“Yo,“Pauly Shoresays, answering the phone to chat with EW about his latest project.
“I’m at the gym in Austin on the treadmill.”
But Shore thinks the similarities run deeper.
Pauly Shore; Richard Simmons.Denise Truscello/WireImage; Jason Kempin/Getty Images
“Iamhim,” he says.
“I like helping people.
I like putting that energy out there.
Pauly Shore as Richard Simmons in ‘The Court Jester’ short film.Issak Morin
And I’ve been going to the gym since I was a kid.
And I’ve known him for years from back in the day.
I started in the ’90s…
Pauly Shore as Richard Simmons in ‘The Court Jester’ short film.Issak Morin
I used to always see him and I was always giving him hugs and high fives and stuff.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your initial reaction to people saying you should play Richard Simmons in something?
PAULY SHORE:Well, I think it’s cool.
Pauly Shore as Richard Simmons and Tamra Brown as Ellen DeGeneres in ‘The Court Jester’ short film.Issak Morin
I think this business that we’re in now, the audience kind of controls it a lot.
They’re the ones who came up with it.
So that’s kind of where it took off.
‘The Court Jester’ short film poster.Emil Gurvin/Karolina Edgren
People always say that I remind them of Richard Simmons.
You’re Richard Simmons.”
So I get that sometimes.
It was kind of already out there.
Did you think you looked like him?
I mean, partly.
Yeah, I think so.
That’s a compliment, by the way.
He’s very handsome.
So you have all these things that kind of represent him already within me.
Issak Morin
Once you were playing phone tag a bit, did you get to speak with him?
That was his response.
So that’s where we are in the process.
I said, “Send me the script.”
So he sent me the script and he knocked it out.
He just nailed it.
I didn’t have any changes.
But life’s weird.
You never know.The short film is set in just one location, right?
All atThe Ellen DeGeneres Show?Exactly.
It starts off kind of fun, and then the last part is Richard’s message.
Or are you open to seeing all ideas here?
And I don’t want to put my finger on exactly what it is.
But my attitude is: If we build it, he’ll come.
That’s my hope.
My hope is that he sees that it looks good, it feels good, it’s right.
And then he might just say, f— it at some point “I’m down.
We’ll all hold each other’s hands and we’ll work together.
Richard Simmons was a very, very, very special man, and he had a huge message.
And I think that message now is even bigger than it was back then.
But we know that it wasn’t always smiles behind the scenes.
Yes, it is.
And I think that makes it very relatable.
But again, we’re just scratching the surface right now as far as the story.
From what I understand, he’s not sick, which is great, and he is just chilling.
So that’s where he’s at, but people miss him and people love him.
Yeah, it’s part of it.
But more importantly, I think it’s the right story.
The comeback and all that other stuff is something everyone wants to have.
So hopefully my stars will line up… We’ve got to ensure that that’s dead on before we even start moving forward.
Emil Gurvin/Karolina Edgren
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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