Whedon's World - Seth Green Interview November 2008

Seth Green Takes Our Pop Culture Personality Test

The "Robot Chicken" mastermind's answers revealed more than he should've about karaoke, Grover, and his love of "Showgirls"

By Mandi Bierly | Nov 14, 2008

SETH GREEN TAKES OUR POP CULTURE PERSONALITY TEST

It's fitting that Seth Green submitted to our Pop Culture Personality Test. After all, it's his love of pop culture (and dolls) that's earned him two Emmy nominations as the creator of Sdult Swim's Robot Chicken - and brought us the new special Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode II (premieres Nov. 16, 11:30 p.m. ET). "With the first one, we were so excited at the opportunity that we basically had all of the watercooler nerd conversations of the last 25 years on film," Green says. "With the second one, there's a bit of a linear story. I've always been fascinated by the bounty hunters. How does the Galactic Empire go about hiring bounty huntersm and who applies for that job? In the mundane machinations of the Star Wars Universe, somebody placed an ad? Called an agent? Do they have a competition? Do they know each other?"

Clearly, Green likes to ask questions. We're happy to say that he can also give some hilarious answers.

EW: Who had the lamer death: Darth Maul or Bobba Fett?

SETH GREEN: Well, from a fan perspective, I felt like it was Darth Maul, only because Bobba Fett was never set up to be a villain. He was never set up to be anything more than an ancillary character, so his death, while tragic, was more of something you reflect on, than something that happens in the moment. Whereas with Darth Maul, because I saw that character design so far in advance of the movie coming out and built up my own expectations and predictions as to what he was, the fact that his entire story is contained in one movie - his introduction and his death - was frustrating 'cause I really wanted to know more about that character. I thought there was more to tell with him... I should mention that we cover Darth maul's tragic injury in the special. [Laughs]

Which of your self-appointed "five geekiest pop culture possessions" would you part with if you had to part with one: your Muppet Show DVDs, your Lincoln Hawk action figure from the Stallone arm-wrestling movie Over The Top, your signed Fred "Rerun" Berry photo, your G.I. Joe lunchbox (with thermos), or your lobby card from Superman II?

This actually speaks to my entire life philosophy: I could lose any of my material possessions. I got to a place, especially with collecting, where I had to get to the core of why I wanted any of this stuff - what it really meant about me, how my ultimate being would be adjusted if I lost any of it - and I just got to a place where I'm really not connected to material things. I know that sounds silly, and this just became a lot more dramatic that I think this interview was meant to be. [Laughs] But you know, life is constantly transitional, and I've moved so much and lost so many T-Shirts and photographs that were really important. You can't cling too firmly to anything material or else you'll be unhappy.

But the piece of memorbilia from your childhood you wish you still had...

From the time I was one to five, probably, I had a full-size Grover doll that I carried all over the place. When I got to do Sesame Street and got to hold and operate the actual Grover puppet... it was kind of an indescribably emotional experience for me.

Sidestep this question about your top-secret project: What can you tell us about your upcoming two-episode arc on Heroes (starts Nov. 24)?

I wish it was more. It's a blast. It's so much fun. It's just so much fun. [Laughs] Here's what I can say: They've asked me if I would be interested in doing this as a recurring thing, and I said I want to be on Heroes as much as it takes for my character to become popular enough to warrant a 3-3/4 scale action figure. That is my blatent goal here, not just because I love the show and I'm thrilled to be a part of it, but because I recognize that it is a clear path to having a very cool toy.

A source tells us that you and Breckin Meyer play "Atlanta-based comic book nerds aficionados who cross paths with (and perhaps serve as advisors to) one of the Heroes." Now, how do you respond?

I can neither confirm nor deny either the location or the explanation of my character. [laughs] Like I said, I want to get back on that show, so I'm trying not to break any of their rules in advance of the episodes coming on. They told me not to say a thing.

The superpower you wish you had in real life:

Teleportation: I just flew back from Amsterdam. It was my first vacation of the year - four nights if it's any indication of how hard I'm working right now. I had a 10-hour flight into Dulles, a four-hour layover, and then a four-hour flight back to L.A., and I was like, Why can't I teleport?

The person you wrote a fan letter to when you were young?

