Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranisis a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter and songwriter. He came to prominence in the sketch comedy series Second City Televisionin the 1980s and later appeared in several Hollywood films, including Strange Brew, Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, Little Shop of Horrors, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Parenthood, My Blue Heaven, and The Flintstones...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth18 April 1953
CityToronto, Canada
CountryCanada
When I was a little kid, it was not uncommon for a cousin or an uncle, before they would even say 'Hello,' to gush, 'You know, your mother's brisket is just incredible; it's so good.' That was an inspiration for creating a love song in that well-worn terrain of the relationship between a Jewish boy and his mother.
What we see is what they're trying to sell us. It's not true nostalgic as much as it is repeating old material because it's less expensive than new material.
There will always be another group of kids going to college, drinking beer, and discovering that movie. Many of them have never even heard of SCTV.
When you're 5 ft. 5 in., have a round Jewish face and wear glasses and refuse to wear contacts, you're going to get offered certain parts. People thought of me as the nerdy guy, even in non-nerdy parts like 'Parenthood.' I didn't feel the need to change anything I was doing - I embraced it.
Like all teenagers in the early '60s, I put down my hockey stick when the Beatles got big and picked up a guitar. We all thought we'd be rock stars. Then I got into comedy, but I'd always find a way to use my guitar, such as writing songs and doing musical parodies.
There's a song called 'Live Blogging the Himmel Family Bris.' I kind of went for it here in terms of - it was really fun to be explaining ritual circumcision in Nashville - a lot of brises are done in hospitals, but many are done in people's homes, and there's a lot of food, and a lot of leftovers.
This whole blogging stuff has been bugging me for years. Talk about no filter on things. People feel free to do and say whatever they want with no vetting, with no editing, with nothing.
I just love when the Internet is wrong. It's the only thing that will save journalism.
By the time I got to the point where I was 'starring' in movies, and I had executives telling me what lines to say, that wasn't for me. I'm really not an actor. I'm a guy who comes out of comedy, and my impetus was always to rewrite the line to make it funnier, not to try to make somebody's precious words work.
There are fans of some of the old movies that'll mention those, and there's people that have little kids that'll look at me and say, 'Wow, I just watched 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' 35,000 times, and here you are!'
Until 1982, Canada Day was known as Dominion Day. I always thought that had more of a ring to it. Beyond the zippy alliteration, it reminded us citizens that our domain of orderly domesticity was graced by the dominant power of our 'Dominus.'
On the last couple of movies I made - big-budget Hollywood movies - I really missed being able to create my own material.
What we see is what they're trying to sell us.
I always find it flattering when somebody recognizes me.