Touchstone Pictures Chris Kattan stars
as Corky Romano in his new film, a departure from his SNL
personas.
By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Live!…far from New York…it’s…not necessarily
Saturday night.
Chris Kattan, a regular on the popular television program
“Saturday Night Live” is trying something new,
something somewhat different from what audiences are used to seeing
from him.
He’s starring in a movie that does not attempt to stretch
a two minute skit into a feature-length film, which is a rarity for
many members of “Saturday Night Live.”
There’s no mention of Mango, no Antonio Banderas
impersonations, and “What Is Love” can’t be heard
in any part of the movie.
Corky isn’t a sketch character ““ he’s a
character for a film. He wasn’t created for
“SNL,” he was created outside.
In his latest movie “Corky Romano,” Kattan plays the
kind-hearted son of a Mafia boss who was kicked out of the family
crime ring for being too gentle. When his father gets into trouble
with the law, however, Corky must attempt to destroy the evidence
the FBI has against his father by becoming an FBI agent
himself.
With this new movie, Kattan has just ventured further from the
realm of “Saturday Night Live” than he ever has
before.
His new movie consists of not one character from the skits on
the show.
Is Kattan distancing himself from his wild “SNL”
persona? To many fans, this might seem a little strange. Maybe
Kattan will surprise everybody and start doing serious roles.
“I would love to do something serious,” Kattan said
at a Los Angeles press junket. “I would love to do something
independent that would allow me to be serious and I wouldn’t
care if anyone saw it.”
But Kattan is not ready to get completely serious just yet. He
is still very down to party with his old friends from
“Saturday Night Live.”
“I stay up late Saturday nights. We always have an after
party, but lately we’ve been having an after-after party at
like four in the morning. They’re like, “˜Hey, you wanna
go out?'”
According to Kattan, creating a protagonist for a film is very
different from creating a character for a sketch on “Saturday
Night Live.”
“Corky, the lead character, better be likeable, he better
not be a sketch character,” Kattan said. “You have to
like that character, or else you’re not going to want to
follow him.”
Chris Penn, one of Kattan’s co-stars, also attempted to be
fearless when playing his role as Romano’s tougher, angrier
brother.
“Comedy is the scariest thing. Because if you embarrass
yourself in comedy you look like a fool. You have to say,
“˜Well heck, I’m not going to worry if I’m going
to make a fool of myself, I’m going to do it … and Chris is
very good at what he does,'” said Kattan.
And this willingness to make a fool of himself has taken Kattan
beyond “SNL.”
With his movie opening this Friday, his fellow “Saturday
Night Live” cast members have been very supportive of
Kattan’s latest endeavor.
“In my situation, they’re very supportive and happy.
I’ve been on there for a while though … I’ve earned
respect and I have great relationships with the people there.
I’ve been a good person to them and they support
me.”