Behind the Scenes of Freaks and Geeks with Gerry Katzman

March 14, 2000

Greg: I had a chance to talk to Gerry about his interview with the cast of Freaks and Geeks, and this is what he had to say about the experience. Be sure to check out the footage he shot at the Hollywood.com site, linked on the front page.

Greg: How was the trip to the set of Freaks and Geeks?
Gerry: Wow, Greg, there is so much to say! I was on the set for two days so I have a cool amount to tell.

Okay, First of all I have never been on a set with such cool people. I tell you that the cast is so nice, and so impressed with the fans they've met. There is so much additional footage of the cast talking about their fans, how much they appreciate them, and how most people who like the show also turn out to be really cool people.

Greg: Did you find any of the characters to be like their characters?
Gerry: When we aked the cast, the answer to the question, "who is least like their character" is Martin Starr. Who apparently dresses real funky in real life with overalls and red split-toe Nike's!

The answer to who is most like the character is Samm Levine. (cool Shatner imitation no? ps Samm is the first to say that his is a bad Shatner imitation, he developed it to annoy his brother who was a huge Trekkie) Jessica Campbell (tuba-girl/Election) who was on the set while we were there (we wanted to include footage her of so much but had to keep it under 5 minutes) is supersweet. Okay, the set itself is so cool. And the lighting, sound, and crew guys form a band with guitars and drums every luch hour and rock hard! Samm told me that sometimes people just skip lunch and dance.

Greg: Did you meet the creator, Paul Feig or the directors/producers?
Gerry: Paul Feig? Jake Kasdan? They are so warm and accessible. I felt like they were the neat older brothers in a loving family. By the way, their second in command, is so responsible for us being on the set. Maureen Jennings deserves so much of the credit for trusting us, and giving us access to everything. She is quite honestly AWESOME. We owe her thanks.

Greg: We didnt see Martin Starr in the video, did you get to meet him?
Gerry: A word about Martin Starr, we couldn't get him into the edit, but he told us that being on the show is a dream come true. We met Sarah Hagan (Millie) and Lee Sheperd (Harris) and they totally reminded us of their characters (although Sarah assured us that she was not exactly like her character).

FACT: Lee Sheperd, got the part of "Harris" by going to a general-in-the-newspaper-anyone-can-go casting call!

Greg: Alot of fans submitted questions to the cast on this site, how did that go over?
Gerry: I read Linda Roger's poems from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of March and she smiled and then said they were sweet. Then, I showed them my notes and Busy and Linda began reading Jeff Mills' : "The Ballad Of Freaks & Geeks" out loud together! The cast was blown away by the fans' participation and it seems like Busy actually goes online. Then we took John Daly to the F&G fan site and he checked out the questions you guys posted to him (1)yes, his friends still treat him normally at home, the phonies treat him nicer, and the bullies hate him more- 2) He has a pretty complete training in Shaolin Kung-Fu and hasn't had much time to do it during shooting, but looks forward to getting back into it)

Greg: Was the cast as great as we keep hearing they are?
Gerry: Jason Segal, Busy Phillips, Linda Cardellini, James Franco (who I used to take acting classes with and made it really possible for us to hang out on the set), Seth Rogen (who's mom was on set with us), John Daley, Samm Levine, and Martin Starr are every bit as cool as you would think they are, they appreciate their fans, they were super-cool to us, and we wish them good luck.

Greg: Any lasting memories?
Gerry: The coolest thing is that we were on-set/on location in this little town called Newhall California, and it was raining, so we were in this little wagon with the cast and Paul Feig, and Jake Kasdan says, "you know, it was one year ago today that we began taping... and it was here in Newhall, and it was raining."

And for that one second, it felt like everyone in that honey-wagon knew they had been a part of something really special.