God, Please Save These Troubled States

That's pronounced, "MO-LOLL-EE." I had to ask too.

Brandon Molale, best known for his role as Kevin Ward in "Mr. Deeds," (as well as some GREAT parts in Reno 9-11 and Dodgeball), sat down with me amidst the chaos of Comic-Con 2007 to speak with me about Balls of Fury, Captain Marvel, football, and Motorhead.


Mark: So this is Mark Oshiro, with Buzznet, and I’m here with Brandon Molale. We’re doing an interview here in the middle of the hall at Comic-Con on the second floor. So, the first thing that I wanted to ask you was about your experience at Comic-Con. Is this your first time you’ve been here?

Brandon Molale: This is my first time here as an industry person. I was here before and just came as a spectator, but this is an amazing thing to be at.

Mark: Awesome. So what have you been doing while you’re here?

Molale: I’ve been on my feet entirely way too much. I mean, there’s so much to cover here—

Mark: Yeah.

Molale: You know, I’m a big fan. I’ve always been a big fan of movies and comic books and television. You know, I grew up and I was a big Batman fan, the original, with Burt Ward [as] Batman.

Mark: Very nice!

Molale: But, but…I grew up in the early 80s, so G.I. Joe and Transformers were cartoons I used to watch. I used to collect G.I. Joe comic books, Gru, The Wanderer…

Mark: Man, taking me back!

Molale: So, it was cool to see…

Mark: Wait, I have to ask. Have you seen the new Michael Bay Transformers?

Molale: I have not seen it yet.

Mark: Beforehand, are you more on the camp that thinks, “I don’t think he should make this”? Or, as some of the shirts say downstairs, “[Michael Bay] raped my childhood”? Or are you totally for a modern version of that?

Molale: You know, everybody has a different take on everything. So, if someone’s willing to put out the millions of dollars it costs now to make the movie, I don’t have a problem with them remaking it. If they put me in it, that’s even better.

Mark: There you go! Michael Bay, listen up.

Molale: I actually auditioned for the Transformers.

Mark: Really?

Molale: Yeah, yeah. I didn’t get hired, but that’s how it is in my business. I go out for a lot of stuff and I’m so used to… you hear, “NO” so much that you get used to it. So just for me to be able to audition for a project, that’s where it is and…God bless them when they put me in anything!

Mark: Exactly.

Molale: Because I like to work.

Mark: Well, on the flipside, for things you have been approved for, I noticed you have a few new projects coming up. I know beforehand we’d talking about Balls of Flurry. [Pause.] Balls of Flurry?? I mean Balls of Fury. But you’re doing a voice for “The Spectacular Spiderman”?

Molale: [Looks at me with a wholly blank expression.]

Mark: It’s on your Wikipedia. Some Spiderman project.

Molale: I don’t know about that one! Maybe my agent tapped into that one.

Mark: Weird! It says under your Filmography credits that in 2008 you’ll be doing a voice over for a Spiderman project.

Molale: Well, they’ve got me somewhere in 2008 for “Shazam.”

Mark: Right.

Molale: But I don’t know about Spiderman. Like I said, my agent deals with all that, so he’d know a little more about that than me. All I do is come in and sign the deal.

Mark: Well, we were talking about Balls of Fury and…how excited are you for that movie to come out? And exactly when does it come out?


Molale: It comes out August 31st on Rogue Pictures. Tom Lennon, Ben Garant, the guys from Reno 911. As you know them, Dangle and Junior. It’s Christopher Walken. [He] plays a guy named “Fang” whose…he’s a crooked gentleman who runs a to-the-death ping-pong tournament and the CIA—

Mark: It’s such an absurd idea.

Molale: Oh yeah! I love it. The CIA, which is led by George Lopez, has to infiltrate into Fang’s evil lair and there’s Dan Fogler, who you’re gonna see Dan in “Fanboys,” which is coming out through a friend of mine, with Kyle Newman directing. You might actually see me in the reshoots of that. So I’m crossing my fingers because I am a HUUUGGGEEE Star Wars fan. I’m still talking to Kyle about that.

But really, who doesn’t like to see a movie….just like Dodgeball. [Brandon starred as “Blazer” in Dodgeball]. Who doesn’t like to see people get hit by balls?

Mark: Exactly. Physical comedy works that way.

Molale: Yeah, and these are smaller balls and all, but people are still getting whacked and it’s always entertaining.

Mark: Out of every…I mean, you’ve worked on a lot of projects, from TV to movies. What would you say is your favorite cast you’ve worked with out of all of them?

Molale: I’d have to say…hmm….I’d have to say Dodgeball. It was so much fun to go out there everyday and get paid to whack people in the face with balls…You know, I played football for 12 years. So, to go and do something I love, as an actor, portraying characters, especially these guys…I mean, we were the bad guys on that team. It was fun! Everybody booed us and we just had so much fun shooting. So it was definitely Dodgeball.


Click here to read Part II!