Hey, everyone. Capone here. If the phrase, "I'm gonna dip my balls in it" means anything to you, then you probably know Ken Marino. Without doing an official count, I believe Ken has probably gotten the most TV and film acting gigs of all his fellow cast members since his stint on MTV's sketch comedy show "The State." (including extended runs on such shows as "Men Behaving Badly," "Dawson's Creek," "Charmed," and most recently on "Veronica Mars.") This year alone, he's managed to get two of his original screenplays made into films as well: DIGGERS and the recently released THE TEN, in both of which Marino co-stars with his good buddy Paul Rudd, whom I also interviewed recently.
This interview was conducted literally minutes after my conversation with Rudd. In fact, I think Marino was trying to call me while I was on the phone with Rudd, and I couldn't pick up. So I need to preface this interview by thanking Ken for being so patient. He's Ken Marino…
Capone: Hey, Ken.
Ken Marino: Ain’t It Cool News!
C: That’s right.
KM: What’s happening?
C: I apologize for the phone being busy, but I was on the phone with Paul Rudd, so…
KM: Oh, dude.
C: And, I’m actually not in Chicago today; I'm staying with family on the East Coast this week.
KM: Oh, how’s that going?
C: It’s wonderful as always.
KM: Are they cooking anything for you?
C: No, no…
KM: What?
C: Well, not right now, no. I’m sure that you really don't want to hear this, but the bottom line is, there's no Call Waiting, so that’s why you were probably getting a busy signal.
KM: Does she have a rotary-dial phone?
C: No, no. It’s one of those that you pull out of the wall and you put up to your ear and you talk into the little horn. It’s one of those.
KM: [Laughs] Wow, like ‘Murray Hill 7-5-5-4’.
C: That’s right. Exactly…So, I gotta ask something about THE TEN, because I don’t really often read press notes, but I had a set for THE TEN with me, and I was flipping through them on the plane here. I read that this film was somehow inspired by THE DECALOGUE. Please tell me that’s true.
KM: Yeah, well, [cowriter] David [Wain] saw THE DECALOGUE, and he suggested that we rip it off completely, except…
C: It feels like a rip-off, too.
KM:…except we make it shorter and funnier.
C: It’s almost embarrassing how much of a rip-off it is.
KM: [laughs] Yeah, I mean, it’s line for line DECALOGUE. We took the best lines from THE DECALOGUE, and then…We translated them into English, and then we just put them in the movie.
C: I own a copy of THE DECALOGUE, so I cherish those films immensely. But, certainly the intertwining stories is Kieslowski-esque.
KM: Uh-huh.
C: So, is it my imagination, or is every single person…it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an episode of “The State,” but it seems like every single person who was in that show is in this movie.
KM: Every member of the “The State” is represented in THE TEN, that's right.
C: That is truly awesome. I love that show, and I still…when I see somebody from the show in a movie, I’m, like, ‘That person was in the “The State”.’
KM: Oh, thank you. Well, you know, the whole season…all four seasons are coming out, the complete MTV series is coming out on DVD.
C: Finally.
KM: In October or November.
C: That’s great. That’s really great. Now, of all the people in that cast--I haven’t really checked this anywhere--it seems to me that you probably have the most acting credits to your name in both comedies and dramas, TV and movies, I mean, I see you everywhere. And, you have the most handsome headshot on imdb.com, too, just so you know.
KM: [Laughs]
C: So, you’ve got all this acting work. What is it that has finally pushed you into getting some of your writing out there? And just writing in general, why has that become an important thing?
KM: I think when “The State” kind of stopped generating enough money for us to kind of stay together, we all kind of broke off and started figuring out, okay, now what do we do to pay our bills? Acting was always something that I wanted to do, prior to even the work that we were doing in “The State” when we were in college. I just always wanted to be an actor, so I needed to kind of, I guess, prove something to myself that I could support myself as an actor. So, that’s what I focused on right after “The State” ended.
