Why Did Jon Heder Vanish after "Napoleon Dynamite" - He Explains his Mormon Beliefs - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JamesG · 01-11-2012, 04:51 PM

Jon Heder on Napoleon Dynamite, Avoiding Raunchy Roles, and Fellow Mormon Mitt Romney
1/11/12

It’s been seven years between the movie Napoleon Dynamite and FOX’s new animated series e, and the original movie isn’t even streaming on Netflix Instant.

“It’s not?” asked the once and future Napoleon, Jon Heder, before mock-expunging any self-doubt: “Whatever, dude. Everybody owns it already.”

We talked to Heder about revisiting the role, how being Mormon has held him back from being a raunchy comedy star, and his feelings about Mitt Romney.

How many years has the cartoon been in development?

I guess you could say seven years, since the movie was made. But it really was probably over a year since I first got the call. I think it was FOX that came to Jared [Hess, Napoleon Dynamite’s director] first, and said, “I think it’s time. What do you think about doing an animated series?”

And Jared was onboard, and then they came to me, and of course I was onboard.

So this was a no-brainer for you?

Yeah.

Really? Why?

Way back when the movie came out, there was talk about a possible sequel. But Jared was busy, so FOX came to me and put it out there:

“Would you be willing to do a sequel with another director?” And I said that made no sense. It was his story, so to pawn it off on some guy we don’t know …

I went to college with Jared, we invented the character for a school project at BYU. It was just too weird of a situation. I couldn’t do Napoleon without Jared. But now, we’re able to give fans what they’ve wanted for a long time.

This was such a defining role for you. Was there ever a point in your life when you resented him a little bit?

No. I never resented him. I loved the character from day one. I get asked that a lot: “Oh, I guess you’re over it.” And I was like yeah, I want to do other things. But I definitely feel like being so close to a character and being able to help create that character and bring him to life, there’s just …

It really seemed to affect — I don’t want to say “touch," in a way that’s too sentimental — but it really affected a lot of people. It has a big fan base. And that was such a big thing to me: I always dreamed of being in the entertainment business and entertaining people.

I look at other instances in the past at other actors who have portrayed certain characters, and again of course I want to continue to try to do other things, but I know that that may be the role that I become known for. And hopefully I will expand my skills [snickers at his own Napoleon joke] and my horizons in the acting and entertainment field, but there’s no bitterness towards the character.

If it was “I’m just trying to get my foot in the door, I’m just going to take a paycheck and play a goofy character in this movie” — completely different story. But no! I was completely onboard; this was the kind of film that I would’ve made. I loved it.

In real life, you’re a nice guy who never swears.

Well, you’ve never seen me play video games.

But I have played Hacky Sack with you — on the set of Benchwarmers, when I was doing a story on Nick Swarsdon.

You complained about me “self-serving,” but you really are a sweet guy who doesn’t swear. Honestly, you seem to have a lot in common with Napoleon.

Ha-ha. That’s funny. Absolutely. It’s true. It wasn’t based on me, but when Jared brought me the script, I read it and I was immediately like, “Yeah.”

Jared and I come from very similar backgrounds. Both of us being LDS and having been raised in big families with lots of brothers. We grew up catching crawdads and picking each other’s butts with samurai swords. I was like, “Yeah, I get it, he knows my younger brothers.” And I know his younger brothers.

Since 2001, we’ve never had any major disagreements about the character.

You do close your mouth a lot more in real life. Why did you make Napoleon such a mouth breather?

As soon as we realized this is a character who’s so unapologetically clueless … he’s not so much a dweeb, but he seriously lives in his own world. Some kids live in their own bubble. They like the world, they like what the world produces; they like ninja swords, and they like Labyrinth and Star Wars. They like cool things, but their world is just their small little family bubble. And they don’t step outside much.

And to me, it felt like exaggerating the traits of my younger brothers and myself. I remember them as really nasally, like they all have some allergies or something. I just remember mouth breathing a lot when I was a kid.

So I thought, What would be an unattractive feature that would be funny that a kid would have no idea what he was doing?

It kind of suggests a clinical lack of self-awareness, like Asperger’s or something.

Exactly. Without being medically diagnosed. And it’s all heightened and exaggerated by living in a small town. I didn’t grow up in a super-small town. It wasn’t metropolitan, but there was some connection to the rest of the world.

