[IMG:L]Dane Cook might be a king in the comedy world, but when it comes to the big screen he’s still working his way up the food chain. That would explain why the comic turned actor submitted a video of himself in character to try and nab a part in the new thriller Mr. Brooks. “It is kind of the kiss of death,” he admits. “It normally is just a slow painful death because you really just want to meet the producers and talk about your take on the character…but I did it, I went on tape.”
Luckily the tactic worked and Cook proudly remembers getting the call. “You did it kid, you’re in the flick,” he says jokingly of being offered the part that had him pacing and reading the script out loud.
Cook costars alongside Kevin Costner, William Hurt and Demi Moore in the serial killer flick about a man addicted to murder and a witness, played by Cook, who tries to blackmail him.
Hollywood.com: I read that you wanted to step into more dramatic roles, have you ever done anything this dark?
Dane Cook: I did do a short film about five years earlier called Spiral which I would say is on par as far as darkness. It is something I had written and produced. It served two purposes. One on a selfish or promotional level, like let me show people what I can do. Let me show people that it is more than just stand up comedy and the only way I’m going to have that is to do it myself because no one trusts that I can do it. So there is that, then there is that creative side, if you are using the left side of your brain, like I’ve been doing [with] stand up for 17 years I need to explore other things, whether it is doing a voiceover for this other movie I’m doing or this theater project I have coming up. I just want to be able to challenge myself…I can perform in front of 20,000 people at Boston Garden and I’m like “I know how to do this, this is what I do.” I want to be a little scared.
HW: Like Michael Jordan trying to play golf?
DC: Yeah, exactly or … I shouldn’t compare it to baseball. That’s not the best example to use [laughs]. God, he sucked.
HW: As a comedian you get to develop your own material. What was it like doing a project where you couldn’t do your own thing?
DC: I would say 95 percent of the time you are exactly right…The other 5 percent were scenes with Kevin, there is a scene where…we just started improvising together in the car and Kevin was just so open and available to that and really encouraged that. I remember punching the seat and really trying to get myself to a place…honestly you could do that and feel embarrassed in front of certain actors where you have them look at you and go “What’s going on here?” Kevin was like “Do that man, do that line.”
[IMG:R]HW: William Hurt plays Mr. Brooks’ alter ego in the movie, how did you ignore him when you had scenes together?
DC: You can’t ignore William Hurt. He’s William f*cking Hurt you know?…I’m not a method person even though I like to research…I finally figured it out, I was like “Ok, this is what I need to do.” And once I got into this rhythm I lost him, I lost William Hurt…and then he did this thing one day where he walked up to me the second day of shooting and he [put his hand on my arm] off screen and it was like “Ahhh!” it was kind of weird because I was so used to not having him in my life or in my peripheral or whatever. I just remember he said something really encouraging, he said something like “I shouldn’t say this to you right now because we are doing this, but you are doing really great.” I just went home and called my whole family to say “William Hurt just told me I’m doing really great and he really meant it”…He’s got like the Force, you know what I mean? He could like flick me out of scene if he wanted to…Kevin’s got that same way and even Demi, these are like the elite and it was my job, and I’m a confident guy and I knew why they were bringing me in and I knew I could hang, but I also knew…I was going to have to shut the f*ck up and really listen and learn and I did that everyday.
HW: There was a line in the movie where Hurt says he still wouldn’t like you even if you were charming. Was that always in the movie or was he playing off your personality?
DC: William’s line was always in there. It is interesting because people who do know me, when I brought a few of my closest friends to see an early screening of the movie, my best friend…turned to me, right at that part and said “I f*cking hate you. I really do.” It was like the best compliment I’ve ever received. It was like “Alright then I did something right.”
HW: Your career has really taken off in the last few years. What has the transition been like for you?
DC: Who knew with stand up comedy that I would be able to do that? I had a hope that this vehicle would lead me to everything. Maybe with comedy I can bash down all the doors and do all kinds of stuff, but that’s up to the movie Gods and the audience to go, “yeah, we’d like to see you do that.” And when I started to get the nod from my fans and then some scripts that were actually appealing came in. I was like “I’m not going to push, I’m going to go with the flow and if this is what I’m meant to do now then I’m going to do this for the rest of my life and if not, I’m going to create something somewhere behind the scenes.” Wherever I’m meant to be I’ll just eat it up and I enjoy the hell out of it. I’m not going to lie to you, I love my job and I love the art of comedy and I love doing these movies and I hope I get to do a lot more.
[IMG:L]HW: Mr. Brooks cruises for victims – is there anyone you would look for if you were him? You know, like hecklers?
DC: I love hecklers, because hecklers remind you you’re a comedian. I’ve always said that even though yes, they throw off the whole tempo and rhythm and sometimes cut right into the middle of a bit that you‘re like “oh, I was really just right there.” I guess I’ve always been that anti-cynical type person. In the back of my brain I’m thinking this guy is yelling out because I’m a f*cking stand up comic. This is what I do. It is like the coolest thing ever. So no I wouldn’t go after hecklers. I would go after some club owners that treated me like a douche bag.
HW: What are you working on now?
DC: I’m getting ready to do another film with Lions Gate. Kind of a dark comedy called Bachelor Number Two. We’re filming that in July, so we are casting it now…It is a comedy, but I’m playing a real prick who has no emotional attachment to anything, so it is just a different side of my comedy. Where Good Luck Chuck has a lot of physicality and charisma I guess, this is a guy, his name’s Tank he has to roll over everybody. He has no filter. It is almost like how you would treat a heckler on any given night. Anybody who he experiences in his life he’s just going to go for the weak point…So I look forward to getting in and playing somebody who’s not like me.
HW: Will you still make time for stand up?
DC: I’ll do stand up tonight if I can. Stand up comedy, that’s my baby.