I was in Atlanta doing a movie when I was about eight, and the hotel that I was staying in became the site for the Mr. T's Commandments record release party, and I could not have been a bigger Mr. T fan. The manager of the hotel let me know that Mr. T was comin; in, so I spent that entire day drawing a picture of Mr. T and writing notes on it, and then I got to meet him. In the midst of his record release party, surrounded by all those presumably important people connected to him, he spent at least half an hour with me. It really speaks to his character that he was far more interested in connecting with a kid then he was at being celebrated at his own relase party. I got to give him that picture, and I don't know if it was true, but he told me he was gonna put it up in his trailer, and it meant the world to me. It kinda set the tone for the way I try to interact with people, too.

The first celebrity you actually befriended:

I started acting when I was really young, and I stayed friends with some people but that actually stuck? Does Breckin [Meyer] count? [Laughs] We met when we were teenagers and we were auditioning for all the same s--- and we never had any competition between us even though we were always up for the same stuff. We just became fast friends because we were so similiar in our philosphies and our personalities.

The person you're most often mistaken for:

Two, actually. People always ask me if I'm Jamie Kennedy, and they always ask me if I'm Bud Bundy [David Faustino]. The funny thing is, I've known Jamie for f---ing ever, and I've known David since he was doing the first season of Married... With Children when I was doing the end of The Facts of Life. I don't really take it in anyway. Like, it's not a compliment or an insult; it's just sort of fact. Sometimes I don't even bother [to correct people]. People are like, "Hey, dude, we love you on Married... With Children," I'm like, "Thanks, Bro." A lot of times, when people are shoutin' at you in the street, it's best not to take it any further.

Something you always wanted to buy but were just too embarrassed to:

When I was younger, I had that same awkwardness that comes with anybody when you're trying to buy condoms, but I quickly realized that the implication of buying condoms is that you're having sex, which is ultimately pretty cool. So when you put those condoms down on the counter, look the checker in the eye, and if he or she gives you a look that makes you feel embarrassed, just remind yourself you're buying these 'cause you're havin' sex.

A public service announcement from Seth Green, ladies and gentlemen.

Well, I don't know if that's a PSA, per se, but it does enforce the notion of safe sex as a rule. [Laughs]

The most wrong thing you've done on film:

I've done a lot of silly s--- on film, let's be honest now. The worst is this unaired NERF slingshot commercial. Jay Leno aired it the last time I was on his show, and it showed up on YouTube, and I've got a very unfortunate haircut in it. It was unaired because the commercial had two teenagers firing a slingshot in a public mall, knocking a mime into a fountain, and pushing girls off an escalator, and I think the client was like, "I don't know if we really want to encourage kids to got to a public place and shoot strangers." So they reshot the whole thing in a backyard. I got cut. I told ya that haircut was really unfortunate.

Your position on karaoke:

I like karaoke. I tend to do more rap or, like, musical rap, than singing because I'm not really a good singer. At the Sex Drive premiere, they had karaoke at the after party. Because it had become so warm in the room, I did Nelly's "Hot in Here." I'd be shocked if there's not a video of it, because it was a public event. I had this moment, where I was like, Oh gosh, someone is definitely filming this, and then I just said, Well, at least I f---in' killed it. If someone's gonna tape it, you better crush it. That's the point.

[We could not find a video of it. Boo.]

The awesomely bad movie you must watch anytime you spot it on cable:

[1989's] Dream a Little Dream is a movie that has beend widely regarded as a bad film because it missed creatively, but bear in mind Jason Robards is in that movie and not by accident. That movie was right at the height of those boys' popularity, when they could've done anything, and what they attempted to do was something a little out of the ordinary, a little strange and mystical and potentially supernatural and time-bending, and stylistically so different from any of the things they'd done before. There are some scenes in that, regardless of what I'm doing, I will be captivated by. And you have never seen a more attractive leading actress than Meredith Salenger in that movie.

Your best communal moviegoing experience:

I saw Showgirls opening night, and everybody realized at exactly the same moment that the movie was not, in fact, a hot sexy thriller starring Elizabeth Berkley licking a stripper pole, but was, in fact, a movie where you were gonna see Kyle MacLachlan with a visible hard on and have Glenn Pulmmer explore Elizabeth Berkley's pants for proof of her being on her period. I can actually describe it to you. Do you remember the first five minutes of the movie? She's on the road, and she gets picked up as a hitchhiker, and then the guy tires to put the moves on her, she pulls out a switchblade and puts it underneath his chin and says, "Chill!" Okay, right then. Right then it's whisper-quiet in the theater, I hear, "What the f---?!" The entire audience just sort of titters with laughter...