Chris Kattan: The Chameleon Behind Corky Romano

Rubber-faced funnyman Chris Kattan of Saturday Night Live fame, plays good-natured veterinarian Corky Romano, the hidden child of a mob family who gets to go undercover with the FBI. In addition to his signature sketch characters "Mango", "Mr. Peepers" and Goth kid "Azrael Abyss", Chris has created wacky personas for Monkeybone, A Night at the Roxbury and was the comic relief in the scare fest House on Haunted Hill. Before SNL, Chris launched his comedy career in the L.A. sketch group The Groundlings where many of comedy's brightest stars originated.

When we spoke to Chris in L.A., we were surprised and pleased to see that he's a funny but "normal" guy, attractive and younger-looking in person. Okay... a girl thing, but he has beautiful blue eyes. In our interview he talked about the Corky character and his plans for more film work. We learned that he's a party animal on Saturday nights.

At the press junket, the publicist gave journalists a weird mask of Chris as Corky Romano. When he came to our interview, he hadn't seen them yet. We gave him one and...well, you'll see...

Teenhollywood: (Handing Chris the weird mask of his own face) Can you do an impression of Chris Kattan?

Chris: (Holding mask in front of his face...in "Mango" voice) No...you can't have me!! Oh my God, it's Mango!

Teenhollywood: You've been flying all over. When did you get to L.A.?

Chris: Last night and I leave tonight.

Teenhollywood: Did you go to the afterparty for Saturday Night Live last week?

Chris: Yes. I stayed up late with Sean William Scott and it was fun. We always have an afterparty but then we started having these after-afterparties. The show ends at 1:00 am, you don't really leave the building until 1:30 and then the afterparty is like 1:30 to say 4:00. You eat and drink and then people are like 'let's get going. Shall we go out?' That's the after-afterparty. It's not as crazy as the (old days), but I get crazy and jump around.

Teenhollywood: How is your life different working on a feature film than on the TV show?

Chris: There's a lot of difference. We do a show a week. A movie is a couple of months and you get a chance to edit stuff and try things out and SNL's a one shot kind of a deal. But also, a movie is obviously much more challenging too because Corky, the lead character better be likable. He can't really be a sketch character because it most likely won't last and you'll lose interest and wait for the next laugh. You have to like that character or you're gonna not want to follow him.

Teenhollywood: Why didn't you want to do a movie with a character from one of your skits?

Chris: Again, it's a challenge to stretch a three-minute character into an hour and a half. I think Mango might be a fun movie though. (We agree).

Teenhollywood: Was there an FBI advisor on the set? (Chris plays a fake FBI agent in the film).

Chris: Yeah, apparently. They didn't tell me anything. I wasn't there that day. But (Corky) wasn't supposed to know anything about the FBI. So, that would have just confused me. If I was good (at it), then it wouldn't work out.

Teenhollywood: You have a boa constrictor in your pants in the movie. How did that work?

Chris: It was...interesting. It was a real boa and the joke was to say 'where's that snake?' and I pull it out of my crotch and it simulates the ole ha ha. For the shot they had to lead the snake up my pant leg and it's supposed to come out my fly. A lot of times it wouldn't want to do that. It's a snake. Why would it? Snakes like to coil around things so that was a little scary. A one point it started to squeeze and someone's hand got in there, the trainer's hand so it's like I've got a hand and a snake.

Teenhollywood: Was the fat cat in the film really that fat?

Chris: That was a padded cat. We tried to get a really ugly fat cat with a suit on it. There was a problem when the cat and I are fighting over the parrot, a fake parrot, but the cat wouldn't bite onto the parrot's head to simulate a struggle.

Teenhollywood: Did you have a say in the crazy costumes you wear?

Chris: I thought 'What are silly, funny things?' Girl Scout, you can't lose with that I guess. The loud ties were Bob Simonds' (the producer's) idea. They were probably made by some crazy old drunk guy in Montana. The costume ideas were collaborative. I wanted to dress up as E.T. at one point but we couldn't get the rights from Spielberg.

Teenhollywood: Was most of the dialogue ad-libbed?

