Eugene Levy almost walked away from ‘American Pie’ because he thought the script was too vulgar.
The 69-year-old actor played Noah Levenstein, the father of sexually frustrated teenager Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs), in the 199 comedy film
The movie is famous for its cringe-inducing, gross-out humour and Levy admits when he first read the script and saw there were so many graphic scenes he was unsure as to whether he should accept a part in the project.
When asked if the humour in the film ever grossed him out, he said: "Where do you want to start? Walking in on your son masturbating into a tube sock in the opening scene? When I first read the script, I was like, ‘I can’t do this.’ It was about as far out as I have ever seen in a movie. It’s pretty explicit."
Levy was eventually convinced of the value of the movie when he met directors Chris and Paul Weitz and realised they were making ‘American Pie’ to get teens laughing.
He explained: "My thing was that I wouldn’t go and see this movie – I realise it is meant for a younger crowd. But when I met Paul and Chris, the young directors, I realised very quickly how incredibly bright and intelligent they were and what a strong comedic handle they had on this thing."
Levy has also admitted he didn’t initially like his character because of the way he was written as trying to be too much of a friend to Jim.
He said: "I didn’t necessarily like the character that much in the script. He was trying to be too much of a ‘nudge-wink’ friend to the son, instead of a dad. My instinct was to push him back and make him a corny old dad that the kids don’t want to hang around."
The original film was such a success it spawned three sequels.
Levy is currently starring in a very different kind of movie, the Pixar hit sequel ‘Finding Dory’, where he play the father of the forgetful title character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.
It’s a character he seems very fond of, saying: "I love the way I looked. I love my eyes."
Eugene Levy initially thought American Pie was too vulgar
