A Chat With the Makers of Danish Sex Comedy Klown (Or: Frank and Casper Are Not Pedophiles)

Has something similar happened to you?
FH: [Groans] Yes. We had an episode where Frank crawls into a bathtub with a 10-year-old girl. That was a difficult episode to make. And actually it was motivated! Frank did it to show Mia how wrong it was, because she had been in a shower with her 11-year-old nephew, and Frank was furious about it. He said it was inappropriate. But Mia said, “It’s a natural thing to do, we have known each other since he was a baby!”

CC: And Frank goes, “No, that child is too old to be in the shower with a grown woman.” They get into a big fight and Frank tries to prove that she’s wrong by jumping into the bath with a 10-year-old girl.

FH: At that time there was a child doctor who tried to sell her own shitty stuff…

CC: The expert doctor who writes a blog on the Internet every week and wants to make a name for herself. Suddenly we were pedophilia beasts who should be thrown out of the country.

FH: And at the same time she’s trying to sell her own books.

You guys don’t seem like pedophiles…
CC: We’re not! Write that!

FH: Could that be the headline?

What’s the secret behind your partnership? Why do you two get along so well, and what was the spark that got you two working together creatively?
CC: His ambition and hard work. If you meet somebody who’s just as ambitious as yourself and wants to work as hard as you want to and keeps working, that’s inspiring because you push each other to new levels.

Is it like a marriage?
FH: It is – like an old, old, old marriage.

CC: I think it’s better than a marriage, and I’ve been divorced a few times. This is much better. It’s a lot easier.

FH: It is, because we can stay away from each other for a couple of months without even calling.

CC: I can see other women. [Laughs]

Some have compared Klown’s style to Curb Your Enthusiasm – what influenced the aesthetic?
FH: We were inspired by The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm, that’s for sure.

CC: The Odd Couple – the title song is similar. I really liked Jacques Tati’s Mon Uncle, and the title song is almost that. We keep getting inspiration from great comedians around the world. If you don’t get inspired by good work, you’re an idiot. You’ve got to look at the best and think, I want to try to be as good as them. And again, we had just did six seasons of a traditional sitcom. It seems like globally the fashion of comedies tend to go from Friends and Frasier being so popular that you want a comedy to sound different. I think that’s why Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Office and Klown came about around the same time. We’ve heard comedy sound so much like this, we want to approach it in a different way. I just read that Ricky Gervais’ idea for The Office was not going to be in an office; it was going to be like Klown, playing himself, walking around getting in trouble… it seems like that was just the new thing to do.

How much interaction have you had with the Todd Phillips-Danny McBride remake of Klown?

CC: I had a few meetings with Danny McBride about it. We met up before Warner bought the remake. He just liked the movie and we got to talking. Then I had a meeting the same day with Green Hat, with Todd Phillips, and by coincidence they came by the movie and had seen it, and we were talking back and forth about how much they liked it. I think it’s in the same family of comedy.

Do you have an idea of how faithfully they’ll adapt their version?
FH: No – it’s totally up to them.

CC: They’re going to change stuff, but we don’t know how much. We don’t care! As long as it’s good. This movie is ours. We’ve done it. Go ahead, have your fun with it.

Which character would Danny McBride actually play? I could see him going Frank or Casper.
CC: That’s what he said, that he hadn’t decided yet. It depends on the script and who’s going to play the other character.

Do either of you have plans to embark on a Hollywood career now?
FH: Not really, from my point of view.

CC: I’d like to work with Frank, maybe 2-3 months a year and we come up with something. The rest of the year I’ve got to find somebody else to work with, so it might as well be here!

Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, recently said that he’d discovered Klown the series…
CC: He showed up at the screening in Los Angeles!

FH: We didn’t want to brag about it, but it was big for us.

CC: We were really surprised. He showed up, and said, “I can’t wait to see the movie!” Then he went, “I’ve seen the television show,” which surprised me. The effort you go through to find that show, and then buy it on Amazon and wait for it to ship… we were proud.

Any chance of working in a cameo for yourselves into the remake?
CC: I told Danny McBride that we wanted in. We’ve got to be in that movie. Just a small part. [Pause] Let’s see what happens with the script. Let’s see if they’re going to do it. But I think we’re probably going to have a walk-on in that movie.

What about in the next Von Trier movie?
CC: I did The Boss of It All, and you know what? We shot for three months and I don’t have any education at all, and he was working with some of the best actors. Every morning he’d go, “Casper, you’re the worst actor I’ve ever worked with.” For three months! The first scene we did, we shot the scene, and Lars goes, “Alright – Casper, can you take it down a little bit, the acting?” I go, “Yeah, how much?” “About 99 percent.” You’ve got to know that he’s fun to be around. That’s just his way of getting through the day. I’ve done it, I’ve tried it, I’ve been yelled at for three months… I’m in a von Trier movie, that’s it!

Klown is in limited release and on VOD now, and expands this Friday.

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