‘Operation Taco Gary’s’ Simon Rex & Michael Kvamme Spill On Inspirations (Interview)

Ansh Dubey sat down with Operation Taco Gary’s star/producer Simon Rex and writer/director Michael Kvamme to talk about the film. Find the full Michael Kvamme-Simon Rex interview below.

To promote their upcoming feature Operation Taco Gary’s, Simon Rex and Michael Kvamme spoke with the press about their careers and the upcoming comedy. Rex serves as a lead in the film as well as a producer, whilst Kvamme writes and directs the film in his feature debut. The film is described in a logline which reads as follows:

“Two brothers embark on a cross-country road trip that quickly devolves when they become involved in a global conspiracy.”

Feature First’s own Ansh Dubey had the pleasure and opportunity of talking with both Simon and Michael about Operation Taco Gary’s. 

Thanks to the Austin Film Festival, Simon Rex (SR), and Michael Kvamme (MK) for allowing this interview to happen. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

The Formation of ‘Operation Taco Gary’s’

How did [Operation Taco Gary’s] come together? Where did the idea come from? How did you all get involved? What drew you in?

MK: The idea came during the pandemic. I had the completely unique idea to write a screenplay during lockdown. I know no one else thought of it. And I had this idea for this brother story that I wanted to do for a long time. And then during the lockdown, you’re just kind of inundated with all these conspiracy theories. I just became obsessed with writing my own. So I just kind of plugged in, you know, this conspiracy theory comedy into this brother relationship that I’ve always wanted to do. And just try to just try to write a comedy with a capital C and not worry too much about anything else, and try and make myself laugh. And then I sent it out to two guys, or a few guys who said, we have to make this. And then actually, you know what? I think I watched Red Rocket while I was finishing writing the last scene of the movie. And I remember seeing Simon [Rex] just was like, “Oh shit, this is the only guy that could do these monologues.” 

SR: Yeah, that monologue, it’s kind of similar. It’s funny, these two movies, they require that. And it’s funny because naturally I kind of am a very hyper, ADHD sort of scrambly turkey guy who is running around just like “bababa”. So for me that is actually kind of easy for me to do that. Memorization is different, that’s a little hard to memorize when something’s that long. Red Rocket and this had some similar rants that, you know, are two pages long that are pretty specific. Both of them have the same sort of thing. I don’t want to say like I’m the only one who could do that, but I’m like well equipped, that’s just how my brain works. So I love doing that kind of stuff comedically. So I’m glad that, you know, Michael saw Red Rocket and was like, “that’s the guy.” That was the most challenging part for me for this movie because I love doing comedy. 

We spent a lot of time prepping for this by going out to Joshua Tree with me and Michael and the co-star Dustin [Milligan] and the producer Matt [Vaughan] and we went to my place in the desert and rehearsed this like two months before we started filming which you normally don’t get to do that unless you do it on your own time which we did. And it required that just because of the amount of dialogue that I had to fire off at machine gun pace, you know.

MK: Yeah, at 3:30 in the morning too. In the middle of the woods.

Simon, you mentioned this feels a lot like late 90s, early 00s comedies. I mean, that had to be the intention, right? Even down to like the casting of Simon and Jason Biggs, who’ve were in some of the most iconic comedies of that time.

MK: We knew we wanted to make a movie for basically like high school versions of us, movies that we really liked to enjoy when we were younger. And again, like the comedies we grew up with and it just kind of fit in a place that we have some of the we got two of the most, in my opinion, iconic comedy actors from that time period. I mean, Scary Movie and American Pie. Come on.

SR: Until you just said it. It’s funny. Like I didn’t even think about it like that, like “Oh, yeah, I did Scary Movie 3, I’m part of this throwback to that [era].”

MK: Yeah, so I think it was just fortuitous and lucky that we made a 90s comedy. We have 90s comedy stars. I think it’s a good point. 

The Death Of The Comedy

Mikey, is this part of a bigger ploy or conspiracy, if you will, to try and bring back these sorts of comedies? Is this what you want to keep pursuing? 

MK: Sure. I mean honestly like the the next movie I’m writing I believe- Again, I love this movie and I think we knocked it out of the park, but I’m like, okay, it’s possible. It’s possible to do these kind of crazy comedies and I think people will dig them. So I’m going full throttle on the next one. Let’s see how far I can take it. And I’m, you know, it might not work, but at least I wouldn’t write this movie that I’m writing right now if Taco Gary’s didn’t happen. So let’s see. Let’s see if we can keep pushing the envelope.

I think they’re working. I haven’t heard that much laughter in a theater in so long. So I think it’s wonderful. 

MK: Oh, cool. That’s so cool to hear. 

SR: That’s exactly what gets me excited, is the collective experience, because the movie theater experience is so, you know, not as popular as it was. When I was growing up, unless you’re hanging out with your boys, you could go get comedy at a movie theater, or in the nineties maybe a sitcom that you liked. Now I think what’s ubiquitous is that comedy now you can get free on a podcast, you could get free on your phone, you could get free YouTube videos of stand up. Stand-up comedy is bigger than ever. So there are so many resources to go get a laugh, in a time when we need it more than ever, you would think that movies would be being made. So that’s, I think what part of it is. 

