American Pie star Seann William Scott has a new movie called Bad Man, and it lets the iconic actor embody a whole new kind of bad boy energy. Scott plays Bobby Gaines, a stranger who comes into a small town claiming to be part of a special task force that can help solve the local crime problem.
Joining Scott is Rob Riggle, who portrays Police Chief Sandy, an officer who quickly opens his arms, police precinct, and town to Bobby Gaines to solve all of their problems.
The Direct's Russ Milheim spoke with Bad Man stars Seann William Scott and Rob Riggle to talk about their new movie. One of the topics of conversation went to reminiscing about the wonderful Gen V star Chance Perdomo, who tragically passed away last year. The actor plays a DJ in Bad Man, a young cop part of the local task force.
"Chance always brought good energy, and he was a pleasure to work with," Riggle noted, adding that "he liked to improvise," which "made each take exciting."
Scott confirmed that Chance "improvised a lot" and that "he was so good" and "so funny." He said that the late actor was "such a bright light" and "really fantastic."
The interview with Sean William Scott and Rob Riggle can be read below. Make sure to also check out The Direct's previous interview with Bad Man director Michael Diliberti.
Cast of Bad Man on Working With the Late, Legendary Chance Perdomo
"He's Such a Bright Light..."
- The Direct: "Tragically, Chance Perdomo passed away last year. But watching this movie, he was so good and so funny, and so I just wanted to talk to you guys about just reminiscing about working with him, and what it was like to bring those scenes to life. Because I feel like I don't know if I would have been able to not laugh, because he was just so great in all those moments."
Seann William Scott: Yeah, yeah. Chance always brought good energy, and he was a pleasure to work with. And he liked to improvise. He loved to improvise, which made each take exciting. So it was fun, and it was good at it... He just had good energy,
Rob Riggle: He improvised a lot. I mean, you know, I think sometimes Mike, I'd be like, Okay, quick, go back to the dialog. But, but he was so good, he was so funny. And he's just such a bright light... He's really fantastic.
Seann William Scott & Rob Riggle on Realizing Their Characters
Each Actor Plays a Very Distinct Personality
- The Direct: "What would you say was the hardest element of your characters to realize from script to screen and through your performance?"
Seann William Scott: There's a part like, at the end, they're just totally, you know, there's a scene where my character just, with me and Johnny. And he kind of changes, and there's just—It was one of those things where it was a scene that on the page was great, but then it was like, Okay, how do I actually play this without it feeling weird, or like, you know what I mean? It's hard to explain. But, I mean, when you read them, like, I don't know, is this going to feel over dramatic?
Rob Riggle: I don't know if this sounds right or wrong, but it wasn't that hard, because it was so well written. As soon as I read the script, I was like, 'Oh, I know who this guy is.' Like, I could just tell by the vibe and the energy of what I was reading, I was like, 'I know this guy. We all know this guy.' He's kind of like, he's a positive, happy guy. He's like a soft dad, almost. But there's nothing necessarily wrong with him.
It's not like he's not a Bad Man, and he's not necessarily a 100% goof, but he's kind of a soft dad, you know, he kind of lets the guys get away with some stuff that maybe they shouldn't. But, you know, just so long as nobody's burning down the department, we're okay. We kind of had that vibe. And it was very well written. So it was easy to spot.
- The Direct: "Seann, you know, Bobby is kind of filled with obvious bad man energy, as it were, throughout, you know, the bad boy persona that you're kind of very familiar with across some of your work. Can you talk about how you approached Bobby Gaines differently to make him unique amongst what some people might already know you from?"
Scott: Well, I think it's a really different character. I mean, especially compared to most of the broad comedies that I've done. In the script, it was just already there. It was just so well written. And so it just seemed more fleshed out. I think also the movie is very different than most of the things that I've done so it, you know, there were moments where it was a bit kind of a, there's some broader comedy elements to it.
But I think just overall, because, well, it's based on a real person, and that there are so many more things that are, you know, elements that are more kind of complicated with this character, compared to the party animal guys that I've played... They're very different Bad Mans.
The Direct: "Rob, Chief Sandy is consistently bringing up his religion. How would you say his faith drives who he is as a character, andhow good he is as a as a chief of police?"
Riggle: Well, I think it goes back to that, you know, if you're comparing his faith with his, the way he conducts himself, it's probably that fatherly, Shepherd type vibe. I don't know, Chief Sandy struck me as he has a high profile, I guess, or a high-status job, but he's got a low-status vibe.
- The Direct: "There's a scene that, when I was just watching, I was like, this must have been so much fun to film, but it's in the gym, and it's like an assembly with all these kids, and everyone's just going crazy. What was that like to film?"
Riggle: That was one of my favorite days, because everybody was there, like, I didn't get to interact with some of the other cast members. But for the most part, it was a coming together of all the cast, so it was kind of a fun day to play, and then that was also a chance to just improvise a bunch of stupid stuff.
So much got cut, and rightfully so, because we went off on these ridiculous tangents that had nothing to do with the scene. But he needed us to fill time with an assembly. So we were just making up some ridiculous stuff. Yeah, I personally enjoyed that day a lot.
Scott: Same here. I felt it was great because I kind of got to sit back and just watch the magic. I didn't have a whole lot to do in that... I get to just watch them all improvise and have fun. And then it was just fun to also watch the kids in their seats, the actual real kids react to the crazy shit that they were saying. I think there were moms who were a little horrified, too, and that was fun to watch.
Stars of Bad Man Reveal the Harsh Weather Conditions on Set
"The Coldest I've Ever Been Shooting Something..."
- The Direct: "What do you think was the most surprising challenge that you faced at any point while on this movie, whether that is before cameras started rolling, during shooting, or afterwards?"
Rob Riggle: It's so funny, because the cast and the crew [and the script] were fantastic. And so it wasn't anything that had to do with the work. It was the intangible stuff that we were in Alabama filming, and it was freezing. I remember just being cold all the time. I couldn't get warm in the buildings, outside, the buildings, day, night, it was wet, it was cold, it was just, I just remember thinking, there's no relief. There's nowhere to go to get warm.
Seann William Scott: Remember the night we were outside the police precinct, and it was like, it was so bad. It was, honestly, I think, probably the coldest I've ever been shooting something... That was one of those times I'm like, I don't care about acting. I just want to get through this scene and get out of this environment. The day was so cold.
The entire interview can be watched below:
