Penelope Spheeris, director, recalls head banging and butting heads -- and how she reacts when she learns that Freddie Mercury had seen the Bohemian Rhapsody sequence just before his death.

This month marks 30 years since Mike Myers, Dana Carvey and Dana Carvey leapt from "SNL" onto the big screen in Wayne's World. We're still not worthy.

It's been 30 years since Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar got in Garth's AMC Pacer to start rocking out to Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody." This was a moment that would be a true landmark in cinema history.

Penelope Spheeris directed "Wayne's World" and starred Rob Lowe as well as Tia Carrere. It was a huge success and is the highest grossing "Saturday Night Live” feature film. Before Myers began making "Austin Powers," films, it was followed by a less successful sequel.

TooFab met Spheeris to discuss the release of the original film on Blu-Ray SteelBook and the new "Double Feature Blu-Ray" Blu-Ray. Both are now available.

Bohemian Rhapsody is the first. This is one of the most famous movie scenes, if not from this film. You and Mike Myers both admitted that he needed convincing about the head banging in the director's commentary. Is it not a good thing that you stood firm and said that the opening scene was a great one, despite Mike Myers' hesitation?

Oh yes! It was difficult to shoot because it was two nights in a row. It hurts when you have these guys in your car who don't do it.

After a while, they began to complain a bit. I continued pushing. Although I don't normally do this, I kept pushing that one. I said, "I'm telling you guys that this is funny and it will work" and that it was a great title sequence. Mike says, "I need an Advil, and I don’t think it’s that funny," but he later took it back, so it’s cool.

Freddie Mercury loved the scene that Queen's Brian May showed him during the Reunited Apart video. How did Freddie Mercury approve it?

It's great because you don’t want to make a movie that makes the band unhappy. This was the first time I heard Freddie look at a cut. That was something I didn't know and it is possible that you have people in higher positions that me.

Mike sent the footage to him on VHS before his death. He was able see it and loved it.

Good! That's great! I didn't know that! Now I know. Freddie died a few weeks prior to the release of the movie.

It is amazing how Queen was brought back into the zeitgeist by this movie. Congratulations!

It's beautiful, isn't? Mike deserves kudos for making it into the movie.

You mentioned that the scene with Mike in his underwear was your favorite part of the movie and that he really tried to get tighty whities.

That scene is amazing! It was amazing. If Mike Myers is in a tighy whities and trying to flirt with a woman, you can't lose. Sorry, but what was I doing? Relax and have fun!

You can't help but laugh when you see something so absurd. This is one of those situations where you can't get through it without getting broken?

Here's something I noticed. It's a strange dynamic. I have been on other sets and I know that when everyone is having a good time, it's not funny. Unless I'm tired, I don't usually get out of control. Dana and Mike both said that they wanted to make me laugh at times, as I don't often laugh. What is funny about the world? Mike and Dana claim that they wanted to make me laugh. I didn't believe them, so they kept trying harder.

How has it been reuniting with Mike, Dana, and the Academy after all these years, and despite some past grudges? It is nice to be able to have a new relationship now with the movie.

Yes, I hate everyone! I am just having fun [laughs]. It's wonderful. Mike was the last person I saw. He only showed me photos of his children, his babies. It's so nice. Lorne was there, and I told him that I had to tell Lorne something very important. He thought I was going to say something negative, but I actually said, "Thank you so much, you have made me very rich." He responds, "That's a great thing!" We're friends and it's okay. I think that all of us enjoyed the time we spent together. They don't speak to me every day. I speak to Tia occasionally, and Robert Patrick sometimes. You don't have long-term friends in Hollywood unless they write checks.

You openly discuss how you turned down films such as This Is Spinal Tap or the Brady Bunch movie in the commentary. Are there any regrets about those projects?

There are some movies that I regret not seeing. When they asked me, I wish I had done 'Legally Blonde. It would have been a great one! I'm not regretful about turning down George of the Jungle. They begged me to. I don't have to complain. I felt like I made a few great movies, and some of them really stood out, like "Wayne's World" and "The Decline". That's all you can do as a woman working in the film industry in the 1980s and 1990s. You can only hope for a few good movies. There is a file cabinet with all the scripts that I have written but never made it into movies. I wish I could have made those movies. Then I instantly replaced that thought with "Well, look at what I did." It's okay. Some people are not able to make movies.

You mention that you receive pitches for third movies all the time. Are any of these actually worth your time? Is there a chance that it might happen?

People are often very inept when it comes down to making movies. Although they might have a brilliant idea, and there have been some good ones, I immediately wrote back to say that Paramount would appreciate it. This is not my property. Paramount owns this intellectual property. It doesn't belong Mike, and it doesn't even belong to me. You can go to Paramount to see if they could put another Wayne's World movie on the road. You could, though I doubt it.

Check out the gallery to see the whole cast!

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Title: Wayne's World at 30: Director Talks Queen, Tighty Whities and Third Movie Pitches (Exclusive)
Sourced From: toofab.com/2022/02/01/waynes-world-penelope-spheeris-anniversary/
Published Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2022 23:30:35 +0000

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