It has been five years since "Superbad" gave Christopher Mintz-Plasse his first movie role. To date, Mintz-Plasse has starred or lent his voice to 13 separate projects -- and is about to start pre-production on another, the sequel to 2010's "Kick-Ass." I couldn't help but notice that while Mintz-Plasse was at San Diego Comic-Con promoting "ParaNorman," more than a few members of the audience still referred to him as McLovin' -- the alternate identity of Fogell, his character from "Superbad." Ahead, Mintz-Plasse shares his feelings on this phenomena.
In "ParaNorman," Mintz-Plasse supplies the voice of Alvin, the local school bully who begrudgingly assists Norman, a young boy who can speak to the dead with saving their town from a witch. Here, Mintz-Plasse discusses the quite wonderful "ParaNorman," what he's learned over the last five years about the entertainment industry, and drops some hints about where "Kick-Ass 2" will take Red Mist.
I'll admit, I didn't have a strong desire to see this movie. But I was very glad that I did. Does that make sense?
Yeah, that makes complete sense. I mean, when I got the script I heard it was stop-motion and immediately I was on board because I'm such a huge fan of those kind of movies. They're always so beautiful. And the cast that they already had with Anna [Kendrick] and Casey [Affleck] and Jeff Garlin -- man, I figured it had to be great. And I read it and got attached, created this really fun character. And you never know when you're doing the sessions how it's going to turn out, but, when I saw the finished product, man, it was beautiful.
This is a very dark movie. Something terrible happens to a young girl.
Yeah! It's got some dark aspects to it. I think that it might scare some kids.
I'll admit, I jumped out of my seat during a particular moment.
Nice!
Maybe this isn't fair to say, but when I think of actors who should be cast as a bully, you're name is not the first one that I think of.
I take huge offense to that, man. No, no. I agree. That's one of the reasons why I was excited that they came to me. And they didn't even want me to audition, which is surprising because I figured they would need to see if I could do this role. But, they offered it to me and I went in and created this voice and they loved it.
Was the finished product what you thought it would be?
I mean, when I first went in, I had no idea. I had only seen a few art sketches of the zombies and myself and some of the characters ... excuse me [sneezes]. Woo!
How do I transcribe that?
[Laughs] Of me being sick. Yeah, so I saw a bunch of art and it looked great. But you never know how it's going to be done. And for my last ADR session, they flew me out to Portland to the set and I got to watch how it was being filmed, how the characters were created and made. And when I saw 100 or 150 people being so passionate about this project, I knew it was going to be great.
Though, it feels like a Halloween movie.
I agree, man. I mean, I was in "Fright Night" and I felt like that should have been a Halloween movie, too. But they released that at the wrong time and that did not do well. All I can say is that I've seen a lot of promotion all over -- on posters, we're doing a lot of press for it -- and it really is a great movie, all I can do is knock on wood and hope that people see it.
I mean, the last fifteen minutes of the movie are crazy.
Crazy, man. The third act is so awesome and so beautiful, scary and funny. I love it.
And then we learn a main character is openly gay.
[Laughs] So unexpected! I forgot that part in the script and then when I saw it, I was like ooookaaay.
There goes the Chick-Fil-A tie in.
Yeah, really.
At Comic-Con, you were there promoting this movie. And I noticed that people in the audience were referring to you by Fogell's alter ego in "Superbad," McLovin'. Do you like that?
Do I like it?
That people still call you that?
It depends. I'm forever grateful for that role, because that's why I'm working today. But some people handle it differently than others. Some people get really touchy and weird and rude. And there are some people who are just really sweet and appreciate my movies. It can really go either way.
What do you mean by rude?
You know, they put their arm around me and touch me. And ask things like, "We're taking a picture!" You know, things that you wouldn't normally do to a person. They think they know me because I'm their age and whatnot. But, yeah, there are more people that are incredibly sweet. It's incredible.
When you first read the script and got to the part in which Fogell has a fake ID, did you ever think, Boy, that name might stick with me?
No. I thought that name was kind of stupid at first. [Laughs] I did! I thought it was, you know, too McDonald's-y and I thought it was too simple. But, simple works, man.
That was your first role. So when you did "Role Models," did you think the name Augie might stick, too?
I never really think about what people are going to think of the movie afterwards. Or what people are going to call me. I just want to make a great project and my focus is really all on that. And then I really don't read reviews. Like, you know, go on comment boards or anything. I just kind of do the movie and do the work and then whatever happens after happens.
With something maybe like "Kick-Ass," have you ever taken a role to purposely distance yourself from "Superbad'?
Yeah, I think I do now. Just because I have more of a grasp of what our industry is. This is my sixth year now doing this kind of stuff. And I read "Kick-Ass" and I just felt that role was incredible. And if there was a sequel, which there is now, that the role would be insane. And I just can't wait to get started.
When you say you have more of a grasp of what the industry, what do you mean by that? What have you learned?
Well, the first few years were just kind of eye-opening and hectic. And understanding being recognizable and red carpets and traveling and press -- and the whole shebang. I had no idea, all of this involvement. And being smart: Picking projects and taking time and listening to your managers and agents and stuff. It was a lot to grasp for my first few years. But, now I'm slowly kind of understanding what to do, if that makes sense. Yeah, I don't know if I'll ever really get the hang of it, but, I'm slowly kind of understanding.
Have you ever felt the need to take an "As You've Never Seen Him Before"-type role?
No, no. You know, I don't think of myself as like a Daniel Day-Lewis or something -- like, needs to prove myself to people. I just love doing movies that I would want to see in theaters.
You should play Lincoln.
[Laughs] I was runner up.
There's a joke I've always wondered about in "Superbad." When you're in that scene discussing Yoda with Seth Rogen and Bill Hader, Rogen says, "Yeah, from 'Attack of the Clones.'" Of all the movies that Yoda has been in, why 'Attack of the Clones'?
Because it's one of the worst Star Wars movies and it's so random. Like, that's the one he would choose? It's so funny.
Was that in the script?
No, that was definitely improvised.
You mentioned "Kick-Ass 2," when does that start?
I fly to London next week to start pre-production. It's coming.
What do you know about it? Where is the story going?
Well, Hit-Girl, I think, is going into 9th grade, I believe. So, she's a little older now, which is smart because Chloë's older. And I'm a really dark villain in this. So, I don't want to give too much away, but that's a little bit of what's going on.
Mike Ryan is senior entertainment writer for The Huffington Post. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.