But Kretz, Idaho, you had access to the local video rental shop and that’s it. They didn’t really watch MTV. This was grandma’s house. He just had a VHS player. It’s the most like a postapocalyptic scenario. It’s like a Wall-E! They’re running around this world full of leftovers and junk with nobody to explain or put him into perspective.

You’ve had success, but you really haven’t been able to match the success of Napoleon Dynamite. Why do you think you didn’t become like another Jonah Hill or something?

Because I was picky. And I still am. I enjoy success and I certainly want the projects I did to do well. But I realized how happy I am trying to be somewhat normal without becoming huge. And not so much normal, but grounded, down-to-earth.

I grew up in a family where my dad is a family doctor. And I didn’t want to do that, but I wanted a life like he had, which is a somewhat quiet, humble existence. Now, Blades of Glory is unlike anything my dad has done. [Laughs.]

But I did get a lot of offers, especially back then, of stuff that I’m not comfortable with. A lot of the projects just seemed too raunchy. Quite honestly, a lot of it was that: the raunch factor. I’ve never been interested in doing those kinds of projects.

Is being a Mormon why you avoid raunchy material?

Absolutely it comes from how I was raised. It’s just kind of who I am. These are the standards I live by and whatever comes my way in the future, whether filmmaking or animation or whatever, I’m going to do my best to live by those standards.

This was a huge year for Mormonism: Jimmer and The Book of Mormon swept the Tonys, and now you have Mitt Romney and Napoleon Dynamite is back.

Are you proud of your people?

I’m always proud of my people. But I don’t watch much sports. Sports and politics are the two things that I’m not huge into. I guess I follow politics more than sports.

But I’m proud of those guys for upholding the parts of American culture that I’m not into.

Is Mitt Romney your guy? Are you rooting for him?

Yeah, sure I’m rooting for him. Again I’m still taking my time in looking at all the people. Obviously there’s the Mormon connection and yeah, good for him.

But looking at all the candidates, there are certain stances that he takes that I don’t agree with. But you can’t be 100 percent with any one person.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment...tt-romney.html

comedyfreak · 01-12-2012, 06:58 AM

I have high hopes for the show it looks funny, can't wait to watch.

MacLeaper · 02-17-2014, 01:18 PM

I just saw this interview on here- very cool. Thanks for posting it.

king of comedy · 02-19-2014, 08:53 AM

I never saw the movie but I liked the cartoon. I just wished everybody had given it a better chance.

MacLeaper · 02-19-2014, 11:32 AM

Dude- you need to see the movie. Totally hilarious! (If you have the right kind of sense of humor to appreciate such movies.) And also, quite clean of course too.

(However, I still haven't gotten around to seeing the cartoon- I'd like to check it out sometime.)

TMC · 07-27-2016, 11:26 PM

http://www.looper.com/17515/hollywoo...ast-jon-heder/

Quote:

Jon Heder shot to fame with the 2004 indie hit Napoleon Dynamite. Just a few years later, he'd pretty much disappeared from the spotlight, and these days, it seems like movie studios want nothing to do with him. Why isn't Jon Heder welcome in Tinseltown anymore?

Read More: http://www.looper.com/17515/hollywoo..._campaign=clip

king of comedy · 07-28-2016, 03:37 PM

I wish him the best.

Hawkee · 09-14-2016, 02:11 AM

Jon Heder is currently doing voice acting for Disney XD cartoons and among the Disney XD cartoons Jon Heder can be found doing voice acting are Pickle And Peanut and he provides the voice of the character Oscar in Star Vs The Forces Of Evil. It's a shame that Fox cancelled the Napoleon Dynamite cartoon because I liked it and Jon Heder was so cool bringing Napoleon Dynamite to a cartoon world. But at least Jon Heder is making his mark in the cartoon voiceover world with the Disney XD Channel and he's great as a voice actor
Bestie

Torgo · 09-14-2016, 09:13 AM

He's still appearing in movies, he's starring in this year's comedy Ghost Team, and the upcoming Richard Dreyfuss movie Killing Winston Jones, and The Tiger Hunter.

He played Roy Disney in the 2015 Walt Disney bio Walt Before Disney.

Looks like movie studios do want something to do with him.

TMC · 10-29-2016, 01:36 AM

https://lebeauleblog.com/2016/10/28/...nd-jared-hess/

Quote:

Posted by kevthewriter

Back in 2004, Napoleon Dynamite became a phenomenon. You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing stuff like “Gosh” and “Vote for Pedro”. After the movie became a hit, it seemed like its star, Jon Heder, and it’s director, Jared Hess, would go on to better things. But they were never really able to capitalize on Napoleon’s success and both of them have kind of faded into obscurity.

