It's not often that one gets to chat it up with a male gigolo, so when the opportunity comes about, you better cross your fingers and hope that he's willing to discuss his experiences honestly and openly. In the Daily's case, that guy was Rob Scheider and in his eyes, life as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, the focus of Touchstone's latest comedy was "pure bliss."
In a phone interview with the Daily, Scheider sat down to discuss his history as a comic, the adventures he had in taking this path, his first lead role, and life as a star on the rise. Jumping frenetically from demented imitations of Rodney Dangerfield, Sir Alec Guinness, the MOVIEFONE guy, and a "wicked pissah" Bostonian, Schneider never stopped joking.
The movie portrays a dirty, loathsome fish tank cleaner who connives his way into becoming a male gigolo. What he expects is endless nights of wild sex with beautiful women. What he gets is not exactly what he imagined. But how did the former Saturday Night Live(SNL) cast member, best known for his role as Richard, "the copy machine guy," come up with such an off-beat idea for the film. "I remember watching Richard Gere in American Gigolo," Schneider said, "That's a comedy and people just don't know it. I remember watching it and my head just exploded." He sat down with writing partner Harris Goldberg and nine months later gave birth to a work of which they were both very proud. "As we were writing it, we kept saying 'This is funny, this is really funny!' and it was. Then when we were making this film we did the same thing, 'This is funny, this is funny, this funny.' It's very satisfying when you surprise yourself."
Schneider and his collaborators, who benefited from the help of Executive Producer Adam Sandler, relied on their fascination and adoration of movies to guide their work. Allusions to everything from Star Wars to last spring's The Matrix abound.
"I rely on the influence of so many great comedians of the past," Schneider said, recalling Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Peter Sellers, and Mel Brooks as some of his heroes. And then there was also the work of Sandler, whose past films have been both very funny and tremendously popular. "Adam Sandler's been a great role model."
Now that's something you don't hear too often. But then again, a lot of things that come out of Schneider's mouth are not commonly heard.
Of course, with a film whose basic subject matter was a tad bit off kilter, the preparation for it was equally askew. "I've been preparing for a lap dance scene all of my life. Usually though, I am the one getting the dance, not performing." What else? "Well, I did the man whore thing for a while," Schneider said snidely, "Yeah, I was a he-bitch for a couple of days."
Not all of the challenges were sexually oriented though, said Schneider, recalling the tight 48-day filming schedule which forced them to film with a spontaneous adventuresome attitude. "It's nuts, everyday was something new. Everything was something different, a surprise."
It was that feeling which Schneider feels reminded him of his old days at SNL. Remembering the old writing sessions for NBC's sketch comedy show, Schneider reminisced, sweetly maudlin in his tone, "Sitting in a big room with a bunch of guys trying to make you laugh, that's ecstasy! It was very exciting. I'm real proud of my experiences there. My college was SNL...which I recommend highly, by the way, if you can get in." How has such a unique experience helped his later career as an actor, writer, and comedian? "It's a stamp of approval. It says, 'This guy is funny.'"
Schneider felt that in creating "a lovable loser" with Deuce Bigalow, he could take that stamp of approval and turn it on end while still appealing to a broad film-going audience. "After all," he said, "Everyone fits in between a fish tank cleaner and a gigolo." Well, if that's the case, than there is no denying that in this latest effort, Schneider certainly has spanned the spectrum. He is a true every man, in the most wonderfully twisted way.
