By Jessica Wedemeyer
8:27am PDT, Aug 31, 2017
Seann William Scott might be playing the titular hockey thug in "Goon: Last of the Enforcers," the sequel to the cult 2011 hockey comedy "Goon," but in real life, he's about as sweet and self-deprecating as they come! Wonderwall.com caught up with the "Role Models" star to get the scoop on his latest project — which opens in select American theaters and is available on VOD and Digital HD on Sept. 1, 2017 — and also got the dish on why he's over gaining weight for roles, whether or not there's any truth to the recent "Dude, Where's My Car?" sequel talk (he also spilled on the "weird, dark" version of the movie that might've been), what he would like to see Stifler doing in a hypothetical future installment in the "American Pie" franchise and more! Keep reading for the highlights from our chat…
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What brought you back to the "Goon" universe?
Seann William Scott: "The first movie was a great experience. I play an idiot, which is pretty much the theme of characters I've played in the past. But this character is a bit different than the kind of frat-boy type of guys that I've done, so I really loved the challenge of trying to create a new kind of character. I loved everybody involved. And people responded really well to [the original film], which isn't typically the case with the movies that I do — as far as getting good reviews and stuff. That actually made me a little more nervous about doing a sequel."
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How surprised are you by the cult status "Goon" has garnered over the years?
Seann William Scott: "In comparison to like 'American Pie,' [it was surprising]. I had a feeling [then]. I love movies, so when we were filming the first 'American Pie,' I didn't know if it was going to do anything for me, but I had a feeling that people were going to respond to it. But with 'Goon,' I had no idea. When we filmed the first movie, my thought was like, 'Don't ruin the movie. Do a good job. Don't ruin it for everybody else.' So the fact that when that movie came out and instantly — I think it was on Netflix — people started coming up to me — and still, like, all the time — for that movie, it surprised me. But I think it's something that really resonated with people. It was like a nice mix of comedy and heart. People loved the characters and really cared about them. I'm pretty grateful. I've done some stinkers."
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Your character, Doug (pictured in 2011's "Goon" with Jay Baruchel), looks a little different now than in the first "Goon" movie:
Seann William Scott: "I was full on chunky. I was chunky and it wasn't intentional, by the way. I just ate a lot of pizza and drank a lot of beer and things got out of hand."
Why did you decide to keep Doug more in line with your real size this time around?
Seann William Scott: "Well, typically I'm in pretty good shape, but for whatever reason, for 'Goon' I thought, 'Okay, I'm only 6 feet tall. These [hockey] enforcers are like 6 [foot] 3, 6 [foot] 4. I gotta bulk up.' My intention was to really hit the gym a little bit harder because I love to go the gym. But I'm not an action [movie] guy and it doesn't really make sense to have that kind of build. So I did that for two weeks and then I don't really know how it happened but then it was just like, 'I'm gonna eat food that I don't normally eat. I'm gonna drink some beers. I'm gonna bulk up.' And I think I just got chunky. It kind of worked for the role because he's like this doughy guy. He's not like a gym rat. He's just kind of soft and big. He's like a big teddy bear. But it took me at least a good year, year and a half to lose that. So when we did the sequel, it was like, 'I'm not doing the pizza and beer thing.' I'm just gonna go to the gym and I'm gonna get in good shape because I can't deal [with losing the weight again] — especially now being older. It's gonna take me like three years to get rid of all the chunkiness."
Doug learns how to fight southpaw in this movie. Did you do any fight training in real life?
Seann William Scott: "This movie, I took the approach of 'Okay, let me do all the things I kind of didn't do the first time around.' Let me actually seriously do fight training and get into really good shape. So I got to work with this [trainer] for a couple months before the movie, and it was really fun. We were training more MMA — not like kickboxing and stuff because that wouldn't make sense [for a hockey player]. But I trained with it because even knowing that it wasn't really going to be helpful for the movie, in some ways, it will be because my punches will look a little bit more dynamic. Then after a month and a half, I said to him, 'You know, dude, it's hockey fighting. I pretty much just grab onto his jersey and wail on him.' I don't know if this is how serious of an actor I am, but it wasn't until a month and a half into training that I realized, 'Oh, wait a second. My character doesn't even throw punches with his right [hand] for most of the movie. We have to focus on the left!'"
Have you kept up with the MMA training at all since then?
Seann William Scott: "It's pretty fun just for training. I don't think I'm gonna get a Marvel movie offered to me. But I love to train. It's not my main training, but every once in a while, I do some mixed martial arts stuff."
You couldn't really ice skate when you shot the first movie. How did it go this time around?