Whatever happened to them?

king of comedy · 10-29-2016, 07:51 AM

I wish him the best.

TMC · 11-14-2020, 11:32 PM

Here's why you don't hear from Jon Heder anymore

Quote:

Jon Heder couldn't shake his Napoleon Dynamite typecast

Call him a one-trick pony, or one-trick "Liger;" it just seems Jon Heder couldn't get past his Napoleon Dynamite associations. After that string of moderate successes, Heder was unable to make a mark as another quirky character or appear in, really, anything that would make him stand out or generate money. Taking a look at his IMDB page will tell you the buck pretty much stopped in 2009. In fact, Heder's most prominent post-2010 project is Fox's Napoleon Dynamite animated series. Plus, (let's be honest) he was arguably too conventionally good-looking out of his Napoleon wig to really become a quirky character actor, à la Jack Black or Steve Buscemi.

"Of course I want to continue to try to do other things, but I know that that [Napoleon] may be the role that I become known for," Heder told Vulture in 2012. "...But there's no bitterness. I realized how happy I am trying to be somewhat normal without becoming huge." So, seems there's no sour grapes there!

Meanwhile Heder has also done a ton of animation work. From Monster House to Surf's Up, which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, Heder has put his familiar, distinctively raspy voice to good use. He's also had many credits in web series' and video games. So it's not like the star isn't professionally fulfilled, he's just not a huge Hollywood name, and that seems to be fine with him.

Risky comeback roles don't interest Jon Heder

Here's another reason Jon Heder, who is 43 years old as of this writing, isn't cut out for, or is interested in, the fast pace of Hollywood. He's a practicing Mormon who's been happily married to his wife Kirsten for almost 20 years. They share four young children together. Fun fact: Heder and Napoleon Dynamite's director went to Brigham Young University together — a Latter Day Saints-founded college in Utah — where they came up with the idea for the character!

The reality is that Jon Heder just leads a fairly innocent life and doesn't seem like one to generate headlines. But he has also stayed away from any sort of risky or controversial comedies — the type that would prompt a comeback. "I did get a lot of offers," he told Vulture, "...of stuff that I'm not comfortable with. A lot of the projects just seemed too raunchy." When asked if he turned down roles due to his faith, Heder added, "Absolutely it comes from how I was raised. It's just kind of who I am. These are the standards I live by and whatever comes my way in the future, whether filmmaking or animation or whatever, I'm going to do my best to live by those standards." Fair enough!

Ultimately, Heder is clearly happy with the legacy he's created from one film, and with staying under the radar otherwise. Here's hoping a Napoleon Dynamite 2 still comes along!

Read More: https://www.nickiswift.com/278712/he..._campaign=clip

TVShowAddict · 11-15-2020, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

Here's why you don't hear from Jon Heder anymore

Yeah, I was thinking years ago that Jon might not have been in movies lately because of the Napoleon Dynamite typecast role and that confirms it

Torgo · 11-15-2020, 03:25 PM

Jon's still starring in movies, he was in the recent Tremors sequel with Michael Gross, and was very funny in it.
He also has a movie in production, and is doing a huge amount of voice over work. He may not be starring in big screen movies, but definitely hasn't slowed down.

In 2016 he was in, I think a very underrated comedy- Ghost Team, which also had David Krumholtz, Justin Long, and Amy Sedaris.

