This story is featured in CityBeat's April 17 print edition.
In June 2004, Paramount and Fox Searchlight released the Sundance darling Napoleon Dynamite in theaters. Jared Hess directed it — based on his short Peluca — and co-wrote it with his wife, Jerusha. With a low budget of $400,000, it grossed more than $46 million and established itself not only as an indie success, but also as an endlessly quotable and hilarious film featuring a llama, tater tots, chapstick, a time machine, online dating, ligers and an epic dance sequence. It remains one of the most authentic depictions of teen life on film, compared to Mean Girls, which also came out in the summer of 2004. In the past 20 years, the reverence for the film has only grown, to the point that Napoleon (Jon Heder), Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) have taken the movie on the road.
According to Ramirez, the event started off with the actors speaking at colleges and then doing a Q&A. “But as time went on, it grew into something else,” Ramirez told CityBeat. “And that's what was spectacular about it. Because we not only realized there had been so many fans, not only who dressed up as the characters, but who really, really enjoyed the film itself. So we thought, ‘Well, why don't we make it more interactive?’”
The show involves a screening of the film, a Q&A and shenanigans like Heder riding a bike, Gries playing guitar, Ramirez DJing, a tether ball re-enactment, the time machine, trivia questions and pulling costumed fans on stage. “Even after an hour of a show, fans want more and we're like, ‘We're going to have to go home,’” Ramirez said. On April 20, Napoleon Dynamite Live! will hit MegaCorp Pavilion in Newport, with Heder and Ramirez in attendance. (White Lotus star Gries will not be there due to filming obligations.)
Before Ramirez signed on to play class presidential candidate Pedro Sánchez (Vote for Pedro!), he was up for a role in the Billy Bob Thornton big-budget studio film The Alamo (no one remembers it); he turned it down to star in a little indie movie filmed in Prescott, Idaho, and it changed the trajectory of his life.
“The rule is everything does happen for a reason,” he said. “Is it destiny? That I wouldn't know. I do face things that scare me. It was a lead role. It was a character role, and I knew I was taking chances that who knows what would happen at that moment in my life? When I chose Napoleon Dynamite, maybe it was serendipitous. I asked my dad, ‘What do I do?’ My father told me, ‘Follow your heart.’ I'm like, really? Because Napoleon said to Pedro, ‘Follow your heart, Pedro.’ I think maybe perhaps the stars aligned and I made that choice.”
Like the rest of the cast and crew, he spent the summer of 2003 filming in Idaho’s sweltering heat. “When you're working on an independent film, all you got is each other,” he said. “When we're working in Prescott, Idaho, where nothing really happens, you go, OK. So it was luck of the draw and it was a trust of the work, and I am utterly grateful for these past 20 years of my life.”
The imprint of Napoleon enabled him to meet actors like Jack Nicholson, Steve Buscemi, and Daniel Day-Lewis. “Throughout the decades, I've been really lucky to be able to have not only some great teachers, but people who shared with me their lives and their work structure and how they go about things in life that has helped me really pick and choose the direction I want to go,” he said.
Pedro, Napoleon, Uncle Rico, Deb, Grandma and Kip are the gifts that keep on giving. Ramirez said Pedro leads with “hope in search of friendship,” and Kip has “some of the sweetest lines.” Fans see themselves in these misfits, which is one reason why the film has endured. It also has a happy ending in which the characters get what they want.
“Everybody can relate to every single character in the film,” Ramirez said. “We understand Uncle Rico's pain of wishing to go back to ‘82. We understand Napoleon's isolation of feeling ostracized by the definition of who he is. We grasp the fear of Pedro of maybe failing or not feeling like he's enough. We think about Tina Majorino’s character, Deb, who is just going, well, I'm trying to make the best of it, but Napoleon's being such a jerk. So we love these characters because we honor each and every one of them and feel what they're going through.”
At the shows, he appreciates fans showing up dressed like Rex Kwon Do and sharing their personal stories with him. Over the years, Heder and Ramirez have stayed in touch, even appearing as their characters in a Burger King commercial and providing voices for 2012’s six-episode Napoleon Dynamite animated series. Both Heder and Ramirez have identical twins and a life-long bond. “Jon Heder and Jon Gries, these two guys are my brothers,” he said. “We kind of pull each other's hairs every once in a while and get on each other's cases. But that's what brothers do. I love these guys.”
Twenty years later, it’s evident Napoleon influenced other indies like Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Sideways and (500) Days of Summer. “Napoleon Dynamite has been influenced by just the idea of independent films being a possibility,” he said.
Ramirez continues to act, DJ and he published the book Direct Your Own Life: How to Be a Star in Any Field You Choose! Heder went on to star in comedies like Blades of Glory, and will provide a voice for Hess’ upcoming Netflix animated show Thelma the Unicorn. This year, Hess and Jerusha received an Oscar nomination for directing the animated short film Ninety-Five Senses.
Napoleon Dynamite might not be the deepest film — though Kip’s and LaFawnda’s love is pretty deep — but it reflects life and how life needs to be lived. “I think life can be very dark and art is something that we all need,” Ramirez said. “Art makes us appreciate life itself. I don't know if it's art that imitates life or life imitating art, but it's about humanity and how we really need each other to survive. Live good. Live honest. Live true. Those are the key factors to the secrets of life.”
Napoleon Dynamite Live! comes to MegaCorp Pavilion on April 20 at 7 p.m. More info: promowestlive.com.
