INTERVIEWS

Q & A with Jason Biggs
July 18, 2000 http://www.eonline.com

The lovable Loser on gold-diggers, gross-out movies and bad pie jokes

Is it redundant to state that Jason Biggs is big? 

Perhaps. But it's true. And how refreshing that a hardworking, even-tempered, regular-looking guy from New Jersey has, within a year's time, become one of the most in-demand young actors in Hollywood. His pastry-filling performance as American Pie's awkwardest of horny teens could have been a one-shot spasm of pop notoriety, but producers found Biggs winning enough to have kept him busy ever since.


He's already been seen this summer in Boys and Girls, and now he costars with Pie-mate Mena Suvari in Clueless director Amy Heckerling's Loser, about a dorky but decent midwestern kid who gets dumped on by everyone he meets at New York University. Two more feature films are on the way.


While Biggs isn't quite the overnight sensation he might appear to be (he's been making commercials and modeling since he was 5, appeared on Broadway at 13 and did a stint on the venerable soap opera As the World Turns), his exploding popularity is nevertheless remarkable. What's even better, the guy seems like he really deserves it.


You made your reputation as a screen actor by defiling a pie. Any idea how you became a sex symbol through that?
Well, I'm proud to say American Pie was the kind of crazy, gross-out film that guys thought was the greatest. But because it was able to balance that kind of humour with a sweet story and characters you really rooted for and also got across the girls' point of view, I've heard nothing but great things from younger and older females as well.

And every one of them says you're sooo cute! Why, then, in your last three movies, have you been cast as a guy who has trouble getting the girls?
I like to think what I bring to the table is kind of a sympathetic and endearing quality, even while I'm playing outcasts or characters that end up in outlandish situations. In order for American Pie to have worked, you have to have a character who, even while he is humping a pie, the audience still likes. And in order for Loser to work, you have to have a guy who, even while he is the biggest outcast, is still endearing, and the audience has to respond. At least, that's what I like to think I'm able to do, while still being able to pull off the sweetness and humour of it all.

So, inevitable question: Have you personally ever felt like a loser?
Well, sure, yeah. That's the biggest thing I can relate to in my character. I felt it in the past, and I still feel it at times. I actually went to NYU, too, albeit briefly, but I went there from small-town New Jersey. Like anyone who goes to college, you're leaving a familiar surrounding and a comfortable environment and your friends and everything, and you're starting fresh. It can be pretty daunting. So, right off the bat, you feel like an outsider. I'd go in and make friends, and then I would say goodbye to them at 4 o'clock, when my classes were over. Then I'd go back to New Jersey, where I would have no friends because they were all off at college. So, I certainly felt like it then.

Were you ever picked on by other kids when you were younger?
I got picked on, especially in grade school, for doing what I'm doing now--the acting thing. People would see me on a Nickelodeon commercial, and I would hear about it the next day in school.

They thought it was dorky?
No...well, they may have. I think, ultimately, it was one of two things: Either they thought it was uncool because I was different--or they thought it was cool and they were jealous.

What about now? You're having such success at a very young age, but do you ever feel isolated?
Certainly. My position now, especially in this town, adds an element of skepticism with people you meet--especially girls. I mean, it becomes a lot more difficult. It's a completely different dynamic, because...it sounds trite, but, well, who likes me for who I am, and who likes me for being an actor or what I do? It sounds corny, but it's very true, and it becomes very difficult to see through that at times.

Uh, sure. But then again, you're only 22. Do you really care at this point whether a girl likes you for who you are or because you're a movie star?
Yeah. [Blushes.] I mean, see, call me a romantic, call me a sap, call me whatever you want, and sure, I've had fun as any young guy would, but at the same time, any girl I meet, I'm always thinking--and this is probably a detriment as well as an attribute--a little further down the road.

Any other downside to success?
I've heard every pie joke in the book. I'm still waiting for an original one.

From what I can tell, you've been working nonstop, often making two movies at a time--Loser and Boys and Girls, Prozac Nation and Saving Silverman. How about just kicking back and enjoying what's happening? 
Well, I'm never happier than when I'm acting. But I did have two months off between Loser and the start of Prozac Nation. So, it was supposed to be Jason time, right? My time to enjoy myself away from movies. But as luck would have it, I went snowboarding the first day and dislocated my shoulder badly. So, Jason time turned into three months of physical therapy.

Ouch! Well, at least you're looking leaner, if not meaner, than you did in American Pie. That a career move, or what?
Basically, what happened was, I had moved out to Los Angeles, I was pretty damn lazy and I put on some pounds. I went from home-cooked meals in Jersey to McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then I did American Pie, and I think the extra poundage worked for that character. But then, I just decided to get off my lazy butt and take advantage of the L.A. weather. I bought a mountain bike, and I started running. These are things I wanted to do in Jersey, but you know Jersey weather. So, the weight just came off. It wasn't like, Oh, I need to lose weight.

Are you sort of a daredevil?
Yes and no. Like, yes, in that I like mountain biking and snowboarding, and those are kind of daredevil, but that's probably as extreme as I'll get. I want to try white-water rafting, but that's not so daring, because it involves other people. Stuff with a group, stuff where there are other people around, I'll try that. I don't know if you'll see me jumping out of planes anytime soon.

Ever consider bungee jumping?
Bungee jumping...I don't know, because that's definitely by myself. I may go tandem skydiving, because if I die, someone else is going with me...no, that's not right at all! I should be unselfish, right? That came out totally wrong. Even though you feel a little more secure with another guy strapped to your back--but that means I would hit the ground harder, I suppose. So, the daredevil thing--I talk the talk more than I really walk the walk, I guess.

Tell us a little about the next two movies.
Prozac Nation is a pretty heavy drama, based on Elizabeth Wurtzel's book about growing up a manic depressive. Christina Ricci plays Elizabeth, and I play her college boyfriend, who's trying to deal with her episodes.

And Silverman involves kidnapping and apparent murder. But it's funny, right?
Yeah. I'm Silverman. I fall for a woman played by Amanda Peet, and she's evil! My two best friends, played by Steve Zahn and Jack Black, want to save me from marrying her, so they hatch a plan to kidnap her and fake her death. It's absolutely hilarious.

Guess we'll just have to get used to seeing you a lot for the foreseeable future, huh?
Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about that.