Williams bound to unusual role in ‘Father Figures’
Hitchhiking doesn’t get any weirder than what happens to Katt Williams in tomorrow’s “Father Figures.”
“That is absolutely correct, although it was pretty peculiar already,” Williams, 44, said of thumbing a ride in the comedy, only to find himself a reluctant peacemaker between squabbling fraternal twins played by Ed Helms and Owen Wilson.
Standing in pouring rain, Williams is ready to jump in when Helms and Wilson pull over. Only instead of offering a ride, the brothers argue about whether they should pick up this stranger.
“The important part to remember is: I don’t know I have to convince these guys. I think they’ve pulled over and already decided to give me a lift. I’m not ready for salesmanship, and do I need to have my credit run to see if I qualify?”
Williams is allowed in only when he lets them tie him up. “It is bungee cords, what they had in the trunk.”
As the crazy fighting continues, Helms suddenly stops the car. The sound they soon hear is an oncoming train — and they’re sitting on the tracks. With a hitchhiker bound up in back.
“That whole fight scene leading up to the train crash,” Helms said, “was a gigantic stunt. It happened to be raining most of the time. It was also shot at night and they really crashed a train into a car.”
Was Williams really tied up?
“I’m a Method actor, (for) better or worse,” said the standup comic, best known for “Scary Movie 5.” “This train be real and the track — it was all real.”
Funny is a serious business and Williams never makes light of acting or his roles. “I turn down about 90 percent of what comes across my desk. Usually it’s because I’m being asked to mine a character I’ve mined to the fullest.
“If you do a great job as a race car driver you’ll get 15 more like it — and that’s not what you’re looking for and not the best thing to do.
“This guy I haven’t played yet, so I’ve got the opportunity to bring that to life.
“I already take it as my responsibility to any comedy I do to bring as much as I possibly can. This was delicately written, this wasn’t them picking up a standup comic on the side of the road. This was completely different.”
— cinesteve@hotmail.com