Actors Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell and Efren Ramirez, who played Uncle Rico, Kip and Pedro in “Napoleon Dynamite,” made sure fans who attended last night’s lecture would it remember forever.
The three actors visited with more than 600 students in the Ohio Union ballroom in an event sponsored by the Ohio Union Activities Board. The actors spoke about their experiences making the movie, inspiration for their characters and about their current projects.
Undergraduate Student Government President Aftab Pureval moderated the event.
Gries said the director just sent him the script, and he was interested as soon as he read it.
“By page 15, I was laughing out loud,” he said.
Ruell said inspiration for his character, Kip, came from his younger brother.
“He’s online everyday chatting with women,” Ruell said.
He also said Haylie Duff, who played Summer, fainted during the first day of filming because it was so hot.
Ruell also took time to present some photos he took on the set.
One of the photos was of the actors who played Pedro’s cousins, who were just two guys Ruell saw coming out of a supermarket. He asked them to play the roles and they accepted, he said.
Ruell, responding to a student question, said there will not be a sequel.
“Everyone just wants to keep it the way it is, the way it should be,” Ruell said.
Gries, who got laughs by announcing candidates for the USG election before leaving the stage, said the movie succeeded because of good marketing.
“The film could have easily ended up on a shelf,” he said.
Ruell said typecasting happens often in Hollywood, and that he is normally cast as a computer geek. Ramirez said actors have to make careful decisions when deciding which roles to accept.
The event also featured a “Napoleon Dynamite” costume contest.
Each contestant went on stage wearing red hair in an afro, a brown sports jacket or an ’80s-style T-shirt and tight jeans. The “Napoleons” all played the character by giving a few quotes from the movie, breathing heavily and repeatedly saying “gosh.”
Audience applause was used to narrow the field to two Napoleons, who later competed in a “dance off.”
Shayne Stevens, a junior in criminology, won the dancing contest.
“I hope by winning, all your wildest dreams come true,” Stevens said. He went to four different hair stores on to find the right wig, took it to a JC Penney salon and had it dyed and treated, he said.
Stevens won the “Napoleon Dynamite” DVD, which he already owned. He could have an autographed copy as well, he said.
