Video:Jorma Taccone Interview - Land of the Lost
with Rebecca MurrayJorma Taccone did his research before tackling the role of Chaka the monkey in the big screen version of 'Land of the Lost.' At the 2008 Comic Con, Taccone talked about the tone of the series and its perceived campiness.See Transcript
Transcript:Jorma Taccone Interview - Land of the Lost
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con.
Jorma Taccone - 'Chaka' in Land of the Lost
I talked to you last time [at Comic Con] for Hot Rod and now you're playing in Land of the Lost - a little different there.
Jorma Taccone: "Yeah, well actually I think my character has some similarities. He's still very nerdy – very, very nerdy."
What is it with you and nerdy characters?
Jorma Taccone: "I love nerds. I am a bit of a nerd. No, it was a very different character, obviously. I'm three hours in makeup every day and completely covered and dressed as a monkey. Not on all fours, but certainly hunched over quite a bit. This is the most erect I've been in quite a while...innuendo."
So what is it like to play a monkey?
Jorma Taccone: "It's fantastic. No, it's actually it's kind of amazing because you kind of don't realize how many muscle groups you don't use standing straight up. And I would have moments where I'm pretty low – I'm not going to do it for you now – but I'm pretty low in scenes, and if a scene goes over a minute, I'm just in the background shaking, just hoping that they'd cut. And then we'd get into an improv kind of thing where maybe Will [Ferrell] and Danny [McBride] and Anna [Friel] would start to riff a little bit, and at that point I'm like, 'Oh my god, please just end the scene!'"
The original was very campy and weird effects. What is this like?
Jorma Taccone: "You know what's really funny is that the original, I've watched quite a bit of the original Land of the Lost series now and there's a camp to it, but it's actually done very, very seriously. There's a real level of drama to it. They play everything kind of dead straight. Not only did I watch the DVDs, but I watched a lot of the commentary like with Sid and Marty and some of the original writers and stuff, and they were saying they really had to get a real tone because it was like kids – especially Holly at the time was so young – saying that they really got a tone of like not being too campy. It had to be said with a realness, and that's in it I feel like. That kind of seriousness of the situations are real and the dinosaurs are real, and it's a life and death situation but at the same time you can find humorous moments in that."
What is it like when you have to sit through 3 hours of makeup?
Jorma Taccone: "Oh my god, you just let your mind drift. No, the first two hours are great. And then the third hour – is great. By the end of the third hour, you're starting to freak out a little bit. But I had an amazing makeup artist named Tom Floutz who's amazing. He's done like the fish guy in Hellboy, Abe Sapien I believe is his name, and X-Men and Spider-Man 3, like tons of stuff. So he was a joy to be around. Without Tom I would have lost my mind, I think."
Did you take any part of the costume home with you?
Jorma Taccone: "I can't say that. The costume is quite expensive. Noooo, I didn't. I was allowed to keep the teeth, which are molded to my face so I should get to keep the teeth, right? And I may have kept the feet, too. Don't tell anyone. There was many pairs. There were lots of pairs. I'm going to get a bill now for like $10,000."