Bobcat Goldthwait: The Mr. Skin Interview

The premise of Sleeping Dogs Lie is in keeping with the exotic nature of your other film projects. Are they all of a piece?

My goal is to make all different kinds of movies. I just finished writing a horror movie. I'll use drug usage and nudity, as long as it's a part of the story. The brother in Sleeping Dogs smokes meth, but it's used as a pivotal plot point in the movie. If it makes sense, I don't have a problem with it. That's also why my ass shows up in the movie, but something tells me I won't find it on Mr. Skin.

Why the career change to directing?

It was a combination of a lot of things. I got really burnt on the road doing stand-up. I started when I was fifteen, and there I was in my early forties still doing it. There's a living doing that, but I felt like I was in Groundhog Day, doing it over and over again. I started directing for Kimmel, and there were a few times I said no to a stand-up gig.

When people act, you have to get the part, and there can be a lot of disappointment. I don't want to live like everybody else in show business. It's a gambler's mentality. People tell themselves, "Maybe this time it will hit."

Also, I lost my need to perform the same time people lost the need to hire me. But that could just be a coincidence.

People must still recognize you from Police Academy. (Picture: 1) Are you haunted by characters from your past?

It doesn't bother me. When someone brings it up, they're so excited. It's hard to be in a mood when you see how excited they are, but they don't realize that I've had the same conversation three times already that week. I try to be polite and show enthusiasm, but I have to admit it's like running into people you knew from twenty years ago who just want to talk about stuff that happened in high school.

That happened a lot to me when I did stand-up. Not only is it like Groundhog Day, but it's like the SNL sketch "The Chris Farley Show." People will come up to me and be all, "Um, you remember when you were in that movie?" Yeah. I do.

How do you feel about that?

I like what I'm doing now a lot, and all that stuff got me where I'm at. It's strange. I'm a part of this brainless footnote in popular culture. Occasionally people [in the business] will sniff around for primetime '80s comedians to host game shows and reality-TV shows. I do get the call every once in a while, but my answer's no. I don't put down the guys who do it, but if I was hosting "Who's Your Daddy?" or whatever the fuck show, with people coming up to me the next day saying "he shouldn't have won last night" that would be hell on earth.

If I had known that twenty years later people would still come up to me about Police Academy, I would have worked harder at it.

Well, you're certainly working hard on projects now. What about Sleeping Dogs Lie? For one, why the name change from its original title, Stay?

The title changed because of Marc Forster's movie that came out a year before. I like the first title better, but what with the freedom of making a movie with no budget, I had very little to compromise. So I can live with it.

What happened with Sleeping Dogs's theatrical release?

Actually, the movie hit 200 theaters in France in March. When it released last year in New York and L.A., it didn't do any box office even for a small release. The marketing people gauge on that, I think. I also understand that this movie is about a woman who blows a dog, it's directed by the dude from Police Academy, and has no stars. That's one of the reasons I made a horror movie. That's one genre people don't necessarily go to see the marquee names.

Why the dog blowjob? Were you considering other depraved scenarios, or did this one just pop into your head?

That was the one thing I came up with that didn't involve another person. If someone else was involved, I'd have to write that character in too. So I just stayed in the realm of tasteful bestiality.

Since we're on such a titillating subject, do you have an all-time-favorite sexy movie star?

I'm realizing now that I must have had something for Sandy Duncan, because she shows up in a lot of Disney movies that really shaped me as a kid, like The Million Dollar Duck. I just bought the DVD the other day, and I remember, as a kid, I thought she was really hot.

How does your comedy background affect your work as a director?

I especially like working with comedians. I relate. People are afraid of comedians. They ad-lib a lot, and directors are threatened by that. If I can make them feel comfortable on camera, that makes me feel good. I'll even encourage the ad-libbing. Then the network asks, "How come you didn't shoot the script?" So I try to be a buffer for comedians and protect them.

Your feature films have definitely manifested a cult audience. Do you really believe this will never turn into something bigger for you?

Seriously, my movies make hundreds of dollars, but if I keep trucking along, hopefully I'll have a bunch of movies made and not have the pressure of being in the limelight.

All the things I've done are under the radar. The people that do know them are fans. They're passionate, whether they like the movie or not. I get straight answers from them when I see them on the street. That's pretty awesome.

Do you expect more confrontations about Sleeping Dogs Lie?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. If they want to be in my face about it, that's fine. I just hope the people who weren't able to get into theaters will now be able to check it out now that it's on DVD.