Some time ago I got the chance to interview actor/comedian Bob Rubin (check out his official website Rubetime) who’s going to be in the upcoming BOONDOCK SAINTS II (watch the red band trailer) playing the character named Gorgeous George. He revealed some scenes that you’ll see in the movie including his scenes with Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and Clifton Collins Jr. and a very peculiar one with Julie Benz, so this interview might contain SPOILERS but hell that just makes it more fun, doesn’t it.. read the whole thing after the jump…
RS: I got to talk with Clifton Collins Jr. sometime ago about BOONDOCK SAINTS II, man
BR: And he’s done so many things but I tell ya after this movie comes out it’s like..
RS: Is it a memorable character?
BR: In the Boondocks 2? O yeah, man, blows the lid off the whole freakin’ thing man (laugh), that’s kind of, ya know, to say the movie’s going to make him a huge star is a bit of a ridiculous statement cause he already is a huge star but he’s such a brilliant character actor.
RS: Not many of my readers know who Bob Rubin is. Can you tell us something about yourself
BR: I’ve got a weird career, I’ve been doing stand up for 26 years so I’m like old, old school. I started probably way before there was comedy central or anything like that. When I started 26 years ago, probably the first year they had MTV and that’s when people started to lose their attention span so you had to go short and quick (laugh). But I’ve had cult following in different parts of the country, the biggest has always been in the Bay Area
I’m from West Virginia. One of the first jokes I’ve ever told, I sound West Virginia and I’m Jewish, that’s kind of Odd, Jewish hillbilly, which means the rabbi just sort of twiddled on me a little bit (laugh). That’s an old one. And now I don’t really, I kind of ramble stream of consciousness these days, that’s basically what I do. Some years were big years, some years were lean years ya know.. Hopefully this movie’s going to be gigantic; I can only hope that people like my part ya know
RS: So how did you get this gig? Did director Troy Duffy called you?
BR: This is funny, man. This is what you think you move to L.A. for that this is going to happen all the time. What happened was I was doing a little club, just a little place. They had a separate showroom; the room was like what they used to have in the 60s ya know. It’s separate from the bar, nice tiny little room. So I just went in there just to work and Troy and his wife Angela were in the audience one night and that night I remember was a good show and Troy became an instant fan so he kept coming back. And he must’ve saw me like 8 times in 10 weeks ya know. And we were hanging out then, we just hit it off as friends and I remember somebody said, I didn’t even ask him, somebody said ‘he’s a producer/director’ and I was like ‘yeah, it’s Hollywood, everybody’s a producer’ (laugh) and I think somebody had mentioned the movie Boondock Saints but at that point it’s like I didn’t put it together in my head. It was just funny when I was at a barbeque at his house like in June, a year ago, and I was like ‘this is great man you’re gonna have a 4th of July barbeque? That’s where I’ll be 4th of July!’
So he called me up that week and said ‘I think I got a part for you in my movie’ and I said ‘great’ so I get there and he was looking at me, he’s talking briefly about the character. He said ‘put the script in your car man, read it’. So I looked down and “BOONDOCK SAINTS II” and I went ‘hey, there was this movie Boondock Saints man, was a really cool movie!’ and he said ‘you douchebag, that’s my movie!’ (laugh) and it was funny man I didn’t put it together til then.
So then I had to do a screen test because Sony Pictures had to sign off on me. He told me ‘if you don’t get in this movie, I’ll put you in my next, if you don’t get in, it’s just truly political reasons’ the screen test went great, his direction was easy. He called me up and said ‘congratulations’ and this is like 2 weeks before I went out to do the movie so it was down pretty close to the wire for me, I was just hoping I’d get it
RS: When was this?
BR: This was in October of Last year and then so.. Beginning of October and then around the 20th or 22nd, I was on my way to Canada. I always joke with Troy I said ‘next time I work with you, you better not have me on such a grueling shooting schedule’ and he just laughed because I work, I only had 8 days of work in 7 weeks. They wanted me up there for the whole run of the picture. When I got there, I got a couple of days work, and then in the middle I had a couple of days and the very last week I had a day.
They got this really nice apartment, this flat, we were in the upper floor and Rocco was my flat mate. He’s in this movie in dream sequences.. anyway I got to the place first, I took the big bedroom, he took the little one, I kinda felt bad about it because he was one of the stars from the first movie but I’ve been on the road a million times I know how to pick a good room (laugh). I would just hang out a lot, the crew was just so damn nice, unbelievable. None of that primadonna bullshit, people trying to be artists, ya know. This is just a happy bunch and then I also did some stand up while I was there.
RS: Can you tell us a few scenes that you did? That we’re going to see in BOONDOCK SAINTS II?
BR: In the movie what’s cool is my scenes were all with Sean, Norman and Clifton. I’ve got one really memorable scene with, you’ll see when the movie comes out, with Julie Benz. I’ll just give you a little hit, ya know what I’ll tell you in that scene it’s just me and her, one of them is naked and it’s the wrong person. I got a nude scene with her. One of us is naked, but it’s not who you’d wanna see naked and that’s part of the huge laugh.