Seann William Scott: "I couldn't get any worse than the first movie. I probably could've done a little bit more skating before we filmed it. The character wasn't supposed to be as bad as I was in the first movie. For sure I was supposed to be able to stop — but I couldn't. In the movie, I basically just skate into people and skate into boards [to stop]. So the second time around, it was five years later. I was like, 'I can't do that anymore. People are going to call bulls— on that. I have to be able to stop and stuff. But as it turned out, towards the end of filming the first movie, I ended up getting better and I remembered that. It was funny: When we were starting some of the hockey stuff in the sequel, all the actors were like, 'Woah, you got way better!' I was like, 'Woah, man, it was pretty bad the first time around, so I take it as a compliment.' I grew up in Minnesota. I should've been a really good skater, but I played baseball and basketball and football. I didn't play hockey. It ended up working [in 'Goon'], but it wasn't intentional at all. I think they were not happy because the first time I met with them, I told them I could skate really well. Total liar."
Your co-star and director Jay Baruchel has hinted that he's not necessarily done with the "Goon" universe. Are you?
Seann William Scott: "I think it's gonna really depend on how fans of the first movie respond to this one. If they really like it, then for sure I'd love to go back and hang with everybody again and see what we can do. But it has to make sense. If there was like a Netflix kind of series where we follow even more hockey players in each episode, I think that would be really fun. I think it's the kind of movie that lends itself to that storytelling. … Sometimes you do press on a movie and you have to say you had a good experience, but I really mean it! And it's a fun character. Doug is so sweet, and he can kind of get away with saying anything because we establish him as being an idiot — but he's grounded. So even as an actor, it's a fun character to play comedically."
What kind of character have you yet to play that you're looking forward to exploring in the future?
Seann William Scott: "I've kinda played pretty much iterations of the same guy, but in the comedy world. I feel like those characters are really funny — the kind of wild, inappropriate yet loveable, misunderstood guys like my characters in 'Role Models' and 'American Pie.' But, yeah, there are so many characters that I haven't had a chance to play. The movies that made me want to be an actor were all a little more serious. … I just did a drama, actually. I forgot about it! But I did a drama ['Just Before I Go'] where I got to play a totally despicable, awful human being, and it was a lot of fun! So I'd like to do some more serious stuff. To be honest, as the years have gone by and I've had this drive to branch off from comedy, I actually really miss doing comedy. That was one of the things that was appealing about doing 'Goon 2.' [I] was like, 'Oh yeah, I'd really love to go and do a comedy again and try to make people laugh.' I feel pretty lucky with the things that I've had a chance to do."
You and Ashton Kutcher both said on "Conan" that there's a script to a "Dude, Where's My Car?" sequel floating around. Is that for real?
Seann William Scott: "The truth is, I have heard about it. That wasn't the first time [on 'Conan'] that I heard the title 'Seriously, Dude, Where's My Car?' I heard that like a few years ago, and I thought, 'That's such a funny title.' And I heard that there was a script out there. I didn't really pursue it, but now after the 'Conan' thing, who knows, maybe it could be really funny. I feel like in the first movie, the first script was so dark — not the one that we ended up filming, but the original script. It was like a combination of 'Dumb and Dumber' and 'Being John Malkovich.' It was a rated-R, weird, dark movie. Then a few weeks before we filmed it, they changed it to be PG-13 and really softened everything. I think they were right because it ended up making a lot of money. But it would be interesting to see Ashton [Kutcher]'s character and my character in kind of a darker [situation]. I should probably call somebody and see what it's about because I would love to work with Ashton again. I think he's awesome."
Have you and Ashton Kutcher reconnected since the "Dude, Where's My Car?" sequel talk started?
Seann William Scott: "No! I would love to though, because I miss that guy. I had such a great experience. It's been a long time since I've seen him. I've always followed his career and all of his success, and I get so excited to hear about all of his accomplishments. I haven't seen him in so long. Maybe this is the perfect excuse to reach out. … We are doing 'Seriously, Dude, Where's My Car?' It's gonna happen!"
If there's ever another installment in the "American Pie" franchise, where would you like to see your character, Stifler?
Seann William Scott: "Truthfully, with franchise fatigue, I don't think that they would ever make that movie. … My character kinda bookended things perfectly. He got his perfect revenge on Finch. But I think seeing Stifler in his 40s being the exact same guy [would be funny]. Like, he's not grown up at all. Maybe he's working as a male stripper in a really s—– strip club and his stripper name is Inferno and he dresses like a fireman and he's not a very good dancer and he's just maybe a little lonely and a little unhappy but still hasn't grown up at all — and maybe he's a little fat. That's pretty funny."