But, after a while, I started getting the writing bug again. And, you know, “The State” has always had a very friendly competitive nature about it, and so I saw that Tom [Lennon] and Ben [Garant] were writing stuff, and [Michael Ian] Black and [Michael] Showalter and David, and different people were writing. So, I was, like, well, I should get back to writing. I want to write something. I want to write a screenplay. And, so I started writing a screenplay, and the screenplay wound up being DIGGERS. I don’t know if you’ve seen it.
C: Love DIGGERS.
KM: Oh, thank you. So it became kind of a more personal story. It wasn’t, like, a big broad comedy. Then, I just started kind of getting together with Mike Black and Joe Lo Truglio and Dave Wain, and David and I kind of set aside a chunk of time, and we wrote something. I just started enjoying it again.
And, the other reason I guess I started doing that is I had a kind of mini-epiphany when I was lucky enough to be part of WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, which was, that’s why I kind of chose to be in this industry. The reason I chose to be in this industry is so I could work with people I had a good time with, and I could be creative, and I could laugh, and I can enjoy myself. And, that kind of stopped when I was out in L.A. Not that all the jobs were shitty, ’cause a lot of them were great and a lot of fun, but all that was work, and I guess it wasn’t ultimately as fulfilling as creating your own stuff and working with people that you admire and you respect and you love and you have a history with.
And, again, there are people that I’ve worked with in L.A. who I admire and I love, but I’m either hired as just an actor or, you know…you’re not as invested in it long-term. You show up, you do your job, and you try to do it as best you can, but it’s not your baby. There’s something much more fulfilling when it’s your baby.
C: I was going to get into DIGGERS later, but since you brought it up…It did feel like a very personal film.
KM: It was.
C: Where in there is your entry point into that story?
KM: The time and the place. That’s where I grew up, and that was the time. That stuff was happening when I was a kid. Cliché as it sounds, they say ‘Write what you know,’ and so I did. I wrote kind of what I remembered from back then. So, that’s the connection to it, that’s the personal connection to it.
C: I guess the other obvious question, after watching THE TEN, is, Will you ever make a movie that doesn’t involve Paul Rudd in some way? Hopefully, not, but…
KM: That’s what I was saying. Paul Rudd is, in my opinion, like the new member of “The State.” He’s kind of like the Oliver to our Brady Bunch. He’s one of the crew, so I don’t know…I mean, hopefully not, because, like I was saying, I hope to make films with the people I respect and admire, and the people that make me laugh. And, he’s one of those people.
C: In terms of casting for THE TEN, and I should thank you in advance for finally acknowledging the homoerotic undertones of the Ten Commandments…
KM: [Laughs]
C: In view of the role that you play in the film, did you ever feel it was right to put any other actor but yourself through the crap that your character goes through in this movie?
KM: You know, I felt like if I’m going to ask Winona Ryder to fuck a puppet or, like, Gretchen Mol to have a love affair with kind of a sleazy Jesus, the least I can do is get anally raped by Rob Corddry.
C: I can’t remember the term ‘ass rape’ being used more in any other movie. Even in anal porn, I don’t think they use the term ‘ass rape’ that much.
KM: Yeah, usually in those films it’s such ‘loving affection,’ right?
C: Yeah, exactly. And, that’s the funniest thing about the scene: the dialog is so soap opera. But, in the context of a prison, it’s just…I don’t even know how to explain it!
KM: I remember saying to David that he wanted me to do my “Dawson’s Creek” acting.
C: I was going to ask you about that, too, because obviously you’ve done lots and lots of TV. But, I think, a lot of people…our readers probably would remember you for your sort of extended stays on “Dawson’s Creek” and certainly “Veronica Mars.” Do you have a favorite TV experience? Is there a show that you love that you were cast on?
KM: One of the better experiences in L.A. among the recurring characters that I played or the series that I’ve done is “Veronica Mars,” because I just like their writing, and they wrote a fun character for me. And, I wasn’t just playing, like, the ‘nice guy’ boyfriend, you know, so I had something to do. I had some fun stuff to do. And, Rob Thomas is just a really smart guy, a really funny guy, and so I always liked being on that show.