Chris: Oh, a little bit, not a great deal. There were little things that would come out, usually physically. That's a hard thing to not improvise. There were a couple of things between Peter Berg and I or Chris Penn.

Teenhollywood: Your director was saying that you are a lot like Corky Romano (innocent, sees the good side in everybody, etc.).

Chris: I guess, well, I'm told I'm naturally a really happy guy.

Teenhollywood: Would you say you are emotionally available?

Chris: I would say that... which is not good.

Teenhollywood: In the movie, everybody acts serious except you. Was it hard to play against that?

Chris: No. I'd much rather play against a great actor than a comedian. It would be fun regardless anyway. But, there's something about working with a good actor that's always great. It gives me a lot more to play with. It's more fun. They surrounded me with a very good cast.

Teenhollywood: The other actors said you cracked them up all the time.

Chris: I think when it got late at night and we were still filming and you get a little crazy. When that level hits, it's really fun because everyone is out of it and you become rebellious, rambunctious and obnoxious. I was always changing the lines. That's a given.

Teenhollywood: The marketing campaign for this film is "Who is Corky Romano." So, who is Chris Kattan?

Chris: (Getting really serious) Oh, Chris Kattan is a comedian who, I guess he's a physical comedian. He's fearless and, in order to be fearless, he's vulnerable and will probably get in a horrible accident very soon (laughs). (Looking at the crazy, grinning mask of his face) This is the scariest thing I've ever seen!

Teenhollywood: Did being fearless ever get you in trouble?

Chris: Oh sure. High school maybe, just doing practical jokes. At a pep assembly I did a sketch where I did impressions of the teachers and they didn't like it. I was new at the school and didn't know anybody and they were picking on me. Then I'm popular because I'm the little freshman with the biggest balls. I usually end up walking away saying, "I'm glad I did it that way." I'd rather not react based on fear. I'd rather do the whole thing fearless.

Teenhollywood: Do you think it's important to have a comedy coming out right now?

Chris: Yes. It is important. It's a funny movie and a good feeling movie and with what is going on in the world, it's great to have that out there for people to see. It's not an explosion movie or war or fighting. It's a great escape, good for families and kids and teenagers to see it.

Teenhollywood: How is it in New York right now, especially on the show. Is there a ban on political stuff?

Chris: In the city, the spirit's coming back but I left last night so what happened recently I don't know. Drew Barrymore's our guest. I know she's coming to do the show. It's harder than usual because we have to be cautious about things. We can't just do crazy, outrageous stuff because we feel like it. We have to be conscientious. But, I think that's good, it's smart. It's better to have rules for us. That way we work a little harder. I went in New York to see Zoolander. I want to see The Producers and I still can't get in.

Teenhollywood: How did this film come about?

Chris: These writers had this idea and they pitched it to me and I liked it and we joined up with Disney and we honed it and thought it was a pretty good story. They let me help create the character. It's harder for anyone to tell a comedian what to do specifically, especially when people are used to me being "Mango" or "Mr. Peepers", they don't know that I could do something else. People think I can't talk.

Teenhollywood: Would you ever do a straight drama?

Chris: Yeah. I'd love to. In House on Haunted Hill, I wasn't really serious but it wasn't sketchy either. I would love to do drama. Something independent that would allow me to be serious. I wouldn't care if anyone saw it. I'd just like the opportunity to do that. I started off doing that.

Teenhollywood: What about playing Antonio Banderas like you do on SNL? Could you make a film of that?

Chris: (Sarcastic) Oh sure, I'm going to do a movie, team up where I play him and he plays himself. He will love it. He doesn't want to talk to me. I know he wasn't crazy about it when Drew Barrymore played Melanie Griffith.

Teenhollywood: Do people walk up to you on the street and ask you to do a character?

Chris: Yeah. They ask about "Mango" or some people say, "Hey do that" (indicates the Roxbury head bop). I'm like, "Please, no." Now they want me to say, "Want some cookies?" Usually, when people meet me they're like "Oh, he's so nice. He's not like a crazy, manic, insane monkeyboy, crazy person."

Teenhollywood: Who do you wish would host SNL so you could work with them?

Chris: Harrison Ford. That would be cool.

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Interviewer and writer Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.