It's something that's actually happening. From my perspective, it feels somewhat vindicating, because people were so mean about their reviews of the movie when it came out. But now, literally not a day goes by where people come up to me and talk about that movie. I'm happy that you liked it!
Oh yeah! It's one of those things... Before everything was a meme. Today, with Rotten Tomatoes and Twitter reactions, everything immediately becomes a meme. I remember the first time, I don't remember what movie it was, but I wanted to watch a movie with a friend of mine, and he said, "Isn't that supposed to be bad?" And I was like, none of them are supposed to be bad...
I grew up in Ottawa, Canada, where I am right now. Very high-tech industry up here in Ottawa. Lots of early adopters, here. Especially in the early days of the internet, in the 1980s, when they called it the NABU Network. My father worked with computers, in the Canadian Department of Defense. The early days of computer programming. There is a lot of forward-thinking in this city. Growing up in that kind of environment makes you think about the internet, and what's going to happen with the internet, and where is television going. So we started mocking things. Both with The Tom Green Show and Freddy Got Fingered, it was about making fun of the medium itself. You know, doing things you're not supposed to do, or doing things the way they aren't traditionally done.
Right, a lot of your work has been subversive, but it's come around to be understood over time, only growing in popularity as the years pass. With that in mind, is there any project you're particularly proud of that maybe hasn't gotten the love and appreciation it deserves that you want to shout out for the Screen Rant reader?
I don't know if the resurgence of Freddy Got Fingered is at the point where that wouldn't be the answer to this question, know what I mean? But certainly Freddy. I feel, honestly, like I've gotten my fair share of recognition from people. What matters to me is that I have people who follow my social media and come to my shows. People who are my friends. I have a great fanbase who uplift me. Since before MTV! I started doing stand-up when I was a teenager in Ottawa. And, you know, I was doing music when I was a teenager. When I'm up here, in Ottawa, it's interesting to look back, you know, to 1989, when I started doing stand-up. It's been an interesting career, let's put it that way. Just to be here, at 47 years old, having done this stuff for 30 years, here I am, talking to you about Iron Sky, which I got to shoot in Belgium, and talking about my crazy movie, it's pretty cool. And my stand-up career has really been a life-changing thing for me. I started touring again about ten years ago, and it's connected me with people all over the world. I'm having a blast on stage. I think it's an important time for stand-up comedy. People need to be getting up and speaking their minds and expressing themselves. If it's something they feel they can do, and want to do, they should do it. I love being part of the stand-up comedy world right now.
Iron Sky: The Coming Race is in theaters and On Demand now.