“I Remember Wanting To Be On Set, I Was Just Happy.” Interview With Devon Sawa, Star Of THE FANATIC

Devon Sawa has been in movies since he was a child, starring in huge 90’s hits like Casper and Now & Then, and later Idle Hands and Final Destination. In his most recent film The Fanatic, he takes on a new kind of role. In this thriller, directed by Fred Durst, Sawa plays a famous actor stalked by his biggest fan. I was able to chat with the actor, and we discussed his experience making the film, some of his most famous roles, and what he looks for when choosing new projects.

Kristy Strouse for Film Inquiry: I’ve watched you for a long time, congratulations on the new movie! Oh, and you’re hilarious on Twitter by the way!

Devon Sawa: Thanks. I appreciate it. Sometimes I wonder if I cross the line, and I think I probably do, but ya know what? It’s just me being me.

Absolutely! Well, I always enjoy it. So, I heard that John Travolta first referred you for the role as you two had worked together. So, what was your first impression of the film and of your character?

Devon Sawa: John and I worked with each other in this movie called Life on the line, which ended up being one of these straight to DVD films. I really liked working with him, he’s very passionate and very dedicated to his work. So, he recommended me to Fred Durst for the role, and Fred wasn’t sold on it at first. He hadn’t seen me in a while –  I had been on a show, Nikita, which was on the CW and wasn’t really Fred’s kind of thing.

So, you know, he recommended me and then Fred sent over the script, and John sent over a picture of what he was gonna look like in the script. And I had to fight for the role. I had to go down to the studio and put the whole movie on tape, every scene I am in plus others that didn’t make the cut. I put them all on tape. He sat on it for a week and finally called me and told me I had gotten the role. I knew it was something special by the picture John had sent me. Apparently, Fred had said that John was already talking to him in character as Moose and that he was going to try to stay in character during the entire film. And he did, and it was crazy.

He stayed in character as Moose throughout the making of the film? How method. 

Devon Sawa: He did, maybe not at night, but as soon as he came to work he’d put on the costume and walk out and from that point on… every crew member, me, Fred, everyone would refer to his as Moose, talk to him as Moose. He would go to craft services as Moose and eat his lunch as him. He did that through the whole 17 days. 

That’s definitely commitment! Now, you played Stan in a n Eminem music video once – and while that’s a lot different than Moose – what was like being on the other side of things and were there any challenges in your part?

Devon Sawa: I never really put two and two together, Stan and Moose. They are really different.

Oh absolutely.

Devon Sawa: Stan is a much more dangerous kind of guy, he throws his wife in a trunk and it’s very serious stuff. The movie star that I play kind of has a chip on his shoulder and by the end of it you’re not sure if you even want him to make it out of this. They are very different, but it was interesting to play the other side of the stalker.

Moose is very different for sure, and you’re really empathetic to his character and things slowly build up over the course of the film. He’s pushed to certain things.

Devon Sawa: And that’s what we were trying to do, with the ending – the climax of the thing, was to have audiences kind of confused because he’s crossing every line, everything he’s doing is absolutely not right. But at the same time –  do you feel for him? Are you sympathetic to what he’s doing? This guy is a jerk that he’s got tied on the bed, and at the same time – the guy on the bed has every right to be a jerk with all the stuff he’s got going on. We wanted people to be torn. Do you know what I mean?

Definitely, and I think that comes through in the film. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but by then you’re really not sure what you want to happen. So, kudos to both you and John for that. You’d think, just hearing about Moose’s character that he would be one-note, but he’s not at all.

Devon Sawa: Yeah, everyone is kind of expecting that Misery character.

Annie Wilkes, yeah.  

Devon Sawa: Yeah, where she’s just crazy nuts. And that’s not the case.

You’ve been acting since you were very young. How has your acting style changed over the years?

Devon Sawa: Well, I’m trying my best to evolve with the rest of Hollywood as Hollywood as evolved. The acting styles in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s… it’s just always evolving. Nowadays, you watch someone like Tom Hardy, and he’s just so grounded and real. That’s where I’m trying to get to as well. Where you can just be still. That’s where I’m headed and that’s where my acting style has changed – with Hollywood.

Do you have a favorite performance that you’ve done over the years, maybe a role that has stood out to you?

