Seth Green

Reuniting with Buffy costar Sarah Michelle Gellar

You never quite know what to expect from Seth Green. He could be the quiet guy like Oz on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, or he could be a wisecracking gen-Xer like in Austin Powers or Can’t Hardly Wait. He’s more of the Oz variety in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Green plays the curator of a museum housing all the costumes of the ghosts and monsters that the Mystery, Inc. gang unmasked. But when a bad guy steals the costumes and starts turning them real, the curator is a prime suspect. Green speaks candidly about his work on the film, his upcoming comedy Without a Paddle and future plans including a reality TV series.

Was it different working with Sarah Michelle Gellar on Scooby-Doo 2 than it was on Buffy? Well, I will say this about Sarah. In the last few years and not so much since the show ended, but I think her getting married, her getting a real sense of comfort with who she is as a person, she’s much happier. She just seems to radiate a sense of comfort in her own skin and that’s great. I’ve known her since I was nine-years-old and I have the utmost respect and admiration for her. I think she’s a really talented actress. I think she’s handled herself very gracefully through everything that she’s had to experience in the last six or seven years. It was great. It was really nice to see her. Freddie is such a phenomenal influence and a f*cking wonderful guy. I just love that guy so much. But that’s not due to the end of Buffy as much as it is getting comfortable with herself.

You’ve known each other since you were nine? Yeah, we used to do commercials together in New York.

So was it easy to come into the sequel because you knew a lot of the cast? It makes a huge difference because there’s a lot of guesswork taken out. I’ve known Sarah forever and I was in Freddie’s first movie and Linda I was a fan of but never known before and Matthew and I have known each other in passing but I’ve always wanted to work with him. And I was really excited because the first few scenes I got to work with him and set the tone right off.

Was it tough because you couldn’t watch the cartoon and see who your character was? No, I loved that. I was so excited not to have to impersonate anyone because it gave me the freedom to just be whatever I wanted to be. I said to my friends that I was like The Harlem Globetrotters, I’m like Batman. I’m starring this episode of Scooby- Doo. I was like a guest star like Don Knotts.

What was it like to see all the classic costumes in reality? Real neat because the design of them was so authentic. It looked great and the sets were unbelievable and I hope on the DVD they do some sort of photo documentation especially the Faux Ghost set. They’re so amazing in person. Every time I walked onto the set I thought, “This is movie-making right here! They made an environment that doesn’t exist so it was really fun.”

Did you base your character on anybody? No, I thought here’s a guy who does this job and likes this girl and tried to put in as much personality as possible.

Go to page two for more Scooby-Doo 2 and a preview of Without a Paddle, page three for more Without a Paddle and Seth Green’s reality TV plans.

Linda Cardellini and Without a Paddle

Did you improvise with Linda Cardellini when she was wearing the sexy red jumpsuit? Well it just made noise on the vinyl when she did that and I just tried not to laugh. It was funny.

Do you prefer “nerdy” Velma or “sexy” Velma? I’m such a sucker for punker girls, I really am, for the badass head cases. You know they’re just trouble but there’s something about the aesthetic of it that’s always attracted me. It’s not very practical but what are you going to do?

You date them? They never date me for whatever reason. I always end up going up against the people with definitive opinions about the stuff that I like. Or I’ll say, “What do you think about this?” and I’ll get “Blight on the stomach of culture.” How do you respond to that? “Well you know, I really like that - I guess I’m just one of those mindless sheep or one of those seven million people that bought the record.”

What do you listen to? All sorts of stuff. I’ve got such a vast musical library it would probably freak you out.

What’s in your CD player now? I have a jukebox that I’m putting together and I literally have everything from Willie BoBo to Frank Sinatra. I’m up to 30 CDs so it’s a huge mix and it holds 120 and I’m really excited about that accomplishment. It’s pretty slow going. I have to burn them all. It’s a project but I’m obsessive about it. We had a lot of good bands on the show too.

Could you be in a Scooby-Doo 3? Yeah, we’ll have to see. Who knows? My opinion about sequels is always the same. If there’s a good script and a natural place for me to be in it, then I’d do it. I always want to be Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 as opposed to Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 3. He was great in 2, he made total sense in 2. And then there’s 3 and you’re selling real estate. Huh? It just didn’t work. It’s no fault of the actor. They throw a ton of money at you and it’s hard to say no. I don’t want to do that. For me, it’s got to make sense or else I can’t come and sit in these rooms and explain to you guys why I did it. I’d feel like an idiot.

