Few celebrities have had a career quite like Pauly Shore, who made his stand-up debut at 17 and graduated from the school of live comedy to become as on-air MTV VJ in the early 90s. He even had his own show, Totally Pauly, and hosted the hip music channel's annual Spring Break parties. From there, a film career emerged with the cult hit status of 1992's Encino Man. His other films throughout the decade include Son in Law, In the Army Now, Jury Duty, and Bio-Dome.
Nearly thirty years later, Shore is still a part of the cultural lexicon - if not quite in the same way he was before. He recently went viral on Tiktok after voicing Pinocchio in the American dub of Pinocchio: A True Story, and his reaction proved he still knows how to have a good time with fans. In between dipping his toe in animation, having also lent his voice to the English version of My Sweet Monster alongside Hilary Duff, he's also preparing a docuseries about his life and career.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to sit down with Shore and discuss everything from Encino Man to Pinocchio, as well as where he plans to go next.
Screen Rant: The Pinocchio trailer, when that dropped, caused quite a stir online, which I think was a great thing. Everyone is so interested in it now. How did you land the role of Pinocchio in the first place?
Pauly Shore: Because I have a relationship with the studio, Lionsgate, through Guest House, which came out two years ago, and with Grindstone and Lionsgate. They've just asked me to do voiceovers for them. It kind of pops into their queue or their thing, and they're like, "Oh, hey, Pauly Shore, can maybe do this." And then it just came down that way. So I think it's a nice relationship that has grown and [is] trusting.
What did you think when "Father when can I leave to be on my own" became a TikTok meme?
Pauly Shore: It's called the "yassification," right? The yassification of Pinocchio. It was interesting. You do things in the business. You dive into stuff. Some stuff, you put your heart and your soul and years, and then nothing works out. And then you do a short thing, you do your heart and your soul for three or four days, or whatever it took to film it.
You put it in there, and then you kind of take off and then you get a text from your friend going, "Yo, dude, did you see this?" And I'm like, "What is it?" And they're like, "Everyone's mimicking you from this." But I didn't plan it. It just kind of happened, you know? So, that was cool.
I know what you mean, though. This is a different thing, but sometimes when I'm interviewing, like, I'm like, "Oh, this question is so good. People will love it." Not one response to it. And then I asked some weird question and people are like, "Hell yeah, that's the best."
Pauly Shore: Yeah and because of the internet now, you just don't know what people respond to. You don't know. I did these videos with No Neck Ed on my YouTube page. He's that guy from TLC, and he's just kind of a weird guy. I thought it was kind of funny. And I'm like, "Alright, let's do these videos of us shopping." And those took off.
I didn't think that [they would]. The good part about the business now is you can come up with something that day and put it out there and get the response. The old days, you come up with something, and then it takes you six months, to a year, to two years to see it through.
You're also doing another animated film called My Sweet Monster. Same studio. What's your favorite thing about doing animation and voiceover vs. a live-action thing?
Pauly Shore: I like doing things. I don't like one thing better than the other. So, as long as I'm into what it is, whether it's animation, or stand-up comedy, or dramatic acting, or my band, it doesn't matter. I don't think there's one thing better than the other. It's the arts. I like to commit to whatever it is that I'm doing. I'm actually getting pretty good at singing, which is hilarious because I'm not a singer. I've never been a singer. But back in the day, I used to sing a lot -- I sing in My Sweet Monster, my guy's got a song there -- I used to do songs when I was on tour and stuff.
But since I moved to Vegas, I started this band and I just started committing to these songs and I'm learning them and I'm getting more competent. It's hard. Singing is really hard, especially if you've never taken lessons. It takes a lot of practice. So I probably should get someone to teach me but then, I kind of like learning it myself. Some singers learn it themselves, right?
You've mentioned that you have a lot going on. There's a few things that I've read that you're working on and I want to see what's true and what's not. I read you have a four-part docuseries about the 90s. What is that? What does that entail?
