Recently the IESB, along with other journie types, were invited to Phoenix to attend the Benchwarmers press junket that was held at the Tempe Diablo Stadium. It’s not everyday that we get to interview some celebs while the LA Angels of Anaheim play ball during spring training in the background.

I, along with our online and print collegues, spent the morning talking to the cast of Benchwarmers. From broken toes to Star Wars collectibles to the classic Batmobile and also our favorite 80’s Black Trans Am, KITT, all was discussed including premature ejaculation. Yep... leave your brain at home.

Jon Lovitz is an actor who’s comedic performances can be seen on TV on a regular basis. From episodes of News Radio to the everlasting Simpsons.

Next we get to see him as the Star Wars obssesed multi-billionaire who funds the Benchwarmers baseball team.

Jon shares his thoughts on Benchwarmers, stand up comedy and also his upcoming role in Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales.

Q: So you and baseball movies, huh?

Lovitz: Well, I... I like balls.

Q: What attracted you to this particular baseball movie?

Lovitz: Well, I was just telling the other guys in radio, I actually read the script, when they sent it to me... They said, “Look at the role of Clark .” And then we were negotiating for the part and then my agent says, “Alright, so you’ll be playing Mel.” I’m like, “What? That’s not what you said in the letter you sent me.” And I got really angry and I just said, “You tell me to look at the wrong role? I’m negotiating for the wrong part?” And they totally messed up. So then they go, “Read it again, and if you want to play Mel, let us know.” So I said yes, but then I think, “I don’t know how I’m going to play this guy.” Cause it’s a very odd character. But I figured it out. I didn’t think the character was particularly, outright funny. He’s kind of the heart of the movie, where I’m doing all this, having a baseball tournament, I’m really doing it all for my son. So he doesn’t have to go through hell like I did. So I think he was the heart of the movie.

Q: Could you relate to this guy?

Lovitz: Could I relate to it? Well no, because he’s a billionaire... And I’m a trillionaire! I had to come down to his level... I felt bad for the guy! Well you can’t play a billionaire if you’re a millionaire! You don’t know what it’s like. But you have to at least be there. So I had to go, “What was it like five years ago when I was poor?”

Q: Do you collect anything?

Lovitz: Yeah, I like watches and memorabilia and cars. I’m into that. The stupid thing about cars is I started working and I met Eddie Murphy and he had all these cars; Jay Leno had all these cars. So I said, “Alright, I’m gonna get a car! That’s what you’re supposed to do.” So then I did and Jay Leno made fun of me. He said, “Yeah, but Jon, I buy old cars. You’re buying new ones. Mine are going up in value. Yours are going down.”

Q: Was it cool to drive KITT?

Lovitz: Well that was neat. It was neat meeting George Barris, because he’s the guy who designed that car and the Batmobile. And he’s a really nice man. And you know, he’s like a legendary car designer. So to meet him... He’s been designing cars for movies for, I don’t know, 50 years or more. All the most famous cars are his.

Q: Was everyone on the set excited to see the Batmobile and KITT?

Lovitz: Yeah, I was. I mean I remember, I grew up in Encino and Tarzana, and when I was in like fifth and sixth grade, I went to this school, Wilbur Avenue in Tarzana. And Adam West who played Batman, his kids went to that school. So at Halloween we’d have the Batmobile. So I was thrilled. I loved Batman. I had my Bat Ring. You know, I was 8 and I go to my mom, “I want the Bat Ring!” You know, with the big bat. So it was fun driving it, to actually get in it. But you know, they’re just old cars. I mean there wasn’t actually a jet. I couldn’t eject anybody. It’s all fake.

Q: Were you a Reggie Jackson fan?

