After 10 years of honing his comedic skills as a performer and writer, actor Dana Carvey finally made the big time last spring, thanks to a geek named Garth.
Carvey`s co-starring role in the sleeper hit ”Wayne`s World,” a low-budget quickie shot in 35 days for Paramount Pictures, has given the personable actor a level of visibility he had managed to avoid during several seasons on NBC`s ”Saturday Night Live” and a number of mostly forgettable films, including ”Opportunity Knocks.”
What a difference a year makes. He had developed a cult following because of his irascible Church Lady persona. But it was as Mike Myers` sidekick in a comedy that struck gold with the 7- to 17-year-olds that Carvey learned just how unexpected-and rewarding-”overnight” success can be.
Not least among the things success has wrought, NBC recently signed Carvey, 37, to an exclusive ”late-night” contract. Should David Letterman bolt to another network, Carvey is the prime candidate to replace him behind the desk.
Shot for less than $10 million, ”Wayne`s World” has earned more than $100 million in the United States. That take is sure to be doubled now, with 5 million copies of the ”Wayne`s World” video arriving in stores priced at $24.95.
How to explain the film`s success?
”Sheer luck,” Carvey said during a stop in Las Vegas to perform at a video awards banquet.
”You can analyze it and conclude that most films don`t work. Film is a very difficult medium that doesn`t lend itself to comedy. We`re still doing things in film the way we did them in 1910. They say, `OK, we want you to be really funny at 8:45. Cut. OK, now come back and we`ll do it again at 10:15 and be prepared to be super funny again.`
”Whereas `Saturday Night Live` is like being shot out of a cannon; you just psyche it all up for that one moment. I guess a lot of kids really loved the movie and wanted to see it more than once. That`s why it made so much money.”
Carvey almost wasn`t a part of ”Wayne`s World.” He didn`t come aboard the project until two weeks before cameras rolled.
”The most satisfying part was that I was able to write my own role,” he said. ”Basically, the script was written and I kind of came in late to the process. I just said, `Let me have the script for a weekend and I`ll give Garth a part.`
”Mike had asked me if I wanted to be in one scene in an unbilled cameo. Then Paramount gave me the script and said, `We want to make it more of a partner situation,` so I said, `OK.` But I said if they wanted me in it I`d have to be able to write my own part. I sort of interwove Garth as a heavy metal McGyver.”
”Wayne`s World” aside, much of the focus these days is on whether Carvey will replace an unhappy Letterman.
Carvey brushes aside the suggestion with an homage to Dave and uncertainty about the direction he wants his own career to take.
”I`ve got a deal with NBC that says I`m exclusive to them for television after `Saturday Night Live` for a period of time. For me, Letterman`s a genius. I would never try to attempt or even think of replacing him. I guess the scenario is that if Dave wanted to go on at 11:30 p.m. somewhere else, that hour needs to be filled. NBC President Warren Littlefield is asking me to consider that kind of possibility, but it`s all conjecture.”
What would Carvey do if he did have his own talk show?
”I`d do a lot of what I do on `Saturday Night Live,` ” he said, ”and also when I guest hosted for Regis Philbin. I`d try to do more of a comedy show than a talk show. But nothing`s been decided. My `Saturday Night`
contract is up Nov. 7, the night of the election. Then I`ll make a decision about what I`ll do.”
There is at least one other project on Carvey`s plate, ”Hans and Franz Go To Hollywood.” Like ”Wayne`s World,” it, too, is based on an SNL sketch- this time about a pair of overbearing bodybuilders determined to out-Schwarzenegger the screen`s premier action hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
