Jim Gaffigan is one of the most famous, successful, and hilarious stand-up comedians in the world. His humor has a universal appeal that transcends cultural boundaries, all while remaining as family-friendly as one can reasonably expect. In recent years, he’s earned significant acclaim as an actor in such critically acclaimed films as Chappaquiddick, The Day Shall Come, and the upcoming biopic, Tesla.
While promoting the release of Troop Zero, Jim Gaffigan spoke to Screen Rant about his work on the film and his career in Hollywood. He discusses dealing with fans while trying to spend time with his family, and makes the case that critics were too harsh on Cats.
First of all, I loved this movie. A total 10 out of 10 from me.
“The Boss Man” has such a wonderful dynamic with Mckenna’s character, I feel like she should play your daughter all the time!
That’s great, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Right, and you’ve got five of your own now, right?
She is so gifted. There’s part of me that’s like, she’s such a special kid, I want her to have her childhood. But I also think that, you know, there’s very few people who get to have the career she’s having and she’s going to continue to have. I’m kind of torn, because I know she also loves it. But as a parent, it’s kind of confusing.
Do you think any of them might want to be actors? Have any of them brought it up?
Yes.
Yeah. Okay, so Troop Zero is set in 1977. At that point, you’re 10 or 11 years old. Do you remember the Golden Record, what an event that was for the country?
There’s definitely some talent and some interest, but… I think it’s because we have so many, we don’t really have the luxury of even contemplating it. We’re virtually drowning, you know what I mean? I’d say we definitely want our kids to be kids. And none of them have expressed, like, “I want to be on a Disney show.” I mean, maybe they’ve said it once or twice, but nothing like how they beg for their iPad, you know?
I seem to remember the Golden Record. I didn’t remember it as “The Gold Record,” but… This was the time of “time capsules,” and we were coming off the Bicentennial, and I remember we were going to send something into space with messages on it. And what do you remember from when you were 11? I kinda remember it.
I know celebrities are trained to be gracious with their fans, but if someone comes up to you and starts singing about Hot Pockets, are you just like, “Stop doing that!” Or do you enjoy playing nice with the fans?
Have some tact, right?
I tend to be polite, but there’s a lot of non-verbal communication with people. The weird thing is, and I’ve written about this, but Hot Pockets is a blessing and a curse. I can’t be that annoyed by it. If it’s a gateway for someone learning about my comedy and understanding my comedic point of view, then it’s not that bad. It’s different when I’m with my children. If I’m just by myself, walking through the city, I don’t care. But if I’m with my kids and people are kinda like, “I need a picture,” then it’s weird. How do I explain to an eight-year-old why someone is behaving this way?
On his podcast, Dax Shepard said when people ask for a photo, he says something like, “We can do the photo, or we can talk for a couple of minutes,” and they usually choose the photo, which is obviously the wrong choice, I believe.
We live in such a voyeuristic and exhibitionist culture right now. People don’t need the photo, but they feel like they do.
I guess we get used to it, I mean, I live in New York and have this job where I get to talk to famous people every day, but some people don’t have that experience, so seeing a celebrity is something particularly exotic.
It’s really interesting, because I have friends with a lot more experience with this, and one of them will say, “No thanks,” but he does it in such a way that there’s warmth in his tone, and people are so caught off-guard. I’m a bit inexperienced. I was approached at a restaurant, one time. I was with my family and this lady came up to me, she was maybe a bit buzzed, and she was like, “I need to get a picture,” and I said, “No, not when I’m with my family, sorry.” And she said, “No, I’m getting a picture.” I was like, “No, you’re not.” It’s a strange thing. These are decent people! She wasn’t mentally unwell or anything, it was just something she thought was important to her.
Okay, back to the movie, since I’m also talking to Mckenna about the film, I’d like to know, how did you two get along, did you have a good rapport?
Yeah.
Right, until they realize they’re harassing a celebrity in front of their family at a restaurant!
She’s a really sweet, sensitive kid. There’s an openness to her that is very authentic. I immediately liked her. There’s plenty of downtime. You get to hang out. All these kids that are in the movie, there’s something really special going on. I think it was also really fun for Mckenna because there were all these other kids. On other movies, she might be the only kid on set, you know? I’d say the directors on the movie are two very warm, nurturing, brilliant women. It was June in New Orleans, and it was maybe 110 degrees. The humidity was insane. But I think the whole tone was well-focused. I have kids, and I used to be a kid, and I look at Mckenna, and she’s really doing great. She has an emotional intelligence that most adults don’t get until they’re in their 30s.
Your previous movie, no, I haven’t seen it yet!
Yeah, that’s a whole separate conversation. Again, I think we’re in a time where I think, eventually, the whole “photos with celebrities” thing is going to wane. I think, intellectually, people know it means nothing. Did you see American Dreamer?
I know exactly what you mean. I remember the first time asking a friend to watch a movie with me and he said, “Isn’t that supposed to be bad?” None of them are supposed to be bad! Everything is a meme, where people have already made up their mind before they even examine the art.
I want you to see it! It’s so weird, with these indies, and I’m so thrilled that you loved Troop Zero. There are certain types of movies that people are open to liking. Then there’s certain types of movies where people feel they have permission to unload the gun. I feel that way with Cats, where they were just, like, “Open fire.” I saw that movie, it wasn’t thaaaaat bad. Culturally, it’s just… And I’m not even talking about people on Twitter. I’m talking about real critics! I understand that critics are human and can have emotional responses, but it’s like, I’m not somebody who likes musicals, I’m not somebody who particularly likes the idea of the movie Cats, but it wasn’t that bad! Jennifer Hudson was amazing! By the way, I thought James Corden was funny!
Right. It’s something where I find this fascination with the zeitgeist, and how we’re constantly, as a culture, going through these shifts, the level of anger and what causes that anger, what causes us as a community to fall in love with things, it’s all so baffling to me… But it’s all good.