Lovitz: Oh yeah, sure. And he couldn’t have been nicer. He was great. When we were in the neighborhood where they’re smashing on all the mailboxes, he was there signing everybody’s autographs. And I had all my old baseball cards. I wanted to be a baseball player from when I was seven to fifteen. I was obsessed with it, and I still have my cards. So I found a card of his in this little booklet and he signed it for me. That guy is like a genius. He’s so smart and articulate. He’s like really smart. And I said to him, “Do you have like a really high IQ?” And he goes, “Why do you ask that?” And I go, “Because you’re so articulate. You’re so smart. And I figure you’ve got to be like in the...” And he does. He’s like genius IQ. But he was great to work with. He answered all our questions and he couldn’t have been nicer.

Q: Was Jackson a natural at comedy or did he ask you for advice?

Lovitz: No, I think he’s natural! I thought all the athletes in the movie were good. Bill Romanowski, Sean Salisbury... Most athletes are good actors. I don’t know why. Most actors aren’t good athletes. It doesn’t work either way. But most of them are pretty good.

Q: Is your love of baseball why you’ve done a couple of movies about the sport?

Lovitz: No, honestly, it’s not like I say, “What movies are they making this year?” And I’ll pick. “I’ll do this, this and this!” It’s just you get offered stuff and then you go, “Do I like the part? Is it a good script? How much money are they paying me?” Frankly, that’s part of it. Well it really is. And people go, “Why? Is it always about the money?” You go, “Well... most of it!” Because they’re buying a slot of time for three months. So you have that time to do something. And you can’t do anything else while you’re doing that project. So you say, “Well then you gotta pay me what I’m worth.” And the reason why is because they say, “Well we can’t pay you. We don’t have the money. You know, you’re only playing a small role.” And then the press junket comes around and they go, “Can you do the publicity? You’re a big star!” That’s happened to me a lot. And I finally said, “Okay, sure, I’ll do it for no money and I won’t do any press. It’s up to you.” You know, you can’t have it both ways.

Q: Is it fun for you to reunite with guys like Rob and Dave from SNL?

Lovitz: Oh yeah. Well I was never on the show with them, but Rob I knew. And then David Spade I was in Lost & Found and Dickie Roberts, so you know, I’m friends with David. But Rob I know and I’m friendly with. And I knew Dennis Dugan. Adam Sandler’s the one who produced the movie and he’s hired me a lot of times. We all say thank god for Adam. He hires his friends and keeps us working. He’s very generous that way. But then he’ll go, “Well, I don’t just do it because you’re my friend. I think you’re great.” I say, “I know. I just wanted to say that to make you feel good.”

Q: You’re doing standup every week. Is that where you feel most comfortable?

Lovitz: Well, no. I only started doing it the last two years. Yeah, I do a show at the Laugh Factory on Wednesdays at 8 in Hollywood . I really started doing it because, well, I’ll just be honest with you... I wasn’t working as much. And one of my other ex-agents says... I say, “I gotta make money,” and he says, “Well sell your house!” And I go, “Oh, I’ll sell my house! In the meantime, you just bought a new mansion above me! Okay, that’s a good idea. How about getting me work? Not sell what I own!” He says, “Sell some of your cars!” And I go, “No... eat me! Get me a job!” So I needed the money, so I always wanted to do it, but I was too afraid to do it. And also, even if you’re not afraid to do it, you still have to know how to do it! You have to know how to construct jokes and come up with material. And I never really felt ready. And then for some reason I finally felt ready. And then Dana Carvey is one of my best friends and he’s been doing it for years, so he gave me some great tips. And so somehow I was able to pick it up quickly. I did like my fifth show and I was doing maybe 20 minutes at the Laugh Factory. And the owner there is named Jamie Masada; he’s been really generous to me and gave me the night at the Laugh Factory. I just thought, well I’m just starting. So he said a friend of his said, “How long’s he been doing it? 20 years?” He goes, “No, this is his fifth show.” He’s like, “What?” I go, “Jimmy...” He goes, “No, Jon, you’re that good!” I go, “Well that’s impossible! This is like my fifth time doing it.”

Q: Do you write new stuff every week or does some of it carry over?