01-11-2012, 04:51 PM	#1
JamesG Freakshow Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 01, 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 56,956	Why Did Jon Heder Vanish after "Napoleon Dynamite" - He Explains his Mormon Beliefs *Jon Heder on Napoleon Dynamite, Avoiding Raunchy Roles, and Fellow Mormon Mitt Romney* 1/11/12 It’s been seven years between the movie Napoleon Dynamite and FOX’s new animated series e, and the original movie isn’t even streaming on Netflix Instant. “It’s not?” asked the once and future Napoleon, Jon Heder, before mock-expunging any self-doubt: “Whatever, dude. Everybody owns it already.” We talked to Heder about revisiting the role, how being Mormon has held him back from being a raunchy comedy star, and his feelings about Mitt Romney. How many years has the cartoon been in development? I guess you could say seven years, since the movie was made. But it really was probably over a year since I first got the call. I think it was FOX that came to Jared [Hess, Napoleon Dynamite’s director] first, and said, “I think it’s time. What do you think about doing an animated series?” And Jared was onboard, and then they came to me, and of course I was onboard. So this was a no-brainer for you? Yeah. Really? Why? Way back when the movie came out, there was talk about a possible sequel. But Jared was busy, so FOX came to me and put it out there: “Would you be willing to do a sequel with another director?” And I said that made no sense. It was his story, so to pawn it off on some guy we don’t know … I went to college with Jared, we invented the character for a school project at BYU. It was just too weird of a situation. I couldn’t do Napoleon without Jared. But now, we’re able to give fans what they’ve wanted for a long time. This was such a defining role for you. Was there ever a point in your life when you resented him a little bit? No. I never resented him. I loved the character from day one. I get asked that a lot: “Oh, I guess you’re over it.” And I was like yeah, I want to do other things. But I definitely feel like being so close to a character and being able to help create that character and bring him to life, there’s just … It really seemed to affect — I don’t want to say “touch," in a way that’s too sentimental — but it really affected a lot of people. It has a big fan base. And that was such a big thing to me: I always dreamed of being in the entertainment business and entertaining people. I look at other instances in the past at other actors who have portrayed certain characters, and again of course I want to continue to try to do other things, but I know that that may be the role that I become known for. And hopefully I will expand my skills [snickers at his own Napoleon joke] and my horizons in the acting and entertainment field, but there’s no bitterness towards the character. If it was “I’m just trying to get my foot in the door, I’m just going to take a paycheck and play a goofy character in this movie” — completely different story. But no! I was completely onboard; this was the kind of film that I would’ve made. I loved it. In real life, you’re a nice guy who never swears. Well, you’ve never seen me play video games. But I have played Hacky Sack with you — on the set of Benchwarmers, when I was doing a story on Nick Swarsdon. You complained about me “self-serving,” but you really are a sweet guy who doesn’t swear. Honestly, you seem to have a lot in common with Napoleon. Ha-ha. That’s funny. Absolutely. It’s true. It wasn’t based on me, but when Jared brought me the script, I read it and I was immediately like, “Yeah.” Jared and I come from very similar backgrounds. Both of us being LDS and having been raised in big families with lots of brothers. We grew up catching crawdads and picking each other’s butts with samurai swords. I was like, “Yeah, I get it, he knows my younger brothers.” And I know his younger brothers. Since 2001, we’ve never had any major disagreements about the character. You do close your mouth a lot more in real life. Why did you make Napoleon such a mouth breather? As soon as we realized this is a character who’s so unapologetically clueless … he’s not so much a dweeb, but he seriously lives in his own world. Some kids live in their own bubble. They like the world, they like what the world produces; they like ninja swords, and they like Labyrinth and Star Wars. They like cool things, but their world is just their small little family bubble. And they don’t step outside much. And to me, it felt like exaggerating the traits of my younger brothers and myself. I remember them as really nasally, like they all have some allergies or something. I just remember mouth breathing a lot when I was a kid. So I thought, What would be an unattractive feature that would be funny that a kid would have no idea what he was doing? It kind of suggests a clinical lack of self-awareness, like Asperger’s or something. Exactly. Without being medically diagnosed. And it’s all heightened and exaggerated by living in a small town. I didn’t grow up in a super-small town. It wasn’t metropolitan, but there was some connection to the rest of the world. But Kretz, Idaho, you had access to the local video rental shop and that’s it. They didn’t really watch MTV. This was grandma’s house. He just had a VHS player. It’s the most like a postapocalyptic scenario. It’s like a Wall-E! They’re running around this world full of leftovers and junk with nobody to explain or put him into perspective. *You’ve had success, but you really haven’t been able to match the success of Napoleon Dynamite. Why do you think you didn’t become like another Jonah Hill or something?* Because I was picky. And I still am. I enjoy success and I certainly want the projects I did to do well. But I realized how happy I am trying to be somewhat normal without becoming huge. And not so much normal, but grounded, down-to-earth. I grew up in a family where my dad is a family doctor. And I didn’t want to do that, but I wanted a life like he had, which is a somewhat quiet, humble existence. Now, Blades of Glory is unlike anything my dad has done. [Laughs.] But I did get a lot of offers, especially back then, of stuff that I’m not comfortable with. A lot of the projects just seemed too raunchy. Quite honestly, a lot of it was that: the raunch factor. I’ve never been interested in doing those kinds of projects. Is being a Mormon why you avoid raunchy material? Absolutely it comes from how I was raised. It’s just kind of who I am. These are the standards I live by and whatever comes my way in the future, whether filmmaking or animation or whatever, I’m going to do my best to live by those standards. This was a huge year for Mormonism: Jimmer and The Book of Mormon swept the Tonys, and now you have Mitt Romney and Napoleon Dynamite is back. Are you proud of your people? I’m always proud of my people. But I don’t watch much sports. Sports and politics are the two things that I’m not huge into. I guess I follow politics more than sports. But I’m proud of those guys for upholding the parts of American culture that I’m not into. Is Mitt Romney your guy? Are you rooting for him? Yeah, sure I’m rooting for him. Again I’m still taking my time in looking at all the people. Obviously there’s the Mormon connection and yeah, good for him. But looking at all the candidates, there are certain stances that he takes that I don’t agree with. But you can’t be 100 percent with any one person. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment...tt-romney.html Attached Images

