I just died and landed in comedy heaven. Seriously. I got to talk to one of the funniest dudes from my later childhood, stand-up comedian, writer, producer, and actor Jamie Kennedy. You may know him from the Scream franchise, his comedy hidden camera show, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, or my personal favorite, Malibu’s Most Wanted. I mean, seriously, that movie is comedy GOLD, and I still quote it to this day. If I’m paying someone a compliment, I will still say, “Guuuuuurl, you a cross between Martha Stewart and Oprah. I’m gon call you Motrah!!” And although not everyone gets my joke, I chortle a little inside and throw down some sick rhymes in my head, as B-Rad from Malibu would do!
Currently, Jamie is killing it in the film world. With two horror films out right now, Tremors 5 and The Sand, he is firmly planting his feet in the world of low budget, tongue in cheek horror films (my favorite kind). I was absolutely ecstatic, when I got a one on one interview with the man himself:
Cat: Hey Jamie! It’s so great to speak to you!
Jamie: It’s great to speak to you as well.
Cat: I have to tell you, that I’m a HUGE fan. I still quote Malibu’s Most Wanted!
Jamie: (as B-Rad) Mali-beezy fo Shee-zy!
Cat: SHUT UP!!!! That’s the BEEEEST! I’m just going to jump right into it. What’s your process for choosing films now, and how has that changed since you first started?
Jamie: I just look and see […] what I like. I knew that Tremors would have a lot of people talking about it, and it hasn’t had a movie in 14 years. I knew that Universal was going to get behind it, and so I thought it would be a really cool thing to be involved in. You know, I think that this [Tremors 5] has reinvigorated the franchise.
Cat: You had a lot of motor biking work. Did you do your own stunts for Tremors 5?
Jamie: Just the flips.
Cat: (laughing) Just the flips? Not driving on the straight trail? That’s too dangerous!
Jamie: Yeah. (laughs) No, I had a LOOOOOOT of help. It was the most physical movie I’ve ever done. I had running doubles, shooting doubles. I had motorcycle bike doubles. But I definitely did some running and jumping and stuff. But we were each six stuntmen deep in that thing. It was great. They were awesome. They [stunt men and women] made the movie.
Cat: I loved Tremors 5 and The Sand was great, although I wish that you had been in it more. You were honestly the best part. But I want to ask more about you as an artist. Are you writing anything? I miss The Jamie Kennedy Experiment and stuff like Malibu’s Most Wanted.
Jamie: Well, sometimes you take parts in movies. You get parts in good movies sometimes. You try to make the best decisions. But I wanna make my own stuff, like I did. I’m gonna do a show, it’s coming out on NBC in February called Heartbeat. It’s kind of a Grey’s Anatomy kind of thing. So, I’m excited about that. And I’m working on a Netflix special for [my] stand-up. But I have a horror movie that I’m trying to set up now. And that would go back to my early horror roots.
Cat: That was actually going to be my next question, if you would ever consider writing a horror movie or teaming up with SyFy for something. Because that seems like a match made in heaven.
Jamie: Yeah, I would definitely do that. I think there’s a lot of opportunities to do a low budget horror movie. I was looking up Jason Blum’s movies. They’re so well produced. So economically produced. That’s how I’m looking to do a low budget horror movie. And I’d like to create my own stuff. But you know how it is. Sometimes it’s hard to find funding.
Cat: Yeah, I hear ya. I have to ask a really silly question, but if I don’t, I will kick myself forever. If B-rad from Malibu could be in one monster movie like Tremors or Sharknado or DinoCroc, what would he choose and could you please give me a couple of lines?
Jamie: Oh… B-rad would probably be in Creature from the Black Lagoon. But it wouldn’t be the Black Lagoon. It would be the Malibu Lagoon. And he would say something like, “Yo, man, der’s somethin in der, but it don’t look like no FISH!”
Cat: That is awesome. That is so awesome.
Jamie: (Still as B-rad) Dat ain’t no jellyfish!
Check out this blast from the past clip from the interview:
Cat: (trying my best B-rad) Dat ain’t no jellyfish… naawwww. So, is there anything else that you would like to say?
Jamie: Just tell people to go watch Tremors 5 on Netflix. And to go and watch my show Heartbeat on NBC when it comes out in February.
Cat: It’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you.
Jamie: Thank you! Bye.
You never quite know what you’re going to get when you talk to the people that you’ve grown up with from a far on the television set. I’ll be honest that I was a little tentative to bring up Malibu’s Most Wanted, lest I get the cold shoulder and some snarky comment about how that is his past work and his newer work is much more important. I was over the moon to actually hear B-rad over my phone. Seriously awesome dude. So, everyone please check out Tremors 5, streaming now on Netflix, and stay tuned for Jamie’s newest venture Heartbeat, also starring D. L. Hugley on NBC.