Scream Actor Jamie Kennedy On Upcoming Tremors Sequel

Jamie Kennedy, actor and comedian famed for portraying uber-nerd Randy in the ‘Scream’ movies, has discussed his role in ‘Tremors 5,’ the latest installment in the long-running monster movie series.

1990’s ‘Tremors’ cast Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward as small-town handymen thrust into a battle of wits with giant subterranean man-eaters dubbed Graboids. A modest hit on release, it has developed cult status over the years, spawning two direct-to-DVD sequels and a prequel, as well as a short-lived TV spin-off series.

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In an interview with Bloody Disgusting (in which the primary topic was his most recent role in horror comedy ‘Buddy Hutchins’), Kennedy describes his ‘Tremors 5’ character as “an extreme adrenaline junky [sic],” and hints that the monsters may not be quite as we remember them, describing them as “Graboids on HGH.”

Shot recently in South Africa, Kennedy describes the production as “probably the most physical shoot I’ve even been apart of… Between filming under water, special FX and fire, the movie is gonna look huge. ‘Transformers’ huge.”

Given that the film is expected to go direct-to-DVD, we must say we’re a little sceptical about that last statement - but then, the original ‘Tremors’ managed to pull off a tremendously watchable monster movie on what would look to be a fairly small budget, so there’s no reason this latest sequel can’t do likewise.

Little is known about ‘Tremors 5,’ aside from that it is based on a screenplay written by series creators Brent Maddock and SS Wilson - further reason to be hopeful. Kennedy was tight-lipped on plot details, but promised “Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) comes back and he may have a new partner in crime.”

Survivalist gun nut Burt was one of the most memorable characters from the original, and Gross is the only actor from the 1990 film to return for every subsequent sequel as well as the TV show.

Old school monster movie fans may also be pleased by Kennedy’s promise that the Graboids will be “a mix between CGI and practical FX.”

Kennedy broke big in 1996 thanks to his scene-stealing performance in ‘Scream,’ in which his character famously breaks down the rules of surviving a horror movie. Interestingly, he tells Bloody Disgusting that he won the role over Breckin Meyer, Seth Green and Jason Lee.

Kennedy would reprise Randy in ‘Scream 2,’ and - despite being killed off in that second film - even managed a brief cameo in ‘Scream 3.’ However, he did not return for 2011’s ‘Scream 4’ and has no involvement in the upcoming MTV spin-off series, which he seems cautiously optimistic about: “there are really good people involved, so we’ll have to wait and see how it looks.”

The late 1990s and early 2000s saw Kennedy take roles in such well-regarded films as ‘Enemy of the State,’ ‘Bowfinger,’ ‘Three Kings’ and ‘Boiler Room,’ as well as enjoying small screen success with ‘The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.’ However, his film career was damaged by his lead turn in 2005’s critically savaged ‘Son of the Mask.’

'Tremors 5' is expected to hit DVD in late 2015.

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Picture Credit: Dimension/TWC, Universal