“Mallrats” star Jeremy London discusses the sequel and what’s next for his career at Awesome Con!
If you were a fan of the hit TV series “Party of Five” or a big Kevin Smith fan, then you probably know Jeremy London. He’s an actor who is very recognizable even if you aren’t familiar with “Mallrats” like you should be. When it comes to quintessential 90s films, “Mallrats” is among the must-watch movies and Jeremy London was a major part of making that film what it is today. Talking with Jeremy, we were able to get some insight into his career and the upcoming “Mallrats” sequel. Take a look below.
As I wondered about Jeremy’s career, I was also curious as to how he got started in the convention scene. Where did he first learn about these cons that the fans love so much and when did he get started making appearances?
“I started doing these conventions about 15 years ago or so. At first…they were a little bit more like horror genre, eccentric, kind of different. They weren’t as widespread as far as like pop culture and stuff like that so that was kind of a limited market for myself back then. But they started slipping in the pop culture stuff and ‘Mallrats’ kind of slipped me into that place. My twin brother did ‘Dazed and Confused’ so we started fitting into the pop culture aspect of it. And now we’re just ancient relics so I think they just have us along because they feel sorry for us.”
When Jeremy mentioned his twin brother, I was curious as to how often fans confuse the two actors. Both of them have their own influences in cinematic pop culture and (obviously) look alike. So how often do fans think Jeremy is Jason and Jason is Jeremy?
“How often do we get confused? For each other or just in general? I’m getting older, I get confused every day. Wait a minute, where are we? Oh, you mean [with] each other! (laughs) It happens, it happens. We are on count 3 so far today, we actually have a tally. I usually have bets going with my group on how many times a day I’ll get mistaken for my brother. I said ‘Dazed and Confused’ specifically 4, and we’re at 3 so far. So I think our biggest number was 6 so we’ll see what we get to today (laughs).”
“Mallrats” came at a time when Kevin Smith’s career was on the rise and quickly became a cult film. With it being so influential in pop culture at that time, I was curious about the beginnings of the film and how Jeremy got the role.
“Well ‘Mallrats’ was sort of running off of the buzz of ‘Clerks’ which was a bit of an enigma to everybody at the time. And I was just lucky enough to get the audition. My twin brother had done ‘Dazed and Confused’ and Don Phillips, the casting director, had cast him in ‘Dazed in Confused’ so I got an opportunity to audition for Don Phillips and Kevin Smith for ‘Mallrats’. And I remember I went in and I don’t know what I did but I pretty much got hired on the spot. And from that point on I kind of helped them out finding the rest of the cast.”
Being at New York Comic Con for the Mallrats 2 Bruce Campbell announcement last year, I had to ask about the progress of the “Mallrats” sequel aka “MallBrats.” I was interested in Jeremy’s level of excitement for the film’s announcement and his excitement is definitely there and his love for the film is definitely still there. But one thing he wasn’t a fan of was the name “MallBrats.”
“Well I was extremely excited to hear that there was going to be a sequel made about ‘Mallrats’, but the name ‘MallBrats’ itself is nothing to be that thrilled about. We’re not the ‘MallBrats’ we’re ‘Mallrats’. ‘MallBrats’ are our children so I’m not quite sure who the movie is about. I’m thinking Kevin’s come to his senses though and I think it’s gone back to ‘Mallrats 2’…I hope. And if not, we should get an effort going towards ‘Mallrats 2’ because I think it’s gonna say hopefully more about the movie than ‘MallBrats’.”
I was also curious as to whether or not he had been in touch with other cast members. There had been a few connections and he was excited to be working on the project again. But regardless of how successful the film will be, he was most excited about continuing the story of those characters he loves.
“The cast and I were lucky enough to reconvene. I believe we were in Louisville, Kentucky I think. And we all got to spend time and get close again. And I was lucky enough Brian O’Halloran just played the part of Dracula in a movie I just wrote and directed. A short film that my acting school, the London Arts Acting Studio, that we did called ‘Monsters Anonymous’ that everybody’s getting ready to see hopefully soon. We’re going to start taking it to festivals and stuff like that. So Brian O’Halloran and I just recently worked together and then we saw everybody in…it was Pensacon. Pensacola, that’s where we saw everybody. And everybody’s just as excited to see each other, it’s like family. You know?”
The details of “MallBrats/Mallrats 2” are limited at the moment, but I was curious as to what he wanted to see for his character TS in the sequel. How would he like the character to have evolved over time since the first film?
“What I want to see for my character in ‘Mallrats’ would be for a chance to be as funny as everybody else hopefully (laughs). You know, I’m the straight guy in it usually but I don’t care, I’m just glad to be there. I would just like to see the group back together. That’s all I care about man. I don’t care if the movie makes money. I know everybody else does but I seriously just can’t wait to get back with everybody and make another movie. That’s what’s important to me.”
Finally with Jeremy’s time being filled up with directing, acting, and running his acting school, I was curious as to what was in store for him in the future. With the “Mallrats” sequel being a milestone event reviving an older fan base, there may be a lot more in store for Jeremy in the future.
“Well, my wife and I…Juliet Reeves London is my wife and she had a movie that premiered last night on the Chiller channel called ‘Girl in Woods’ and I believe it might be on again tonight. It’s fantastic. She’s getting extremely wonderful reviews. She’s excellent. It’s called ‘Girl in Woods’ [and] you can see it on the Chiller channel or VOD. I also wrote, directed, and produced a movie called ‘The Devil’s Dozen’ which you can get on iTunes or Amazon. Great actors, Eric Roberts, C. Thomas Howell, Jake Busey. A wonderful psychological thriller. But right now, recently I said I started an acting school in Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans called ‘The London Arts Acting Studio’ and we just made a movie called ‘Monsters Anonymous’. And it’s a short film that is going to make everyone laugh their ass off I hope.”
Jeremy London was just as cool as his character from “Mallrats.” He was funny and a pleasure to talk to. He was down to Earth and very humble which is always nice when conducting an interview. He’s on a climb right now with multiple projects and we wish him the best in his career and look forward to seeing how it progresses.