“Dawson’s Creek” was always fun just because, you know, I get to go out to North Carolina and hang out, then do a scene with Katie Holmes, and then hang out and eat oysters, I guess, which was nice. And, it got me out of L.A. But, they gave you a mouthful of stuff to say on “Dawson’s Creek.” I didn’t like that. I don’t like memorizing lines.
But, I’ll tell you, the one thing that…for some reason, I can’t forget it…I still remember my first big speech of “Dawson’s Creek”…Hey, you know what, oh wait, now see I’m going to not remember it now, hold on.…I forgot it. Never mind.
C: I was looking forward to it.
KM: David walked in the room just now. I got thrown off.
C: You mentioned Winona Ryder before. Did you have to make certain that she had read the script in terms of which character she was playing, because…
KM: It was not…We didn’t ask her to do it because of her history, and that was just a coincidence, actually. But, it is a good coincidence.
C: Wait. What do you mean her history?
KM: Apparently, a couple of years ago…she took something. [In THE TEN, she steals a ventriloquist's dummy and has a torrid affair with it.]
C: Oh, that. I didn’t even think about that. I thought maybe there had been some scandal she's had with a puppet or something.
KM: No, no. Actually, that’s what I meant, A couple of years ago, she fucked a puppet.
C: Okay, I didn’t remember reading about that, but I'll take your word on that. It is certainly one of her most erotic on-screen love scenes, though.
KM: Sexy, right?
C: Yeah, oh yeah. Hey, if you can get her in a bra, I’m there, man, that’s fine by me.
KM: Great, I hope you and a million other young boys want to see her in a bra enough to pay for tickets.
C: I assume, like many newer writers, you have screenplays that have yet to be produced. What are those like?
KM: Well, David and I wrote something that I’m excited about. But, no, my first two screenplays did get produced. It’s kind of unusual and weird. I acknowledge how lucky I am that that happened, because I know that’s very, very unusual.
C: I thought I had read somewhere that you had done a horror script?
KM: Yes, I did write that. Joe Lo Truglio and I wrote a horror movie. I think that was after I wrote THE TEN, though. Actually, that’s unproduced, but that’s a straightforward horror movie.
C: Do you find that people are coming to you now that these two films have been well received and saying, ‘Hey, have you got anything else?’
KM: Not so much, I mean, you know, THE TEN hasn’t come out yet, and DIGGERS--although it was pretty much liked and did well critically, it got good reviews, and the critics seemed to like it for the most part--it wasn’t like MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING or anything. It didn’t make an enormous amount of money, so if that were the case, I’m sure people would be, like, ‘Oh, hey, where’s your next script?” But, that just wasn’t the case. And, then THE TEN hasn’t come out yet, so hopefully…David and I are working on a script right now, and Paul’s listed for this movie that David’s directing that Paul’s in--kind of a bigger Hollywood movie, but it wasn’t an idea that we created. We just kind of came in, and we’re doing our pass of it.
C: So, this is another script? Somebody else’s script?
KM: Yeah, somebody else’s script that Dave is directing. We’re doing our take on it or our pass of it.
C: And, it’s something Paul has signed on to do?
KM: Yeah.
C: What’s that called? Can you tell me?
KM: BIG BROTHERS, I think, right now. [The reason I seem confused by this is that in my research for my Paul Rudd interview, the director of BIG BROTHERS is listed as Luke Greenfield, so at this point, I was unaware that Wain was now the director.]
C: With the sort of anthological nature of THE TEN—I hope I used that word right…
KM: If you did, I wouldn’t know, because I’m still trying to figure out what it means.
C: It makes me wonder…were you able to shoot it, maybe, over a longer period as actors were available? I don’t know why I’m curious about this, but it feels like anytime you're working a series of short stories that you can revisit it, if an actor’s not available.