Pauly Shore: Well, it's more of a five-part. It's a docuseries like you said, it's about the 90s. Basically, my career in the '90s was so big. At one point, I was doing albums, I was doing MTV, I was doing movies, HBO specials. I was like 25 and I'm spinning all these plates. So it's that, and then we go into the fall, which was when I went away, and what I was going through at that time at 30-35, whatever it was, and then kind of how I got through it. Then it wraps up in where I'm at now. So it's basically this big Encino Man, Son In Law, In the Army Now, Jury Duty, and then it kind of goes down, and then Bio-Dome, and then it gets to this kind of heavy thing.
It's just a very honest look at what happened and trying to look at it in a positive way, because when things slowed down for me. It wasn't like I went bankrupt or I got on a drug thing. Because when you're so hot and then you're not, it's hard to comprehend what that's like. Through the docuseries, we follow me, and we have all the footage of me bawling by myself, and it's very relatable and, hopefully, inspiring. Hopefully, people will go, "Wow. I had no idea." Because America is so used to certain things, and then when certain things aren't there, then they immediately think something bad happened, and nothing bad happened to me.
It's just, they took the movies away from me, and instead of me patting myself on the back, and being like, "Hey, you had a great run. Take a break," it's like a stock. Your stock kind of goes [down]. I took it very personal and it's one of the issues I have in life is I'm very emotional and I'm very sensitive. When that happened, it was really hard for me. I show all of it. It's pretty cool. The mask behind Encino Man, you know what I mean?
I find it so interesting, especially in Hollywood. You're a brand. You're the business. So it's like you said, your stock rises and falls and then it's like, what happens?
Pauly Shore: How do you deal with it? Yeah. It's like a breakup or a marriage. You get divorced. I have never been divorced. I've never been married. But I assume it's devastating. And what's that like? So, for me, it was the career and it was some of the choices I made. I've talked about it on Joe Rogan before, some people are aware of it, and I'll talk about it in this. But instead of talking about it, I'm showing it, because that footage is all there. It's authentically there. I filmed everything.
You're talking about like the 90s. Have you noticed, especially in the last few years, there's just been such nostalgia and affinity for that era? Have you felt that at all?
Pauly Shore: I feel it when I go on the road. When I'm touring, I feel people's hearts because they look at me like they remember a good time. When they see me they're like, "Man, Pauly Shore. We really had fun with that guy." And now, because of the world and what's going on, everyone's kind of on edge with these phones, and everyone's kind of got this eggshell feeling around themselves. So people look at me, and they look at that time as freedom and no filter. It's great.
When I go out and I see all those faces, it's what keeps me going. Comedy, the stand-up stuff, has gotten me through everything, not just financially, emotionally. If you feed off and you give love, you get love. It's a reciprocal thing.
This has come up with you before, but I feel like now would be a good time to do a sequel of one of your projects. Encino Man 2 was mentioned. Has there been any movement on that? I know it was an Instagram post. But I feel like that maybe would gain momentum.
Pauly Shore: You know, it's really up to the fans because Disney+ knows about it and the producer, George, I know is wanting to do it. I know Brendan and Sean would probably do it if the script was right. There's a love for that movie that, to this day, even Bio-Dome, even though at the time when it came out, several years later, people realize, "Wait a minute. This was actually a really fun, funny film. It's really held up for me."
I mean, those movies, people can make fun of them, the industry or whatever, but they've been putting food on my table for years and making people happy. There is a huge audience out there that really enjoys those... It was a point in time where I hit, where MTV was the hottest thing in the world, when everyone was looking at MTV, and I was right there. I was young, and it was awesome. It was pretty cool. It was a fun run.
What's the number one question you get from fans when they approach you on the street?
Pauly Shore: "Do The Weasel, bro! Do The Weasel, bro!" "It's the leaning tower of Cheeza!" No, they love the movies. It's crazy. I'm like, "What was that from?" "Your movie, idiot! You don't remember?" I'm like, "oh, no, I forgot." People see me and they get giddy... I knock on wood every day. I'm like, "Oh my god. This is awesome." Whatever I did for some reason, it resonated.
Pinocchio: A True Story & My Sweet Monster are available now through Video On Demand.