CS Weekly Archive > From the Trenches > 8/28/09

Save the (Bob)cat:
World's Greatest Dad's Bobcat Goldthwait

BY JENELLE RILEY

He told us Why He Writes in the new issue of Creative Screenwriting. Now Jenelle Riley goes in depth with Bobcat Goldthwait about his career, his transition to writing and directing, and his new comedy, World's Greatest Dad.

The first thing that you notice about Bobcat Goldthwait is that you almost don't notice him at all. A quiet, unassuming man dressed neatly in shades of beige, he wears thick, black-framed framed glasses and a natty plaid cap. He seems to choose his words carefully, rarely raising his voice above a low register. He seems to be struggling to make eye contact, not because he's distracted but because he's…shy?

Hard to believe this is the same comedian who spent most of the 1980s screaming at audiences in a voice he describes as "Elmo on crack," his face painted heavy with mascara and wearing clothing almost as outrageously loud as his voice. But Goldthwait, star of such misfires as Burglar and Hot to Trot (although, to be fair, he was quite good in Scrooged and Police Academy 2), is actually pretty funny. He has spent the last few years carving out a career as a writer and director, and with his latest film, the dark comedy/drama World's Greatest Dad, he stands to reach his biggest audience yet.

Goldthwait really began as an auteur with his 1991 cult film Shakes the Clown, which he wrote, directed, and starred in as an alcoholic clown. He admits that people weren't lining up after that to hire him as a director. "I don't blame them," he admits. "I had created this image of a crazy, unpredictable man-child. And even though that's not really me, that's what they saw." He was able to score directing gigs for television thanks to his friend Jimmy Kimmel, who hired him for The Man Show and The Jimmy Kimmel Show, and also got him to helm the mock documentary Windy City Heat.

Goldthwait took matters into his own hands for his 2006 flick Sleeping Dogs Lie. The film opens with the college-aged Amy (Melinda Page Hamilton) committing a sex act on her dog. Though it's handled as tastefully as such a scene can be, you can forgive people who lost interest in the film after that point. But those who actually saw it were treated with a warm romantic comedy when, in later years, Amy has to face the consequences of revealing the infidelity to her fiancé. The film takes a raunchy premise and ends up asking big questions about love and honesty.

But it wasn't easy to get the movie done. Goldthwait shot the film in under two weeks, mostly at friends' houses, using actors he found through an open call and a crew he located on Craigslist. He was terrified of losing his actors. "I was afraid someone would get to Melinda and tell her not to do the film," he says. "Actually, someone did. But she stuck with it. She said from the beginning that she had visions of the film playing Sundance, and I didn't want to tell her no one would ever see this. Then we got into Sundance."

Sleeping Dogs Lie earned mostly positive reviews at the festival, and Goldthwait was surprised to learn that it wasn't the salacious premise most people talked about. Rather, it was a scene where Amy is about to make love to her new boyfriend, Ed, and he tries to hide his stomach, saying he's fat. Amy tenderly kisses his belly. Goldthwait was surprised at the reaction the scene received. "You don't know when you're making something, the things people will relate to," he notes. "I have that stand-up's mentality of always trying to get a laugh. But it's the little tiny things that seem to click with humans."

One person who cites that scene as their favorite is Robin Williams, Goldthwait's close friend of 30 years. Williams had done a cameo in Shakes the Clown and thought he might do something similar to help his friend out when he asked to read the script for World's Greatest Dad. He ended up wanting to play the lead of Lance Clayton, a down-on-his-luck poetry teacher trying to raise an ungrateful 15-year-old son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara). Not unlike Sleeping Dogs, the film begins with some hilarious but offensive scenes as Kyle is caught choking himself while masturbating, before going on to spout lewd comments to girls at his high school and spy on the elderly neighbor undressing. Mostly, Kyle just crudely abuses his father, as a resigned Lance takes it. But when a sudden tragedy occurs, Lance finds he can exploit the opportunity to change his life.

Goldthwait admits he often finds himself in his characters. In the case of Ed in Sleeping Dogs Lie, he says, "I felt bad for the actor because about halfway through, I realized he was playing me. A better-looking version of me, mind you, but me. And the person playing you sort of gets micromanaged. About a day or two into World's Greatest Dad, Robin said, 'Oh, I get it. I'm you.' That's all these movies are—therapy."

When an idea strikes Goldthwait, he takes off for a chain motel and spends the next few days writing. Both Sleeping Dogs and Dad were written in under a week. Asked if he encounters writer's block, Goldthwait pauses. "I definitely do, but I think even when I'm not writing, I'm writing," he states. "I'm constantly thinking about ideas or working out scenes in my mind that later end up on the page. So I try not to beat myself up when I hit a wall." On the set, he is open to improvisation and making split-second decisions—a skill he says he picked up doing live TV. In a pivotal scene in Dad, Lance goes on a talk show to exploit a personal tragedy and breaks down, not only crying, but laughing uncontrollably. It was scripted with only the tears, but wasn't working on set. "I told Robin to go for the big lie and let the absurdity and the tragedy of the situation hit him at once," Goldthwait reveals. "After the scene, I realized I had never seen anything like that before. It was true and wonderful."

Goldthwait also creates a comfortable environment on set by working with good friends, such as Tom Kenny (the voice of "Spongebob Squarepants"), who has appeared in all his films. "Tom says I have a very juvenile approach where I'm like, 'I'm going to make a movie and you're all going to be in it!' Like a little kid," Goldthwait says with a laugh. "The difference is, I actually do it." And to keep levity on set, he always wears a silly hat while directing. "It's hard to yell at someone when you're in a coonskin cap," he reasons. "You just look like a douchebag."

Goldthwait has several ideas for future projects, including one about a serial killer. He isn't completely sure what his future entails, but he does know what he doesn't want. "I'm not interested in making studio movies," he says, simply. "I want to make small, personal films. That said; I do want to try other things. But mainly, I just hope to keep making movies and I hope to keep challenging myself."



Jenelle Riley is an L.A.-based writer. She can already tell you that World's Greatest Dad will make her year-end best-of list.



Bobcat Goldthwait, World's Greatest Dad courtesy Magnolia Pictures

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