KM: You're right, it was a very hard movie to schedule with all these actors. It was like this kind of advanced puzzle that we were constantly trying to piece together, because we only had Liev [Schreiber] for three days here or Oliver [Platt] for these two days. We had to figure out how to move people around. And, Jon Stern, our producer, did an amazing job with that, making sure that everybody…you know, that we were able to shoot everybody. But, it was really complicated to do that stuff. It actually wasn’t easier, it was tough. But, I mean, I think that’s one of the reasons we were able to get actors of such high caliber, these well-known, well-respected actors. They were able to kind of commit to two, three, four days, and so it was easier to get those people, like Liev and Oliver and Famke [Janssen] and Winona and a bunch of those, you know?
C: It’s an incredible cast, when you really look at the names. Granted, a lot of them are only in one scene or in for a couple of minutes, but still, they obviously saw something in the script that they liked.
KM: Yeah, it’s kind of a crazy cast, but, you know what I like about it…It’s not like a lot of movies where they’re, like, ‘Oh, this person is in it’, and they have literally just a tiny little cameo. Most of those big names have some story line, you what I mean? There is a story about them, or they’re an essential part of that story. And so, we were very lucky in that sense.
C: They’re not, like, a hot-dog vendor in the background, or something, yeah. What was it that made you think that all of what THE TEN is about needed to be summed up in a rock-opera-like musical number?
KM: We just thought it would be funny to have a big finale, kind of like THE LAST WALTZ, like an ’80s rock video, early MTV. We thought that would be fun, to kind of sum up what you just saw for 90 minutes, just in case you forgot, we’re going to sum it up and bring all these characters back, and they’re going to tell you exactly what you saw for the last 90 minutes. And, then if you still didn’t get it, there’s going to be a rap song that sums it up for you. And, if you still didn’t get it…
C: I was going to ask you…Were those all different versions of the ending song, or did you just write three different songs that summed up the film?
KM: We just thought it was funny that each song was just celebrating the last 90 minutes that you saw.
C: I don’t remember if it was while “The State” was still on MTV, or maybe it was just after, I remember hearing these stories--the fact that I even remember it is kind of remarkable--that there was always this thing between the cast members that even if the show wasn’t on anymore that you all would still always make an effort to work together and pull each other into projects that you were able to get off the ground. Was that true? It certainly seems like that’s what you’re doing.
KM: We’re all very good friends with each other and have remained that way. And, I think, we all respect each other as performers and comedians. So, I think that it would be a disservice to anything we were working on to not bring in other members of “The State.” I’d like to think that, on some level, everybody in “The State” thinks that way. I know David does.
C: To me, more than anyone I know who is familiar with “The State” and liked it as much as I did…THE TEN is going to be kind of like the full circle, like, finally, they’re all back together in the same movie, or in the same anything. And, it’s just kind of nice.
KM: Well, we all did have little cameos in RENO 911: MIAMI. But, I feel like this is a little bit more substantial. There are characters who play bigger parts, and everybody’s kind of spread out through the entire movie a little bit more. But, I think, hopefully, we haven’t come full circle yet, because I think full circle would be a pure movie [of “The State”].
C: Well, that’s true.
KM: A boy can dream, can’t he?
C: THE TEN does have some of those sort of sketch-comedy elements. Again, because it’s sort of an anthology, it does sort of feel like these little sketches spread out over these 10 stories. So, even the feel of it is…maybe it’s more sophisticated than what was going on at MTV, but it still has that feel to it.
KM: The original concept was it was going to be a project for just “The State.” Basically, a while ago, David had this idea, and he assigned everybody a commandment, and we were going to see if each person could bring something in, and that’s how we were going to do a “State” movie. Because, logistically, it’s really impossible. We’re very difficult with half the group on the East Coast, half the group on the West Coast, and everybody’s working on different things, so we thought that might be a way to do it. And, that didn’t pan out. So then, when Dave and I were writing, when we locked ourselves in a room for, like, seven days to write whatever first draft we were going to write, this idea came back up. I suggested, after a day of banging out a different outline for a different story, which we weren’t happy with, I said, “Why don’t we write THE TEN, and so we did.”
C: Well, thank God for Kieslowski. That’s all I have to say.
KM: Amen to that guy. And, he is hysterical, by the way.
C: He always cracked me up.
KM: Yeah, he kills me.
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