Bobby and Peter Farrelly
SI: Ever think of calling this film There's Something About Manny?
Bobby: I wish we would have thought of that [laughs].
SI: You were filming at Game 4 of the World Series, when your beloved Sox clinched. Were you able to focus on your craft at a time when something so personal was happening?
Peter: Now by craft, do you mean boat?
Bobby: You know what? It was pretty easy for us because we only had one camera. Pete and I could sort of enjoy the moment as they filmed it.
Peter: We were pretty much just watching the game and drinking beer.
SI: Johnny Damon, Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek appear but don't speak. Did they try to coax you into throwing them a line?
Bobby: They had speaking lines, and good sense coaxed us into editing them out.
Peter: I must say that Varitek was an excellent actor. Trot Nixon was pretty good too. And Johnny Damon (below, with Barrymore) ... is one helluva nice guy.
SI: You ended up retooling the script after the Sox won the World Series. How was the film originally supposed to end?
Bobby: Like every Red Sox season ends: bittersweet and life goes on. You take your lumps and move on. In fact [well before the World Series], the studio was saying, "What if [in the movie] they won?" We were like, No way. We're not going to fake that.
SI: You guys often cast athletes--Cam Neely, Roger Clemens, Brett Favre, Anna Kournikova--in your films. Why?
Peter: We want to meet them. The one we missed is Mark Fidrych. We offered him a role in Me, Myself and Irene. He drives a truck and lives on a farm in Massachusetts. He said, "Great, I'd love to, when is it?" I said, "It's this Wednesday." He said, "I can't do it. I have a delivery to make." I said, "Mark, is there any way to get somebody else to do the delivery so you can do the movie?" He said, "Pete, I've been making this delivery for the past 18 years every Wednesday. They count on me to be there every Wednesday. I'm not going to miss a day because I'm in a movie." I hung up thinking: That's one cool dude.
SI: As a goaltender in college at RPI, Bobby, you played in one game during the 1977-78 season and allowed four goals in 11:13. Assess your college career.
Bobby: My nickname was Red Light because the red light was always flashing when I was in there. I felt like if I had a couple of better guys in front of me, I could have kept my goals-against average down to 16 or 17. --Richard Deitsch
COLOR PHOTO
FOX 2000 PICTURES/ZUMA PRESS INC. (FARRELLYS)
COLOR PHOTO
JIM ROGASH/WIREIMAGE.COM (DAMON AND BARRYMORE)