Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Operation Taco Gary's

Operation Taco Gary's Star Doug Jones on Off-Beat Sci-Fi Buddy Comedy

Doug Jones (Star Trek: Discovery) spoke to us about his sci-fi buddy comedy Operation Taco Gary's, Mikey K, Milligian, Rex, and more.

Doug Jones is one of the most revered chameleons in Hollywood, creating memorable roles across horror, fantasy, science fiction, superhero, dramas, and comedies in both live-action and voiceover, mostly as aliens, creatures, monsters, and occasionally as a human with signature roles in Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy franchise, The Shape of Water (2017), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), and Star Trek: Discovery. With a career spanning nearly four decades, there isn't a challenge the actor hasn't met, but one genre he wishes to do more of is comedy. His latest is what Chroma's Operation Taco Gary's, in which he plays the alien Elder in an off-the-wall buddy sci-fi film about two brothers, played by Simon Rex and Dustin Milligan, who embark on a cross-country road trip that quickly devolves when they become involved in a global conspiracy. Jones spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with writer-director Mikey K, how poised he was as a first-time director, if he had any creative input for his character, and working with Milligan and Rex.

Operation Taco Gary's Star Doug Jones on Tapping into Both Passions of Comedy and Creating Non-Human Characters

BC: What intrigued you about Operation Taco Gary's?

Right? [laughs] If you've seen the film, you're like, "Okay, why do you say yes to that?" The tilt of the head is why I said, "Yes." I love things that are off the charts, funny, bizarre, and outlandish, off the wall. I grew up watching comedy, and that's why I wanted to be an actor in the first place: watching variety shows, sketch comedy, sitcoms, wanting to make people laugh. That was my first love as an actor, and of course, my career took a turn into monsters and creatures in the fantasy, horror, and sci-fi genres, which is great, and it's been very good to me. However, getting the chance to do something that's genre-related and yet, really funny was, "Okay, there's the dream come true." I had a brush with that, and this reminded me of my time on What We Do in the Shadows, making fun of vampires and doing horrific things, but that was bizarrely funny at the same time. We giggled every day on set there, and on Operation Taco Gary's, and that's the experience I was looking for.

What was it like working with Mikey K as a creative? Was it refreshing compared to others you've worked with?

Yeah, with my over 40 years of experience as an actor, I've worked with every director and filmmaker imaginable, from highly critically acclaimed to brand-new independent filmmakers. Mikey K ranks right up there among my favorites. What I loved about him and the script he came with was so original. It was not a rip-off of anything else. It was his own thing, which is rare to find now, so he knew exactly how to direct it and what he wanted, and he was very collaborative. If you had ideas, he was willing to work with you, and I found him to be…he had a good sense of the funny. He had his own creative and comedic timing in his head, and if there were any beats missing, he knew how to fill them in right away, redirect you, and adjust you quickly. I really enjoyed my time with him.

Did you work with them on how the Elder would look in the film? Did you wear contacts for your character?

I did wear contact lenses, also had a bald cap on, and then was covered in like grayish, bluish paint, which is a light makeup job for me, honestly, because it looked, you could still tell it was me underneath, right? I was very happy. That look was pulled together without my input, and they didn't need it. I find that over the years, I've worked with the best artists and the most acclaimed artists in the world when we've been putting my looks together. I don't want to muck their creativity up with my opinion, usually.

If I have an opinion, it's usually because it's a comfort or a performance issue, where something is hampering something, and we need to make a quick adjustment so that I can perform something that's in the script that I couldn't do before the adjustment, but this one was pretty easy. I'm covered in gray, and with contact lenses in, boom, boom, we're ready to go. I would say that I added his mannerisms. I came to set ready to go with a very poised, elegantly gesturing sort of alien, with a specific and very articulate voice, and with that, no one ever redirected that, so no one said, "Stop doing that," so that's the look and sound that I gave him.

Your character comes relatively late in the film, and I was wondering what you like about working with Dustin and Simon on this?

Oh, I love both so much, and I was a fan of them before this, so when I met them, I was a little starstruck. Being able to work with Simon Rex, whom I'd been watching for years on many things. I discovered him on a TV show many decades ago on the WB, and later, saw him in the Scary Movie franchise. He knows how to play the pretty guy who's a little dumb, and he does that very well.

Dustin Milligan, I'm a huge fan of Schitt's Creek. I thought he was hilarious on that show, so I was like, "Yeah!" Also, I had a brother in Jason Biggs as well, so all three of these actors were hilariously funny in their own way. They all have their own brand of funny, and so the roles they played were perfect for each one of them. My brand of fun is different than theirs, too, but I felt we all interacted and worked in concert with each other pretty darn well. It was a good mix.

Operation Taco Gary's, which also stars Brenda Song, Tony Cavalero, and Arturo Castro, is in theaters on February 27th.

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