In the back half of the movie, while techno-monsters are wreaking havoc across town, Eli, Laura, and Ash decide to make a stop at their local video store to grab something that might be helpful to them. When they enter the video store, they run into a mysterious figure who turns out to be famed late ’90s/early 2000s rap-rock star Fred Durst, frontman of the group Limp Bizkit, who just so happened to be putting on a New Year’s Eve concert nearby.Â
Durst’s role is a bit more than a cameo, as he becomes a pivotal part of the film’s third act, joining the roaming group of teens trying to survive this techno attack on the world. Needless to say, I had to ask everyone about working with Durst on the movie.Â
What was it like working with Fred Durst, and was it always Fred Durst from the get-go? Because his inclusion, and I didn’t even think about this until you guys touched upon it a little bit during the Q&A at the Chicago screening, but he really is representative of that era of music and pop culture in a way that almost nobody else is. It’s a very specific window of time in pop culture. So did you guys have a backup plan if he wasn’t interested, if it didn’t work out?
Mooney: We definitely pitched ideas and he was there from moment one. From I think the first week of us talking about the movie, we were like, “Oh, it’d be really fun to get Fred Durst in there fighting along with our heroes.” There were definitely pitches. I don’t even know if I want to name those names, but any name we would say, it’s either they weren’t as recognizable in some way or another, or maybe they are not on the best side of culture these days.
Winter: Not a good person today.
Mooney: Yeah, Fred just checked all the boxes, and like you said, he’s just so emblematic and so iconic, and he’s got the hat. He’s got everything going for him, so there was a lot riding on that, and he’s the first person we went out to when we found out the movie was going, and if he hadn’t taken the job, I don’t know what we would’ve done.
Winter: Yeah, we were really lucky that he just got it and was into it and wanted to poke fun at himself. He pushed it further in some places, but then also just understood that it’s like he’s playing this public persona of himself from that era, but then in this excised superhero way and almost action star. So it was so cool that he was into it and jumped on board with us.
Mooney: And just a very good actor.
Winter: Amazing actor, yeah.
Was Limp Bizkit a group that you guys were familiar with? Were you guys fans beforehand? And what was it like working with him on set?
Martell: Definitely familiar. I didn’t know what to expect from him as a person, considering his persona, his look, his music. But he was such a kind and wise presence and kind of blew me away. There’s certain things, because you expect a lot from an actor you look up to, or anybody you look up to, and you kind of expect something from them. They could disappoint you. But I didn’t know what to expect from Fred, and he was so kind, and so cool, and gentle, and inquisitive, and open about his process of being an artist, and being this kind of icon and the pressure of that and all that. He was wonderful.
Julian Dennison didn’t get to spend the same amount of time with him, as his characters dies earlier in the movie before Fred Durst enters the story.
Dennison: Yeah, it was different for me, actually. We kind of shot the film chronologically.
Okay. So you didn’t really get any time with him?
Dennison: Yeah, didn’t really get to spend any time with him. But meeting him at South by Southwest and after we shot, yeah, I don’t know, it’s just when you meet someone who’s lived a lot of life and has a lot of wisdom, all you can really do is be a sponge and soak them in. I think that was a highlight of being able to even just be in the same room as him. It’s like he defines a generation or a thing of time, like a certain time. I think it’s pretty crazy that we get to do what we get to do.