But it’s funny man cause I did this one scene, I’m doing this scene with Norman and Sean. It was real intense and that the day we were doing it, we were running behind. So we just started rolling one take after another and they beat me up a little bit, throwing me into a wall, when you’re doing that scene, it’s all on me, they’ll grab me but they’re like walking me back ya know. But I’m like getting into it, my short cut for acting is to actually make it real, ya know (laugh). They slam me into the wall and they yelled cut, holy shit I caved in the wall, I hit it so hard. Troy said ‘you should just leave it here’ (laugh)
The first time I did a take with these two guys. In my head ‘wow you guys were really good, man that was great’. Which I didn’t do out loud cause that would be idiotic. But it’s just funny and how quickly they bring it and how big they bring it. It’s kind of like when you’re doing stand up, the way I do it, you gotta bring it quick. I always try to do a different show every time.
RS: So what’s your character about, this person named Gorgeous George?
BR: Everybody knows what the brothers did in the first movie right? So ya know, I’m basically brought in from.. I’m a New York mobster. I’m not sure I’m giving anything away. When it continues, the people that were involved with the crew or the mob that was involved, the people that were left, which you’ll find out in this movie, some of those people are, they bring me in to run their businesses because they’re hiding out. Because they know what’s gonna happen man, ya know. Or what can happen. So they treat me like a big shot because they’re basically making a fool out of him. So I’m a New York gangster. He’s kind of an idiot and called Gorgeous George because I’m always focusing on my fake tan, having the perfect haircut.
RS: So he’s not related to Curious George? (laugh)
BR: But I didn’t get killed in this movie so when they bring me back for Boondock Saints 3 they might have me as Curious George (laugh)
Anyhow, I find out that these guys just bring me in as bait basically and then I start to freak out. When I realize what’s going on. So first I thought they brought me in because they’re impressed by how I run things in New York with my crew so that’s why they’re bringing me in to their crew which is bigger than my crew and then I found out they’re just leading me like a lamb to the slaughter. That’s basically it and ya know, it’s a funny character, I still had to ….
Troy said ‘you gotta sell the gangster part and make that believable cause I know you’re a funny guy but you gotta sell the gangster part’. Troy is a very funny guy and this movie is really funny so you stay in context and you gotta remember that you’re a gangster. There’s moments when you’re exposed as an idiot and that’s when the humor comes from. Some of my work will get big laughs too. I already told you once scene, there is no wardrobe
The day I had to do that, I tell you a couple of funny stories, that day ya know you go in your trailer right, you open up your door and closet and they had your costume hanging there, your wardrobe right? The day I had to do that, there’s a hanger with just 2 cock socks, banana hammock however you wanna call it (laugh) Funny thing is, there’s a big one and a small one so they’re just leaving it up to me (laugh) I said the hell with it man, I’m nervous, it’s freezing cold.
Ya know, it’s a nude scene, right. I had to do something to get rid of my bashfulness or my modesty however you wanna call it. I just realized ‘I gotta be naked, this isn’t good for anybody’ I’m like ‘Troy you better put that scene last man or people will be running, screaming out of the theaters’ (laugh). But what I did was.. they’re shootin’ in the morning, in the spa downstairs. So I had this cock sock and big coat that goes down to your ankle, I took the coat off and everybody outside just started laughing. SO I walked in and I’m playing a recorder like a mad man, I don’t know how to play it. So everybody started busting off laughing and there’s a look of horror in everybody’s face cause I’m basically naked.
The producer was there and said ‘Troy I think we got a problem’ by now they form like a semi circle around me. Troy comes out and just busts out laughing. I stop playing and said ‘Troy I think I’m having a nervous break down’ I turn around to walk out and across my ass was a white piece of duck tape and on it in black sharpie it says ‘contest winner’ and I walk out right, and so I did that and everybody got a good laugh, which was fun. It did what I wanted it to do for me, made a fool out of myself. But the funny thing is what I forgot about was they got these videos for shooting everything for ya know, the making of, ya know.
So you know next thing you know it was up on the internet and it got like 10,000 hits (laugh), the funny thing was.. a couple of months ago when I started this, I was doing this children show, it was more like psychedelic children’s playhouse (laugh) I got an e-mail from my sister who’s a publicist in Nashville and she knew about this meeting I was having and said ‘if you wanna do a children’s show, I don’t think you want a video of you naked on the internet’ so I contacted them and they took it down.
RS: You mentioned your character gets to live in the end of this movie.. so he didn’t get killed by the brothers? Why is that?
BR: The reason I get away is because I end up helping them out and you’ll see how I do that and also because know, when you see the whole thing it’s.. I’m really a bag of hot air man, pretty harmless but you don’t know how many people I’ve killed. You probably figured I probably whacked a few people (laugh) you don’t know. But like I said, I’m kind of like.. if you think of some of the gangster movies over the years, some of these guys, that’s really what they are man, like children, never grew up and like ‘yeah I’ll just be a gangster’ but I end up helping them out and I think I’m the only gangster that walks away, I don’t remember for sure.
