“I thought that that question was too much. I actually asked them to edit that out,” Galifianakis admitted.
"Between Two Ferns: The Movie" is a celebrity-studded spectacle from Netflix that gives the popular Funny Or Die show the full-length film treatment.
In it, Zach Galifianakis reprises his role of snarky interviewer for the talk show parody that he starred in and created more than 10 years ago.
And the comedian, alongside the film’s director Scott Aukerman, dished on the show’s history including jokes that almost didn’t air, last minute guest cancellations, and the "problem" with the theme song to USA Today on Saturday.
Here are the juiciest tidbits from the interview:
Some of the most memorable jokes were almost cut!
Galifianakis would often hesitate on questions he deemed "too much", until Aukerman convinced him to plow ahead.
Like when he asked Natalie Portman "You shaved your head in "V for Vendetta," did you also shave your V for vagina?"
"I thought that that question was too much. I actually asked them to edit that out," Galifianakis admitted to the publication.
Or the time when he interviewed Barack Obama in 2014 and inquired "How does it feel to be the last black president?"
Guests have to go in "blind" to the interview, even Hilary Clinton!
The show was adamant about having guests not know questions beforehand. Even when it came to 2016 presidential candidate Hilary Clinton.
"They didn’t want to do it the way that we normally do," said Aukerman of Clinton’s camp. Aukerman wouldn’t budge and Clinton finally agreed, with both sides coming out on top.
"People get really worried about (the interview), and then you put it out and they love it," Auckerman explained.
Big names in the industry dropped out last minute!
A few times, celebrities would agree to sit down with Galifianakis, but end up nixing the idea, even after production and planning was in full swing.
Auckerman said Oprah Winfrey and Elton John were two of the biggest stars to quit before the uncomfortable questioning began.
Suggestions from guests were never accepted, well… almost never.
In 2011, "Behind Two Ferns" planned to have a Brad Pitt look-a-like surprise Jennifer Aniston during her interview.
Galifianakis asked the "Friends" star if she was comfortable with the stunt. Aukerman recalled "She, I think rightly, was like, ‘It’s not that I don’t think it’s funny. It’s just anything that continues this conversation about me and Brad Pitt just prolongs me having to talk about it.’ And so we said no."
The theme song ended up causing major trouble for the production!
Auckerman picked out a song for the first episode that he believed was relatively unknown, to keep production costs down. However, it just happened to be from a famous 1976 Robert De Niro flick.
"I thought it was elevator music," explained Aukerman. "It was a low-budget show and we couldn’t write music for it."
The music was from "Taxi Driver" and copyrights were a pretty penny. "It’s literally been a problem for 10 years," he added.
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