‘The Office’ Star Who Rob Zombie Almost Couldn’t Hire: “I just like people to look normal”

Rob Zombie
HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, Director Rob Zombie on the set, (c) Lions Gate/courtesy Everett Collection

In a retrospective interview with EW, Rob Zombie spoke to the challenges he faced casting his debut feature House of 1000 Corpses and revealed how the studio nearly kept him from hiring future star Rainn Wilson to play Bill.

Zombie told the outlet that some of his talent selections were made before the script was even finished, but others came about through more conventional means. When the project was set up at Universal, the distributor didn’t understand some of Zombie’s casting choices. Zombie won the battle to cast Rainn Wilson and ultimately bought the picture back from the distribtuor when they declined to release the film.

Keep reading for the director’s musings on the casting process, including why he wanted ordinary-looking people to play the lead characters, rather than models.

Also Read: The Lords of Salem Is Finally Free-To-Stream. Here’s Where You Can Find it.

It wasn’t like it was between Rainn Wilson and 50 other guys. As soon as I saw him, I go, “That’s the guy.” Same with Walton Goggins. The people that are interesting pop out quick, if that’s what you’re looking for. I think Universal didn’t like any of my casting back then. They really questioned the Rainn Wilson casting — and some of the others — and they kept making me bring them back. Back then, if you think of that time period, it would have been more conventional to cast models. I wasn’t going for that look; I was trying to find people that were a little bit older, and not, you know, gorgeous [and] just happened to be driving cross-country. I just like people to look normal.

Stay tuned to the site for more behind-the-scenes tidbits as we uncover them. And be sure to follow @DreadCentral on Twitter so you never miss an update.

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