Lovitz: No, it’s like an act. Because then you get hired out to do your show. I love it because, well first of all, it’s another source of income. Which, you know... I need. And then it’s just great. You can say anything. It’s like a total expression of who you are. No one’s giving you notes, no one’s editing you. You can just totally be funny the way you’re funny. If you think of something on the spot, you can say it. And I think for me, it’s like I have opinions about things, so this is the perfect place to express them. And you know, people, a lot of times, they don’t want to hear what you have to say. But in the standup club, they’re forced to. I mean they’re there to hear what you have to say. I remember Jimmy Breslin years ago, he hosted Saturday Night Live and he goes, “Do you do standup? ...I ran into him like a year later... I said, “No, I’m too afraid.” He goes, “Oh, that’s bullshit.” And I go, “Well, what if I say something and there’s two old ladies in the audience and I offend them?” And he said, “Look, when I come to see you do standup, I don’t want you to change your act because of who’s in the audience. I’m there to hear what you have to say.”

Q: What kinds of things do you talk about?

Lovitz: God, everything. Well, politics... You know, I’m not astute, but it’s just my opinion. Women. I have a lot of opinions on that. Sex. Like premature ejaculation, I do stuff about that. I say, “That’s just a disease that women made up.” Which it is!

Q: So it’s all the truth.

Lovitz: Yeah, it’s basically all true. The way I come up with material is I’ll see something and if it makes me in my head go, “What?!” Like that kind of reaction or makes my mind go, “That’s ridiculous!” Or, “What did he just say? That doesn’t make any sense.” Then that makes me think of stuff and then Dana taught me that then you have an idea like that and you try to expand it. That’s how you come up with more material. Just little stuff. That’s what I think helped me do it well. Now this guy named Gary ,who used to promote Gallagher, now he’s with Carrot Top and has him at the Luxor . He called me, cause Fraiser Smith hosts my show and also I do this show with Joe, this great comedian. So Fraiser said, “Yeah, this guy Gary wants to promote you in Las Vegas .” So I talked to Gary and he goes, “Yeah, I want to do that. Get you in theaters.” And he hooked me up with this great booking agent. It’s just taking off. It’s very exciting. It’s like a whole new career.

Q: It’s nice of Sandler to put you in the supporting roles in the movies...

Lovitz: It’s unbelievably nice! I always say, “Thank you!” And this time he goes, “Look, look, look. You’re my friend, but I’m not just doing it because I like you. I think you’re great.”

Q: But when is Sandler giving you your own above the title Happy Madison project?

Lovitz: I know, right?! That’s what I keep saying. I said, “I think it’s time!” But you know, it’s business... I think it would be good business for him! He said, “It’s none of my business.”

Q: Do you still develop characters for yourself?

Lovitz: No, you still think of stuff, but there’s nowhere to do them. Actually though, now there is. The standup. So that’s what’s fun. Although I don’t really do characters in my standup. I mean I’ll imitate some people, but it’s more of just me expressing myself. I mean you can do whatever you want. You know, I talk about politics, I talk about women, I make fun of myself. I sing songs. I used to sing all these songs about my manager being gay. Just to bug him. And then I started doing them in my act and I realized nobody knew who he was. So Bob Saget’s there, and I say, “Bob, can I make it up about you, because no one knows who Mark Gerbitz is?” He goes, “Yeah, go ahead.” So now it’s like 20 minutes of these songs about Bob Saget.

Q: What role do you play in Southland Tales?

Lovitz: I play this psycho cop. Richard Kelly who wrote and directed Donnie Darko, this is his next movie. So he cast a lot of comedians in the roles because he said, “If you can do Saturday Night Live and different comedy, I know you can do drama.” He goes, “I think comedic actors can do anything.” So he cast me, Cheri O’Teri, Nora Dunn, people like that. The main people in the movie are The Rock, you know, Dwayne Johnson, and Sarah Michelle Gellar and Seann William Scott. But then all these other roles... Kevin Smith is in it. I saw a picture of him and he’s unrecognizable. He plays this old man. Justin Timberlake is in it. It’s the strangest cast.

Q: Who do you interact with in the film?