Devon Sawa: I got a script for Hawaii Five-O, believe it or not, that my agent brought to me. It is just a one off episode, but it deals with suicide and it’s about a guy who is going through some stuff and thinking about taking his own life. It’s a two-hander between me and Chi McBride and it’s in a car and I think it is my favorite performance that I have done just because of the subject matter and yeah, I think that would be it for sure.

Great! And you’ve done a lot of roles, is there one in particular that you get recognized for the most?

Devon Sawa: It’s a toss-up between Casper, Final Destination and Idle Hands that happens the most.

It’s interesting with Casper too because you’re in that movie for, like, what, two minutes?

Devon Sawa: One minute. Yeah. And apparently the kid that did the voice and, god, he was there for like three and a half months and I showed up for a day or something like that for the end scene. And, not deliberately, I took a lot of the credit for the role. Apparently, I just found this out recently, they even dubbed my voice with his. So, it’s not even my voice. It’s weird, yeah.

That’s interesting. Those all make sense popularity-wise. I actually read once that you’d be up for an Idle Hands sequel, anything to that?

Devon Sawa: There was also an article saying I would be interested in doing another Final Destination film. People asked me if I would do a sequel to Idle Hands if they did one. And yeah, of course, but I don’t think they are going to. I loved doing Idle Hands, it was so much fun to shoot. Do I think they are going to do another? [laughs] No, I wouldn’t bet 10 dollars that they would. But yes, of course I’d love to do one.

What was it like working with Fred Durst?

Devon Sawa: He has as much energy as you’d think he has. He comes to set with that Limp Bizkit, controlling a mosh-pit sort of energy. It’s really contagious and fun, and it’s great to work with. He actually just gave me another script that he’s considering me for, and it is even more bizarre than Moose. I love it. So, hopefully I’ll be able to do that with him too. Right now it’s just a script, it hasn’t even been shopped around yet, but I think he’ll have no problem getting it made. It’s wild.

Well, I really enjoyed this movie, and there were quite a few bizarre moments that I thought were great. You began at such a young age, did you know right away that you wanted to act?

Devon Sawa: I started in theatre when I was eight or nine and I always loved being on the stage. We traveled around to elementary schools and we performed for kids and I just loved doing it. I was 14 when I got Casper, but until then I was doing all sorts of theatre and TV shows. I was one of the rare kids, on set, that really wanted to be there. I remember taking the bus to theatre school and really wanting to go. I remember wanting to be on set, I was just happy. Which was rare, there’s usually about a 50/50 split of kids that were there because their parents wanted them and of kids who genuinely wanted to be there. Am I veering from your question?

No, not at all. I love it – go ahead.

Devon Sawa: I just remember I always wanted to be doing what I was doing. It wasn’t until I was about 24/25 that I wanted to stop doing what I was doing. I didn’t want to anymore and I took a long break.

So, what changed, what made you go back to it?

Devon Sawa: I stopped doing it because I was doing these really bad horror films at the time. Final Destination opened the door for all these horror movies wanting to work with me and I did some that were really, really awful. I wasn’t inspired. I needed a change. I met my wife and we went off to South East Asia and we travelled around, I came back and got into real estate, and then my old agent sent me a script. And I auditioned for it. I don’t know why, it just felt like the right thing to do, and all of a sudden, I was back in Hollywood. I was doing things again that I wanted to be doing. I did the show Nikita, and the reason I did Nikita was because I had gotten into Martial Arts, Jujutsu and what not, and they were like “Wanna do Nikita where you basically just do these fight scenes?” And I was like god yes! Sounds like fun! [laughs] That’s how I got back into it.

Is there something in particular that you look for in a character/script?

Devon Sawa: Right now, I’m trying to look at scripts the way I used to, post-Wild America. After that, I wanted to get out of the teen-beat image and I wanted to do things that I really liked and I wanted to watch. So, I started going towards the SLC Punk, Idle Hands, Final Destinations – things like that and that’s what I’m trying to do again. I just did a movie with Guy Pearce, and the script was whatever, but I really wanted to work with Guy Pearce so badly. I also did a movie with Sylvester Stallone and I would have a fight scene with Stallone, and so I did that. Working with Travolta has always been a dream ever since I saw Pulp Fiction. That’s where I’m at now, I just want to do things that I want to do.

Awesome! I’m glad you’re able to find roles you are enjoying again! And congratulations on the film.

Film Inquiry would like to thank Devon Sawa for taking the time to speak with us!

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Watch The Fanatic