Did working with Matthew Lillard on this film lead you to Without A Paddle? No, it just came to us at the same time and it was very fortunate. And oh my gosh, is he great in it! I’m so excited about this movie and just love, love Matt Lillard. We’re both laughing at how fast it’s going to happen for Dax [Shepard]. He’s such the real deal and he’s going to be a huge success right out of the box. I haven’t seen it yet so I hope it’s good because felt amazing to make it. The collaboration between the three of us was one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had in a really long time.

Is it a comedy? Hugely physical comedy. Really physically and emotionally taxing. We had a really brutal schedule, the elements were against us. It was freezing cold even though it looked sunny and we’re all wearing summer clothes and shorts in water soaking wet at least 60% of the film we’re in our underwear. It was a brutal physical experience but that being said, I loved it. I was working with two guys who were fantastic actors, who really focused and worked hard, are funny, worked hard and are collaborative. And we were all able to do improv and we had more than a week of rehearsal with a director who really understood how valuable that was. It was an all around great experience.

Did you have an instant rapport with Linda Cardellini? Immediate. I make a real effort to genuinely meet people and she’s real easy to get along with. She’s such a nice girl, so smart and really talented. We got the benefit of spending some off-time together and hanging out and going to the movies or playing board games. A lot of Scrabble.

What was it like doing stunts with her? Wasn’t that crazy? She was strapped in and I had a safety belt but man, I had to grab her. That was one of those cool moments where the first time we did it, we did it with a stunt lady who kept saying, “You’re not going to be able to grab my hand” and I’m like, “I’m going to grab your hand.” She keeps saying I won’t be able to grab her hand and I said, “I’m going to pretend that if I don’t grab you hand, you’re going to die” so the second that thing went, I went for her and caught her solid around the wrist. I looked at her, “You’re not going anywhere. That cable is helping you but I’m not going to let you drop.” That was my Indiana Jones moment.

Go to page three for more on Without a Paddle and Seth Green’s reality TV plans, and back to page one for the Buffy reunion with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Reality TV and future projects

What are you working on next? Some things I’m producing but none of it’s real enough to talk about now but that’s where I’m focusing my energy. Some thing is kind of comedy and another is a reality show kind of and a feature I’m trying to get going. But when all that stuff is real, you’ll hear about.

A reality TV show? When it’s real, I’ll let you know. You’re not going to steal my idea.

As kind of the straight man in Scooby-Doo 2, did you have to fight the temptation to go cartoony? I just did what I thought was appropriate for the part and in certain places making it bigger made sense. Other places, it didn’t. I never have a problem stepping back and having somebody else be funny. I really believe in the team mentality of making movies. Everyone has some level of importance to their role and you have to let them define it w/out taking everything. Not to bring it back to Without a Paddle, but you’ve got Matt, Dax and me and we’re all being funny, that’s what we do but it was very much a trade off.

Had you met Dax Shepard before? Actually, we met at Groundlings. He used to be in that troupe and I went to do their all improv show one night. That’s where we met. And he’ll probably talk about this on the DVD, but he wouldn’t even look at me when I got punked. He literally always had something in between us or had his back to me. And the second I saw him, I said, “You son of a bitch, how did I not see you?” It was really funny.

So you think reality TV is a good thing? Hey, I’m not going to put a bunch of people in a house and turn them on each other and make them do plays. It’s undeniable that reality TV has a viable market and that people enjoy watching other people fail or be miserable or act up. I can appreciate that and can appreciate its place but I’m aiming to do other things. I do watch a fair amount of reality TV. I don’t really watch a lot of TV, though I did watch the opening season show of The Sopranos and that was a pretty good show. I like Curb Your Enthusiasm. I was a huge Larry Sanders fan. I watch Conan all the time.

Would you TV again? Yeah. I’m not adverse to any medium. It’s really about the work for me. The reason I did Greg The Bunny is I really believed in that project. I thought it was so much fun. It didn’t work out the way we wanted it to. It never really became what everybody hoped it would. You’re kind of crippled by new shows.

Go page to page one for the Buffy reunion with Sarah Michelle Gellar, page two for more on Scooby-Doo 2 and Without a Paddle.