Bob Rubin, Clifton Collins Jr., Troy Duffy, Norman Reedus
RS: So how did you prepare for the role? What did you use to study the New York accent and get it down pat?
BR: I did a good New York accent, and I watched Goodfellas for the accent and I also watched The Pope of Greenwich Village and I mean I like gangster pictures man. So I just watched them all, I watched Casino. Cause you know like I said, the funny part I had it down, anything that required comic timing, I had 26 years of stand up but like Troy said ‘you gotta stay a gangster even in the middle of something that we’re doing for the laugh’.
I watched the Boondock Saints movie again but I didn’t wanna watch it too close, I didn’t watch it when I first got the part because I don’t wanna accidentally mimic something that’s already been done, that’s easy to do cause all these characters just jump right out at you man but I told Troy ‘man, 26 years I’ve been up and I’ve been down, I’ll always wanted to be in a gangster picture’ hopefully I’ll be around for a long time, but the fact is this movie will be around forever and I’m in it so I must be doing something right.
This is kinda giving away the scene. I tell ya the nude scene.. I’m getting a massage right. Julie Benz comes in and replaces the masseuse and takes my towel down. And I’m like ‘whoa let’s keep it professional’ next thing you know she’s holding a paddle and boom! I’m flying off the massage table right. So we did a few takes and we’re break for lunch, Troy told me ‘ok, this shot, this is the one we’re going to use man, you have got to get her whatever it takes man, you’ve gotta get her to hit your ass whole hard!’ Cause she was being apologetic and the funny thing is, everytime I got hit, suddenly my ass was rosy red, so they’re fanning it down with a towel because they couldn’t start the scene like that (laugh)
We go back and I go up to Julie and I go ‘listen, look, this is my shiny moment, this scene is a memorable scene and people are going to be talking about it forever, you gotta hit me hard , think of somebody you hate right now and take it out on my ass’ I hold the paddle and I told her ‘see this thing, this thing doesn’t hurt me, look at the size of my ass I want you break this thing off of my ass, I waited my whole life to be in a gangster picture, this is it!’ So when you see this scene, you’d be oh my god, it was for real. There were a bunch of people downstairs because that’s where they had the monitors set up for the sound guy and (laugh) everybody downstairs bustin’ up laughing cause you could hear that smack downstairs and it was beautiful man! And I launched myself off of this massage table, ya know. I launched myself so hard, I go into the wall first, pictures were dropping (laugh) it’s a beautiful scene
RS: How is Troy Duffy as a director? What does it feel like working with him?
BR: He’s just a regular guy man. I knew you were going to ask me this question and I’ll be honest with you. We’re not gonna fool your readers. I haven’t done a lot of movies so I’m not qualified to tell you about directors but… he knows what motivates a person and he knows what gets the best out of the person. He would go up to Sean and Norman and ‘ok, now you gotta get Rube to react, so you guys gotta stay scary the whole time to get the best out of him’
There was this one scene we were doing and I’m like ‘you guys aren’t going to kill me now are you?!’ but you don’t know and in between takes we were in this small area and we’re stuck there and joking around and stuff. So now when we’re rolling, Troy would go cut and ‘Rube, come on man what the fuck are you doing, you’re begging for your life right now!’ Things like that you know I mean Troy’s just a regular guy man. He’s not ya know, one of those people trying to be artists and they sit around before scene and ‘o the motivation for this is think of yourself as a lily in the field, it’ a beautiful sun shiny day but the cloud starts coming in’ what the fuck are you talking about (laugh) Troy is a funny guy. He’s just a really nice guy. He just does it to get what he needs ya know. It was just a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun.
When I was down at Comic-Con with these guys, it was amazing man, they were like Rock Stars, they did this panel at this ballroom, it was packed and I think they had to turn away a couple of thousand. Sean was telling people, he goes ‘this whole process was a really rare thing cause these were all guys that.. you know you don’t stay in touch with people, but I’d hang out and have a drink with these guys anytime’ that’s what it was like.
RS: What do you hope BOONDOCK SAINTS II will do for your career and how do you hope the fans of the first movie would respond to this sequel?
BR: All of the fanbase that this movie has, if they like my performance, then it might make it easier for me the next time I’m trying to pitch my own show. So hopefully that will happen but it’s going to be exciting because it’s a great movie. The first one was such a cult classic and this one, you could watch this without seeing the first movie and know what’s going on. Troy was real careful about that too. When this comes out,.. I guess they got screwed on the theatrical release for the first one, but this one ya know, Sony is behind it, it’ s a theatrical release and these fans.. they’re going to go, they’re going to show up and make sure it gets big box office numbers. But then once the movie’ s out, just the word of mouth of it will be big because it’s such a great movie, crazy ass action and it’s funny and these actors are so amazing. Sean and Norman, the way they just nail those characters down in the first one and people waited about 10 years and then now, if there’ll ever be more of this. It’s going to blow people’s minds.