Then also there’s this business side of it that I heard from people smarter than me in Hollywood that say that now that they’re making movies on these streamers mostly, that if they can’t appeal to a wider audience, they don’t make the movie. For instance, if you make an action movie or a horror movie that could appeal to people in Russia, the Middle East and Asia. But if you do a comedy, it’s pretty limited to people who understand the language and the culture. So they’re not making them as much because it’s just about money. That’s what sucks and that’s sort of a bad way to be going for making film, especially comedy. So that’s again why I really was excited about doing this because I think making people laugh is the most magical thing you could do in the world. I mean, it’s truly like healing people. Laughter is the best medicine. It’s cliche, but it’s true. And to me last night to hear a bunch of people laughing, sometimes I go back and forth, like, is this feeding my ego? Is this me being insecure? Or is this me truly enjoying making people laugh? It’s just magic, because I’m such a comedy fan of standups and just grew up watching Airplane!, Naked Gun movies, Mel Brooks movies, you know. Back when sitcoms were good, like we were growing up watching Cheers or smart shows. Anyway, so for me, I feel like my whole brain as a child was molded doing comedy and making my friends laugh. And that’s how you sort of survived in middle school and high school. You had to be funny. You had to be zingin’ and zangin’. And that was kind of like, yeah, so for me, this is just what I love to do.

Simon Rex On Working With Sean Baker

Simon, your return to acting is marked by Red Rocket, which is directed by Sean Baker who’s a very non-traditional director, but he’s still a very prestigious director. So like, what was it like getting to work with him and how would you compare that experience to getting to work with Mikey?

SR: Sean is obviously, you know, one of the greatest directors on the planet. And he’s somebody who has become a dear friend of mine now and he’s just brilliant at what he does, you know, that’s his lane. He knows how to sort of go into the people and the margins in certain communities and make a personalized beautiful stories out of the forgotten people in the cracks of America. Working with him was amazing because he is so open. Like we’d be on set and it’d be like he wouldn’t know what to do it and he’d be like “Anyone have an idea?” and you know it could be the grip or the camera operator or arm or a makeup artist and if they would chime in with an idea, [he’d reply with] “Okay, I love that let’s do it,” so he stayed open and in the flow and it was the same thing- 

To compare to Mikey, he is the same way. He was very open and some directors are just like “Nope, it’s my way or the highway, I don’t want to hear your ideas,” that’s okay too I guess maybe. It’s not as collaborative and fun, but that movie could come out good. But for me, I would rather work with someone like Mikey or Sean who stays open because it makes for a more relaxed environment and feeling inspired and like you have ideas and can contribute also. So I prefer that. So they both have that quality, which is good in a person and especially in a director. Because I’ve worked with both. I would say that’s what I compare the two of them and they’re both truly just really nice guys that have become my friends that I like hanging out with, you know, that doesn’t always happen. I’ve probably worked with, you know, 70 directors in my life and I’ve probably stayed friends with five. So that says something.

Simon, you’ve taken a lot of different types of roles since your return and have like branched out into dramedies, which you didn’t really do when you first started out. Do you want to keep pursuing roles like that, like in Red Rocket that gave you some awards buzz as well as just straight comedies like these? How are you balancing those two different types of roles? 

SR: I started studying acting in the late 90s and then moved to LA where I started booking a lot of comedies and sitcoms. After Red Rocket, I started being seen and for the first time in my life, being taken as a serious actor. I remember my agents, you know, 20 years ago would try to submit me for a lawyer or doctor role or whatever. And casting directors would say “No… he’s not a dramatic actor.” Thanks to Sean Baker, he gave me a playground to do comedy and some high-stakes drama that was just really, you know, a beautiful film that people saw me in a different light. So I’ve actually been getting cast mostly for dramatic art house films, which is so cool. I love doing that. 

Gus Vant Sant Made Simon Rex Audition For ‘Good Will Hunting’

Did you always want to do comedy early on in your career? Were you trying to get into drama too and you just couldn’t break in? 

SR: I didn’t really care. I happened to get a job as an MTV VJ, and after being a VJ, Gus Van Sant saw me on MTV and had me come in and audition for Good Will Hunting. And I read with Matt Damon and I bombed the audition so bad that Gus Van Sant said, “Simon, this is the worst audition I’ve ever seen.”  I said, “I know, I’m not an actor.” And he goes, “Okay, you’re not ready to do this movie, but you need to go to acting school because you have something.” So I listened to him. 

You can watch the rest of this interview, including these questions and so many more over on our YouTube channel. 

Operation Taco Gary’s is directed by Michael Kvamme and stars Simon Rex. The film is not currently dated for release but recently premiered at Austin Film Festival.

Thank you for reading our Michael Kvamme-Simon Rex interview. For more, stay tuned here at Feature First.