Hot Fuzz (2007)
Hot Fuzz - Zwei abgewichste Profis
The Interview with Nick Frost
Nick Frost
They've seen every action movie ever made. They brought us Shaun of the Dead and now Hot Fuzz and showed, how those movies are really done. While Simon Pegg was pretending to be the real deal, we laught our bellies off about Nick Frost. The well nurtured englishman gave us some of his valuable time and answered some questions over the land line. Since the connection between Zürich and New York City was not the best, we're not very sure, if he really understood every question. And if so, did he answer them with the necessary amount of seriousness?
» Das Interview in deutscher Sprache
OutNow.CH (ON): Could you explain the movie title Hot Fuzz to a non-native English speaker?
Full on!
Nick Frost (NF): It doesn't mean anything at all. It reflects the predominant two name titles in the 80s like Die Hard, Executive Decision, Lethal Weapon, Black Rain. You just take two words that don't mean anything and put them together. But "Fuzz" is an American term that we also use in England to describe the police.
ON: I wonder how they are going to translate that into German.
NF: When Shaun of the Dead was translated into different languages it lost a little bit of its meaning. To get around that we have a title that has no meaning whatsoever and we hope the just release it as it is.
ON: Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright wrote the screenplays for both Shaun and Hot Fuzz. How much are you involved in the writing process and the creation of your characters?
NF: I'm around most of the time so I get little things to look at in the process. But I'm the first to read the finished screenplay and then the three of us are going through my character and the rest of the script. With all the other actors we usually spend four weeks together. When it comes down to shooting the thing we're ready to shoot. There's no improvisation at all.
ON: Obvious influences are Bad Boys and Point Break. Who came up with that in the first place?
NF: Edgar and Simon watched 138 cop films before starting the screenplay to emerge themselves in the language of the genre. Bad Boys and Point Break are just two great examples which are massively over the top and there's a big gay subtext. So they became my character's favourite films.
ON: You called Hot Fuzz Brokeback Mountain meets The Bill.
So much for homoeroticism
NF: Absolutely. Simon and I've been best friends for more than 16 years and we have always been very affectionate with each other. It's an odd thing for straight men to do such a thing. It's often terrifying for them to be seen as gay. Danny and Angel just really like each other in the film. It's easy to say that there is a homoerotic subtext but it's just two men who are able to show their affection to each other.
ON: What was the reaction from the British police force when the heard you were going to make a comedy about cops on the countryside?
NF: So far they are very happy with it. British police officers are given a voice within the film world. It has always been about Gangster films. There hasn't been a British cop film for thirty years. It would be nice to think recruitment is going up 30 or 40 percent.
ON: Hot Fuzz as the Top Gun for the British police?
NF: Yes. Absolutely.
ON: Where did you shoot Hot Fuzz?
NF: Half of it was shot in the outskirts of London. For the other half we went to Wells down in Somerset in the west of Britain. It was the hometown of our director.
ON: How was the collaboration with the locals?
NF: Because it was Edgar's hometown he knew everybody anyway. They were a little weary of us about the disruption we would cause, but they seemed to be very happy in the end.
ON: You're now touring the US with the film. Have any famous people already seen Hot Fuzz?
Out in the Green
NF: I don't know really. There are screenings happening all the time. Shane Black from the Lethal Weapon films has seen it. Quentin Tarantino and Rodriguez who are kind of friends of us after Shaun of the Dead supported us over the years. I hope that Will Smith, Mel Gibson, Joel Schumacher and Bruckheimer are going to see it within the next weeks.
ON: I guess you're interested what these people might think since you parodied them.
NF: Yeah. In a way it's a very American film. First it's very British and suddenly it turns into a love letter to Tony Scott.
ON: Is Hot Fuzz a door-opener for Hollywood? Would you want to end up there?
NF: Shauwn of the Dead was already a door opener. We are English filmmakers and we want to make films that are not usually get made in England. We would like to continue that for a while. You know, Hollywood isn't the place we're seeking to make our fortune. We could once make a film there and then go back to London.
HF: Tell us a little bit about your role in Grindhouse?
NF: In the middle of Grindhouse there are three fake trailers of films that never existed so far. Edgar made one of them and asked Simon and me to appear. So I am actually in a Quentin Tarantino film which is amazing. I play a naked man who is covered in his own feces. You should go and see that.
HF: To finish this up I would like to give you some keywords and you just tell me what pops into your mind. British Humour
NF: Benny Hill
ON: Simon Pegg
NF: Nick Frost
ON: Fish'n'Chips
NF: Tartar Sauce
ON: Switzerland
NF: Say that again?!
ON: Switzerland
NF: Shitland?!
ON: Switzerland - as in the the country
NF: Oh. clocks!
ON: The Supernanny
NF: A Cape
