My Interview With Seann William Scott Ahead of His Movie BLOODLINE, in Theaters This Friday

Last week, I had the honor of interviewing Seann William Scott, the actor best known for his roles in the American Pie franchise, Role Models, Goon and its sequel, and his most recent film, Bloodline. I was able to view this film ahead of its premiere, and it was a trip. This was a darker film than I had seen Scott in before, and coming from Blumhouse, it wasn’t a big surprise. The movie was directed and co-written by Henry Jacobson, with this being his first feature film. Despite the gratuitous nudity and over-the-top blood and gore, which I’m not particularly a fan of, the story did have twists I did not see coming, and I thought it was fun and interesting to see Scott in a new role that was reminiscent of Dexter and Norman Bates all rolled into one.

Scott was extremely nice and genuine, and I got a huge kick out of chatting with him. Check out our interview below, and see Bloodline in theaters this Friday, September 20th.

Seann William Scott: Hey, Jessica.

Jessica Fisher: Hi, how are you?

SWS: I’m great, how are you?

JF: I’m great. Thanks so much for speaking with me today.

SWS: Thank you!

JF: You’re welcome! So, first off, what drew you to the role of Evan in Bloodline?

SWS: Wow, just to get the chance to do something different. I wanted to work with Blumhouse, badly. I just love everything that they do. I actually asked to meet with them. I said, guys, we need to work together. I’d love to find something that’s dark. So this project came from that. They sent this over, and I like, really loved this character, and loved the themes in it. It really all came together from me saying I wanna work with you guys. I love dark films. I love dark characters. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and put my spin on it.

JF: Yeah, it definitely was darker than most of your previous roles…

SWS: Yeah! (Laughs)

JF: So how was preparing for this role different, and was it hard being in a darker mindset?

SWS: Honestly, I think it was easier for me to film this movie and play this part than the comedy character. I don’t know why. I don’t know if that makes me an insane person. Maybe it was just because I was so excited to do something totally different. I don’t know. The character is very, kind of quiet, and internal. Just the whole, everything about it kind of suited me a little bit better than the crazy, cartoonish, comedy guys, which just require a lot more energy. I don’t really remember what I was thinking each day while filming the scenes, you know except, “don’t ruin the movie.” That was really my motivation. You know? “Don’t fuck this up.”

JF: (Laughs) So, the movie had a lot of unexpected twists, and was sort of left open at the end. Do you think that there is room for a sequel?

SWS: I don’t know. I really haven’t thought about that. I certainly hope that people like it enough to, you know, talk about something like that, but I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like that type of movie. I mean, I don’t think so.

JF: It had, or your character at least, had kind of a Dexter quality to him. Were there any characters you tapped into, or anything you read or watched that helped you get into that frame of mind?

SWS: I read quite a bit. There was a lot of stuff the director had sent over, and we talked a lot. If anything though, I think, I love movies, I love Dexter, and that was actually a concern of mine, was that there was a lot of comparisons between this movie and that show, and so I was just trying not to do something we’ve seen before, which is like, pretty much impossible. This genre, and this character, it’s pretty much impossible not to come across like you’re stealing shit. So I was just trying to do my best not to make people feel like, “oh, he’s ripping off this guy, and ripping off this guy.” But like I said, it’s pretty much impossible, so I just tried my best to keep it believable.

JF: Well, I enjoyed your character, because even though it drew parallels to other characters, it was such a different take. He had a family, and it was almost like a double life. So I thought you did a good job.

SWS: Thank you!

JF: You’re welcome. So, do you still get recognized for being Stifler from American Pie more than any other role?

SWS: Well, sure. I mean, yeah, but it’s funny, every once in a while, you know, people really ended up liking the movie Goon, so a lot of people come up to me talking about that movie, and Role Models, actually. But totally, I mean that’s how my career got started, and we did so many of those movies, and it always makes me happy. I always get surprised, even now, I’m like, really? You still like that character? But it means so much to me because I literally wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for it.

JF: So, Mily, another writer for GeekTyrant, said that you were her favorite on an episode of MTV Cribs, with the cast of American Pie. She said the movie had just come out and you were young and poor still, and living in a crappy apartment with roommates, and someone had been murdered in your pool. So, she wanted to know, has your situation improved?

SWS: Ha! You know what? Somebody wasn’t murdered in the pool, but they were murdered right outside the window of my kitchen. I think it was like an America’s Most Wanted bank robber. And actually, we were promoting, Dude, Where’s My Car?. So in that episode, they were showing Ashton (Kutcher) in his cool house, and they told me about the show, and I was like, “I don’t know man, I live in this like, fuckin’ shit box.” Like, shit’s missing, cotton’s coming out of the sofa. My fridge has like one can of tuna it there. So, basically, to answer your friend’s question, I’m still here. I’m in the same place. Because, you know what? I’ve had a lot of success while I’ve stayed here. I can save money, the rent is cheap. I can just do a little home improvement. So you can tell your friend I’m still in the same place. I’m not, but you can tell her I am.

JF: (Laughs) Sounds good. So what can you tell me about anything you have coming up next?

SWS: Well, you know what? Nothing definitive. I have a couple of projects that are in early stages of developing that are both TV shows, and both comedies that I’m really excited about, but they’re both really early. And as far as films, I haven’t read anything that’s tickled my fancy, but I’m more focused on the two TV shows. As much as I do want to do some things I haven’t had a chance to do, I really do love comedy, and I’m excited when I find a great character. So, basically, at the moment I’m doing jack squat.

JF: (Laughs) So is there anything you can tell us about the two TV projects, or not quite yet?

SWS: Um, it’s a little early, which is too bad, because if we spoke in a month, I would be able to tell you. But they’re both half hour, and would be like for cable, but yeah, nothing set in stone yet. I think they’re both really different, and one is more of a Netflix thing. It’s not set up at Netflix, but it would be perfect for them I think. But yeah, we’ll wait and see.

JF: Alright, well thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today, and we look forward to talking with you again soon.

SWS: I look forward to it too. Thanks so much. Have a great day.

JF: You too, bye.