01-12-2012, 06:58 AM	#2
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,058	I have high hopes for the show it looks funny, can't wait to watch.
	__________________ www.facebook.com/comedyfreak

02-17-2014, 01:18 PM	#3
MacLeaper Child of the 80s Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 20, 2001 Posts: 3,355	I just saw this interview on here- very cool. Thanks for posting it.
	__________________ "Oh boy!" - Dr. Sam Beckett "You can do anything you wanna do if you put your mind to it." - MacGyver "Have mercy!" - Uncle Jesse "Ha, I kill me!" - ALF "I am The Way, The Truth and The Life. No man comes to The Father but by Me."- Jesus Christ (John 14:6)

09-14-2016, 02:11 AM	#8
Hawkee Michael Fassbender Fanatic Moderator Forum Star Join Date: Jan 17, 2016 Location: California Posts: 10,731	Jon Heder is currently doing voice acting for Disney XD cartoons and among the Disney XD cartoons Jon Heder can be found doing voice acting are Pickle And Peanut and he provides the voice of the character Oscar in Star Vs The Forces Of Evil. It's a shame that Fox cancelled the Napoleon Dynamite cartoon because I liked it and Jon Heder was so cool bringing Napoleon Dynamite to a cartoon world. But at least Jon Heder is making his mark in the cartoon voiceover world with the Disney XD Channel and he's great as a voice actor Bestie
	__________________ Hawkee and Aguilar, Hoping to be a great team

09-14-2016, 09:13 AM	#9
Torgo Omaha & Fritz Forum Star Join Date: Mar 06, 2004 Location: Oregon Posts: 19,017	He's still appearing in movies, he's starring in this year's comedy Ghost Team, and the upcoming Richard Dreyfuss movie Killing Winston Jones, and The Tiger Hunter. He played Roy Disney in the 2015 Walt Disney bio Walt Before Disney. Looks like movie studios do want something to do with him.
	__________________ "I'm going to go do something productive. I'm gonna go watch television." - Ray Peterson, The 'burbs "I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries." - Stephen King "There's nothing wrong with G-rated movies, as long as there's lots of sex and violence." - Elvira

02-19-2014, 08:53 AM	#4
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	I never saw the movie but I liked the cartoon. I just wished everybody had given it a better chance.

02-19-2014, 11:32 AM	#5
MacLeaper Child of the 80s Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 20, 2001 Posts: 3,355	Dude- you need to see the movie. Totally hilarious! (If you have the right kind of sense of humor to appreciate such movies.) And also, quite clean of course too. (However, I still haven't gotten around to seeing the cartoon- I'd like to check it out sometime.)

07-28-2016, 03:37 PM	#7
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	I wish him the best.

10-29-2016, 07:51 AM	#11
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	I wish him the best.

11-15-2020, 03:25 PM	#14
Torgo Omaha & Fritz Forum Star Join Date: Mar 06, 2004 Location: Oregon Posts: 19,017	Jon's still starring in movies, he was in the recent Tremors sequel with Michael Gross, and was very funny in it. He also has a movie in production, and is doing a huge amount of voice over work. He may not be starring in big screen movies, but definitely hasn't slowed down. In 2016 he was in, I think a very underrated comedy- Ghost Team, which also had David Krumholtz, Justin Long, and Amy Sedaris.