Scott: Well, it's weird. But I think it's a nice compliment, makes me feel like I did my job. It's interesting because, going outside of L.A., and especially in college towns, you really understand how big that franchise was and what a great opportunity it was. I never look at it as a negative thing. Because if I thought that that was all I could do, I guess I'd be in trouble. But yeah, people come up to me and quote lines all the time and do the dance from "American Wedding." They go 'look at this' and they start doing the dance. And I'm like 'God, I hope I wasn't nearly as disturbing what you just showed me'. (Laughs) If there's any actor that's earned the right to play Bo Duke in Warner Bros.' highly antici-pated action-comedy "The Dukes of Hazzard," it just might be Seann William Scott. Consider his resume. First of all, the guy is Stifler.
He exudes a roguish cockiness, a good-natured, feel-good brashness that's romped through the teen comedy universe. With "American Pie," it's two sequels, "Road Trip," and "Dude, Where's My Car?," Scott is to likable-fratboy what Schwarzenegger was to action films.
For Scott, playing the role of Bo took him back to his childhood days in Minnesota. "I was a big fan of "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV show as a kid," reveals the actor, "and I thought it would be fun to be a part of the film. These guys are just two good ole' boys who like fast cars, fast women and good moonshine."
Question: What was it about this script that drew you to come do it?
Seann William Scott: I liked that Bo and Luke were best friends from the very beginning, and they're crazy. I thought it could make a really cool movie set in the South about this family. And people are really familiar with these characters. And as long as it's not tongue-in-cheek, I thought that'd be cool.
Q: When you first saw the [Dodge Charger] General Lee, that must have been pretty cool.
Scott: Yeah! It was! It just looked great! I had actually at that point been working with a guy back in L.A. just training with a car, not the General Lee, but other cars. So the first thing that I thought about was, 'How is this car going to handle?' (Laughs) But then after I'd been driving with it and practicing with it and I accomplished that, then I just kind of sat back and looked at it and I think I'm in the process of having someone build one for me.
Q: Was it your choice to play Bo, and if so, what makes him different from Luke?
Scott: At first there was really no difference in the way he was written, so that was a problem. (Laughs) I wanted to drive the car. (Laughs) At first before Johnny (Knoxville) came on and I agreed to do it and I was like, I just wanted to learn how to drive the car. I thought it would be a lot of fun. And I wasn't going to do the movie without Johnny. The studio suggested a couple people, and I'd never met Johnny, but I thought we'd be a perfect team for this movie because we're both a little bit unpredictable.
Q: In the films that you've done, people have expected you to do something that's going to be very comedic. Are we going to see something like that in this film?
Scott: Yeah! I think actually different though. A lot of the stuff that I've done is just really broad and the characters are not that bright. I think Bo's much funnier in many ways than some of the characters that I've done. Because it's a little bit more layered. He's constantly trying to teach Luke what he thinks are deep philosophical ideas, but they're really simple. And then he contradicts himself in the next scene and just goes freakin' mad. (Laughs).
Q: You must be pretty psyched with the way your career's going right now. You've got all things going and you've got people talking about you for different roles.
Scott: Ever since the first "American Pie" I've always been happy to just have an opportunity, I just didn't think it was going to be with comedies. Now I really like it. I don't really necessarily think I'm a funny guy, but I like the opportunity to take on something that I don't feel I'm the best at doing.
Q: So Stifler has become such an iconic role for our generation. Do people come up to you reciting the lines? How do you deal with that even now?
Scott: Well, it's weird. But I think it's a nice compliment, makes me feel like I did my job. It's interesting because, going outside of L.A., and especially in college towns, you really understand how big that franchise was and what a great opportunity it was. I never look at it as a negative thing. Because if I thought that that was all I could do, I guess I'd be in trouble. But yeah, people come up to me and quote lines all the time and do the dance from "American Wedding." They go 'look at this' and they start doing the dance. And I'm like 'God, I hope I wasn't nearly as disturbing what you just showed me'. (Laughs)
(Opening across the Philippines on August 31, "The Dukes of Hazzard" is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Entertainment Company.)