Collider recently sat down with Kevin Smith to talk about the release of “Cop Out” on DVD, but both most have realized that there’s nothing really to say about that throw-away film, so they opted to talk about future projects “Red State” and “Hit Somebody.” Smith just had a previous interview where he laid down some info, and here he spills some more beans, specifically about “Red State.”
Smith commented on the casting for “Red State,” claiming he does want unknowns but not totally unrecognizable people either “…it’s a weird kind of in between neither place that I’m reaching for… You can go to ‘Law and Order’ and grab anybody from the cast and they’ve done five or six episodes and shit but you’d still recognize them..” So there’s definitely still hope in casting “American Pie” vet Eddie Kaye Thomas then, right?
The director’s been getting calls from A-List actors hoping to play the part of old, powerful church leader. “I’m talking legends and shit… huge fucking names though and each time I’m just like ‘Why?! Why are you calling me. This is suspicious.’ ” He’s stood his ground, even when called crazy for turning down offers from big, A-List talent. When asked about the unknown cast, he said “that’s the key with this one.”
Updates about the film, which is supposed to go in front of cameras in August, are going to be kept hush-hush. “This time I’m just trying to just do it differently where I’m like ‘lets kind of quietly make the movie and see what happens.’ You know, let everyone know when it’s done.” This should be easy, considering there will be tons of unknowns, though even unknown actors have twitter and could very well excitedly tweet about their “big break” with the big guy. It’ll be interesting to see how the TMI-happy tweet king himself will keep quiet.
Smith briefly mentioned his Sean William Scott-lead hockey comedy “Hit Somebody,” when asked if it was still happening Smith replied “Yeah, yeah, I’m on page 81… Writing it right now.” Thanks for the exact details, Kevin. Seems like this one still has a bit to go, but we can look forward to “Red State” pretty soon. Say what you will, but that film sounds like a breath of fresh air for the director that has been making stale comedies for quite a number of years now. It could be a disaster, but at least it won’t be another lazy comedy like “Cop Out.”