Lovitz: Oh, with Cheri O’Teri. But I play just this psycho cop. I look different. I saw some of the movie and I go, “Well, that’s my walk.” I can’t get rid of that. I look different, I talk different.

Q: Was it fun to do?

Lovitz: Yeah it was. He said, “You always have the same hair.” And I said, “Well yeah, I can’t grow it out any differently.” So he goes, “Well I want your hair to be different.” So I had to dye it like platinum. So then I said, well if I’m gonna look different, I’m gonna act different, I’m gonna talk different. And so that’s what I did. And then, I play this cop, and I’m supposed to intimidate The Rock. Well he’s huge! So I had to figure out how am I gonna intimidate him? The only way you can intimidate someone who’s bigger then you is if they think you’re insane. And then they’re like, “That guy’s crazy! Who knows what he’ll do!” So I tried to do that. He’s a good actor, so it looks like I intimidate him, but I don’t think he was at all. He’s the nicest guy, I’ll tell you that. He’s such a nice guy.

Q: Did you understand the script?

Lovitz: Well, I understood it. It’s just that sometimes it would switch back and forth so much that I couldn’t remember what... there’s so many characters that you come to another scene and I’d go, “Wait, which guy was that again?” And I knew if I could see it, I could understand it. But I forgot which character was which. But I asked Richard, “What do I say the movie is about?” And he goes, “Just tell them that it’s about the end of the world.” But really it’s interesting, because it’s like a bunch of different stories going on in different areas. And then as the movie goes on, you start seeing how they’re all connected. And then it all connects at the end. So that’s what he did and it’s very different. I think it’ll be very good, it’ll just be very different. I saw that movie Domino that he wrote. And I saw that and then I thought, oh, now I think I understand his movie a lot better. He goes, “Well, it’s kind of like that, but you know... different.”

Q: Did that make you interested in playing other dramatic roles?

Lovitz: Well part of me would like to because I like to play a guy where I’m just basically a regular guy. And I can do it. Most of my training for ten years was just that; straight acting. And then I did the Groundlings for three years. So I could do it, but I don’t get hired for it. But you go on dramatic sets lots of times and its very subdued, it’s almost kind of depressed. It’s not fun. And then I’ll be doing it and I’ll think, “ This would be funny...” My nature’s just to be funny.

Q: Do you think they’ll resurrect The Critic?

Lovitz: No, The Critic, they’re not gonna do it again. That was disappointing. First it was on ABC. And ABC goes, “We love it! It’s the best! We love it, we love it!” And then seven shows later it’s gone. They cancelled it. And then Fox picked it up, and it aired after The Simpsons. This was, I don’t know, ten years ago. And it held 90% of The Simpsons audience, which is huge. And then they cancelled it anyway. And Jim Brooks went to the head of the network and he goes, “What are you doing? The show is a hit, and you’re cancelling it.” And they couldn’t figure out why they cancelled it. And then they said, well, the only reason maybe, is because we had a show where we made fun of short, bald gay men and the guy running the network is a short, bald gay man. I mean, that’s really all we could figure. I go, “Jim, why would they cancel it if it’s a hit?” He goes, “I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s insane.”

Q: Are you doing any more animated voices?

Lovitz: Well I’ve gone back and done some Simpsons. I like doing it. I mean, let’s be honest, when I did The Simpsons, it’s me going, “Hello, I’m Artie Ziff!” I’m The Critic, Jay Sherman. “Hello, I’m Jay Sherman!” It’s the same guy. I know that. But Al Jean and Mike Reiss wrote The Critic and they were running The Simpsons. And originally it was going to be a live show, and I said, “Well, is there a script?” And then Jim Brooks says, “Well we’re not gonna audition for you.” I go, “Well I know, but I don’t know what it is. You’re describing it to me. It sounds funny. Can I read it?” So I left and then Jim said, “You better write a script.” So they did and then I read it. And usually you don’t laugh out loud at comedy scripts, but this thing was hilarious. I laughed out loud ten times, like really hard. I was just dying. And then they said, “We’re gonna make it animated now.” So I said all right.

Benchwarmers Opens April 7th.