Until 2005, Seth Green was probably best known as the philosophical werewolf Oz from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the snarky Scott Evil in the Austin Powers movies, or the voice of Family Guy's Chris Griffin. But these days, he's also known as the co-creator (and writer, director, producer, and performer) of the Emmy-nominated Cartoon Network series Robot Chicken.
The A.V. Club: Let's start by talking about the career-defining role that most people know you for: that two seconds in the background of Weird Al's "White And Nerdy" video. How did that come about?
Seth Green: [Laughs.] That was a great fluke, actually. I met Weird Al a while ago, and he apparently was a fan of Robot Chicken, and he approached us about producing a video for him. He was putting out a new record and wanted to do some videos in conjunction with some of the songs, and he was approaching different animation houses. And we made one for "Weasel Stomping Day." I got to work closely with him and put this together for him, and then I brought him on the show to do voices and such. It just kind of cemented our relationship. Then he invited me to be in that video, and I, of course, leapt at the chance.
AVC: Were those your action figures?
SG: Actually they aren't mine—I'll rat him out, those were my partner Matt Senreich's action figures. That was just a sack of toys that had been brought from an office and were sitting in the back of his car, and Al was like, "You think I can get any toys from the show?" And Matt was like, "Funny you should ask, I have a crate of them in my car."
Robot Chicken—various roles
SG: I long for the time when I didn't have my days scheduled for the next several months. That's what I think of when I think of Robot Chicken.
AVC: There's so much packed into those episodes, particularly old TV shows and pop-culture references. Do you sit around and just brainstorm childhood memories?
SG: We do. We write for 20 weeks, and we produce the content for 20 episodes in those 20 weeks. So we have a team of writers, and we all sit around throwing out ideas and topics, scenarios, toy properties or nostalgic references, stuff that we want to build sketches around, and then we start trying to fine-tune them into actual sketches.
AVC: How do you determine which voices you do vs. which you have other people do?
SG: If there's something I know I can do… If we're doing a sketch that involves Hulk Hogan, we're gonna go out to Hulk Hogan and ask if he wants to do it. And if we don't get him, we're gonna try to find someone that sounds like him. And if I can do a good impersonation, then I'll do it. It's usually money-specific. We don't have a lot of money, so we can only spend it on so many people, and I wind up picking up the rest.
AVC: Have you gotten to the point yet where you approach somebody and say "Robot Chicken?" and they say "Oh my God, Robot Chicken! I'm totally in!"
SG: Yes, which is a dramatic difference from the first season, when I not only had to explain what our show was, but for some agents and managers, explain the concept of stop-motion, and that Ted Turner founded Cartoon Network. There was a point where we were trying to get Harrison Ford on the show, and we went to his manager, who had no idea that there was a Cartoon Network, let alone an Adult Swim. It's an uphill climb trying to explain this show to someone who has no idea what it is, and that's what we dealt with in the first season. But after that, people started hearing about it and seeing it, and we had kind of a place in pop culture. Now when we approach people, they're at least aware of it.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2000)—"Oz"
SG: Great experience. Lot of work. Tons of hours in make-up. But a good time. I got to be a foot-kickin', zombie-stabbin', guitar-playin' werewolf! That was a pretty cool show!
AVC: Did you have any input into the character?
SG: Not in creating it, but I think in defining it. Over time, I got to add my flourishes and ideas or suggestions along the way, but Joss Whedon and the writers on that show had really great ideas, and I felt that if I could just interpret them, I'd be in good shape.
AVC: When he left the show, how much of that was your impetus and how much was theirs?
SG: There was a point at which I approached Joss and just said I was really… I felt like we hadn't done anything that we had talked about. I felt like the character's potential vs. what we actually were doing were in drastic opposition. And I was getting other opportunities, so I asked to be let out, because I spent an entire season as a regular on the show, not doing or saying anything. They'd bound me to a series-regular contract, yet the character didn't really necessitate being in every episode and every scene, so I found myself forced into scenes contractually that I really had no place or role in. So I'd spend five days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, to be in a scene with nine other people, and hopefully get to say "I think Buffy's right!" I was like, "This isn't what we talked about." And I had another opportunity to do a movie, so I requested being let out for six episodes to do it, and it was just… As much as the character was peripheral, to get me off for six episodes apparently would've caused too much turmoil, so they just found a way to make me exit gracefully.
Family Guy (1999-2007)—"Chris Griffin"
SG: Family Guy's one of the best jobs I've ever had. Ever. It's a show I love to watch, so it's a thrill to get to be on it. It's a fairly easy job to do, and I have a lot of fun. And the fact that fans are responding, too, it blows my mind. I mean, it's exciting that people like it. It makes me feel like there's a similarity in consciousness… No, that's not a good way to explain it. I feel like there's a similar sense of humor. It's nice to feel like I'm not crazy for thinking the show is funny. Know what I mean?
AVC: Did the dynamic change at all among the cast when the show came back after being cancelled?
SG: We were all emboldened by the support. [Laughs.] We came to the set wearing sunglasses and glittered sneakers. We were like, "Who can stop us now? You tried to keep us down, and now we're on the air! Suck it!" So all of us just crash our cars directly into the valet stand, and we're like "I'll be back in an hour, put that somewhere nice."
The Austin Powers trilogy (1997-2002)—"Scott Evil"
SG: Austin Powers was a blast. We made that first movie as all but an independent film, and it was successful, so we got to come back. It's the same kind of thing, where once there's support behind something, you feel a little more comfortable trying new things and experimenting, and just taking it further and being sillier. You don't feel as self-conscious, so you're more likely to try new and more outrageous things, which can either work well, or you'll fall flat on your face.
AVC: The character seems closer to your own personality than most, at least judging by your talk-show appearances. Does it feel that way to you at all?
SG: No, I've got a really good relationship with my dad. [Laughs.] I like to think that I'm not quite as petulant, and don't have quite the same need to dissect everybody else's interests. But I definitely think of myself as a logical observer, so we're similar in that. And we look a lot alike, me and Scott Evil.
Idle Hands (1999)—"Mick"
SG: [Laughs slowly.] Um… [Laughs more.] The best thing about that movie was that everybody working on it had a different mission statement. We all thought we were making a different movie. Me and the boys—the other actors, Devin [Sawa] and Elden [Henson]—we were convinced we were making a high drama with some comedic elements, and we tried to make our relationship as lifelong best friends believable. And, uh… [Laughs.] The director, Rodman [Flender], was attempting to make a throwback Italian horror film, like a Dario Argento flick. The writers really wanted it to be Heathers. And the studio was listening to the test marketing and saying that if this movie didn't have… They really wanted the zombies to be cuter, and have more wacky antics, and apparently all the kids in the audience thought that there should be more pot-smoking, that pot should save the day, and somewhere, somehow, Jessica Alba needed to get her top ripped off. And that's how that whole new ending got shot, where she's up on the car lift and gets her midsection ripped off, and pot saves the day. Like I build a giant bong out of a carburetor. [Laughs.] That was the alternate ending that we shot over the summer. I do love that movie. It was grueling to go through three hours of makeup every day for three months. That's an awful, awful experience. But at the same time, we had a lot of fun.
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