“I had to call [Guest] and say, ‘I’m not in the script,’” remembers Willard. “And they
Balaban recalls watching the scene with Jennifer Coolidge as one of the most
say, ‘Oh, it was a mistake.’ It was a little confusing when I saw my name wasn’t in
memorable days on set. “I’m trying to think of the polite word for ‘shit,’” he
[there]. I thought maybe I’d been cut out of the film and they were just sending me
begins. “The excrement comes out of the toilet and dances for like fifteen
the script as a courtesy.” Willard’s character, Buck Laughlin, turned out to be one
minutes. Jennifer and I, as we watched it, instead of talking or whispering about
of the biggest highlights of Best in Show. (“I’ve taken a sponge bath in smaller bowls
it, we just thought it was literally the funniest thing we’d ever seen.” Though it
than that!”) In the new film, he plays a former mascot and somewhat disinterested
borders on the grotesque in terms of subject matter, the production value and
coach who’s a little too self-absorbed to be truly invested in Chris Moynihan’s
straight-faced delivery of Moynihan’s performance sell the scene as plausible
act as a puffed-up plumber. The first time we encounter Willard’s character, he’s
reality, leaving the viewer a little bit unsure of how to feel. Balaban recognizes
reading a dog magazine, which, much like the reappearance of Corky St. Clair, can
this plausibility as an important part of the Christopher Guest experience.
be seen as a wormhole running through the Christopher Guest universe. Willard,
ever the humble gentleman, considers the detail mere coincidence.
“To me that’s one of Chris’s many strong suits,” he says. “[It’s] something that
probably would be unlikely to happen, and yet, it’s got to be believable or it can’t
Despite the lack of moral support, Jack the Plumber’s routine proves a rousing
be in there. He walks a very fine line between being a little too absurd and it
success and is remembered by the actors as one of the funniest moments on
[being] actually believable, and I think that’s a very special gift.”
the Mascots production. “There’s this hysterical scene where he’s unplugging a
toilet,” Willard says. “When I read the script, I said to Christopher Guest, ‘This is
“I’ve never believed in playing a complete jackass,” adds Willard. “Because you
hysterically funny,’ and he was very non-committal.”
always have to feel—even if you are a jackass—you really think you’re doing
the right thing and there’s a reason for the things you’re doing. Not just [to] be
goofy.” The fact that characters address the camera in an interview format adds
to the documentary aspect of Guest’s films, suspending disbelief even more. But
please, don’t call it a mockumentary.
“He hates the term ‘mockumentary,’” says Willard. “He doesn’t like to be
pigeonholed, I don’t think.”
Balaban sees the structural through line of these movies as an asset and a source
of enjoyment for Guest’s audience. “They’re all different yarns,” he says, “but
the way that the yarn is unspooled has a similarity of structure, and I think it’s
probably satisfying. It must be fun to have something familiar to expect in the
movies.” Mascots follows suit on these terms, but with each new Christopher
Guest project, the players and the audience alike are treated to an exploration
of an entirely new subculture, and this keeps things inevitably fresh.
“I love all these different worlds that Chris has embraced,” says Begley. “The
world of dog sho