Cars:
Larry the Cable Guy as
“Tow Mater”
by Lynn B
 He’s
that redneck (and proud of it) dude on “Blue Collar TV” who
always wears a baseball cap and sleeveless, cut-off shirts. His favorite
line is “git ‘R done” and his 2005 comedy CD “The
Right to Bare Arms” was number one on both country and SoundScan
comedy charts.
Larry seems
like a good ole boy with a heart of gold, just like his feisty, rusty
character tow truck Tow Mater in the new Disney/Pixar film Cars.
Little “Mater” runs the local junkyard, likes to tip tractors
for fun (the equivalent of tipping sleeping cows in this all-car film)
and latches on to hot sports car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson)
with a loyal best buddy frenzy.
We went to
Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the big NASCAR racetrack in Charlotte, North
Carolina, to park it and chat with the various voices of Cars. Perched
high atop the track in a posh skybox, we watched huge trucks, each bearing
a couple of race cars and an engine, line up to park in the infield for
the big Memorial Day races.
Picture Larry,
friendly, way down to earth and as funny as ever, as he takes us on a
road trip of his career and Cars voice recording experiences.
AGW:
Hi Larry. Enjoying the press events?
Larry: Sure.
I thought today was the TV thing. So I got all dressed up (he’s
wearing the usual), and here it’s you. So, I guess I screwed up.
(laughs)
AGW:
Were you the model for this character do you think?
Larry: Oh
yeah. I think I was. When they thought of a tow truck they had me in mind,
apparently. I got into the character, though. They told me I was going
to play a tow truck, so I put on 1,700 pounds. I’ve actually lost
some weight since we done that . Then I found out it was a cartoon, and
I felt like an idiot. (laughs)
AGW:
They try to incorporate things the actors do or say while recording into
the characters. What did you bring that they used?
Larry: Yeah.
Dad gum. I think I got a “git er done” in there. Dad gum was
definitely something I brought to it. John Lasseter basically had this
in his head. He knew what that tow truck looked like. He just had to find
the voice to match what that was. When he heard my voice, he thought I
sounded like the voice of this truck. But the truck, itself, was his brainchild.
As far as certain phrases, yeah, I came up with certain phrases. Probably
pulled it apart from other stuff.
AGW:
Was being a voice only actor hard for you?
Larry: I had
never done voiceovers before. So I remember when I first started doing
it, I did like the first five lines and I then I was starting to do another
one, and I said, ‘John, can I do this line a little different because
I just don’t feel comfortable the way they’ve got it written?’
and he said, ‘we want you to be this character so you do it how
you want to. As long as you talk about the gist of what it’s talking
about. I don’t care how you get there, just get there’. That’s
when I started throwing stuff in and changing lines around. As long as
I got where we were supposed to be, I could do that. That made it a lot
more comfortable for me. The more I did it, the more I got comfortable
in the studio.
AGW:
You can get pretty raunchy. Was there stuff you couldn’t use because
it’s a PG movie?
Larry: No.
Not at all. I do different shows for different people. I can adapt to
anything. It’s like Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy is all of a sudden
is this big kids’ guy and I’m definitely not even close to
anything he used to be as far as PG ratings are concerned.
AGW:
How famous were you when this process started five years ago?
Larry: Oh
shoot. I was real famous down at the 7-11 around the corner. (laughs)
It’s been crazy. I never dreamed in a million years about this.
I pinch myself all the time. Every year it’s gotten better and better.
AGW:
But were you less known when they approached you about this role?
Larry: Oh
yeah. The first “Blue Collar (Comedy Tour)” came out …
I had a real big following from comedy clubs. I could sell out comedy
clubs, but once Blue Collar hit, things started to pop. When I got the
role, yeah, I was way less recognizable than I am now.
AGW:
Are you looking for different challenges as an actor now?
Larry: (He
chuckles.) You know what, I can guarantee you’re not going to see
me doing a lot of Shakespeare. (laughs) I’m comfortable in what
I do. I’m not trying to be somebody I’m not. I’m just
doing what I do. I have certain things that make me laugh. Certain things
that are funny to me. No, if something comes along and it’s something
I want to do, I’ll do it. As long as my fans want to see me do other
things, I’ll do other things. As far as me seeking something out
and going ‘I think I should do a more serious role and try and build
my acting skills’, I could care less about that. I got into standup
because I like making people laugh and I enjoy it.
 AGW:
Your “Mater” and Owen Wilson’s “Lightning McQueen”
have a lot of scenes together but did you ever get to record the voices
in the same room with him?
Larry: No,
but it wasn’t that bad because John Lasseter is a real good guy.
We got to be pretty good friends. He’s a big NASCAR fan. He told
me he wanted to come down to Florida, outside of Orlando, where I live
where they have figure eight bus races. He’d heard about these figure
eight bus races, so we got to talking about them, because I’d been
to them. He was down and would read the line before mine and I’d
read it so I didn’t feel I was talking to a wall. I was getting
into the part, laughing, and it was a lot of fun.
AGW: “Mater”
is so popular already that you are doing a special little piece as him
on the DVD, right?
Larry: Yeah,
we’re doing “Mater and the Ghost Light.” It’s
a whole other five-minute bit in there.
AGW:
Does the character grow or is it more of the same?
Larry: Yeah,
it’s much like the movie. They wanted to show Mater’s heart
and how he was towards other people. So it’s kind of like the same
kind of thing, but it’s a whole other story.
AGW:
What classic comedians are you a fan of?
Larry: Steve
Martin got me into the business. I love Steve Martin. I loved him because
he was real irreverent and he did silly things. I love silly stuff. He
was on stage with the arrow in his head doing the Happy Feet (routine).
To me, that’s hilarious. Steve Martin, Jonathan Winters. One of
my favorite shows was “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.
That’s what I do, silly goofy one-liners. [One of the Monty Python
guys said] that it’s good to see that America is getting its sense
of humor back. There was a time that they didn’t laugh at silly
anymore.
AGW:
When you meet a celebrity, do you try to make them laugh and put them
at ease?
Larry: When
I meet a celebrity, I’m as star-struck as anybody else that’s
not in the business. I go up and say, ‘hi’. I don’t
try to make them laugh. If I’m comfortable with them, I’ll
go up and say something funny to them.
AGW:
Has success changed you?
Larry: Not
at all. I’m from a small town. I grew up a country kid. I moved
to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1979. A lot of people go, ‘oh, he’s
from Palm Beach.’ I’m not from Palm Beach, I’m from
West Palm Beach. Especially in the 1970’s and 1980’s, there’s
a big different between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. I used to board
my horses two blocks away from where I lived in West Palm Beach. That
shows how much it’s grown down there.
 AGW:
Where do your ideas for your comedy come from today?
Larry: It’s
just getting out and doing things. Going to races. Somebody says something
and then you pop out a quip and everybody laughs and (you think), I gotta
write that down. That’s basically where I get it all. All of my
stuff is pretty nonsensical.
AGW:
Did you ever take a road trip? Like on old Route 66?
Larry: Man,
I always wanted to do it. My friends and I talked about getting motorcycles
and going down Route 66. Then we saw some movie where all these biker
gangs are on Route 66, and we got scared, so we didn’t do it. (laughs)
AGW:
What’s next for you?
Larry: I do
Jay Leno on the sixth.
AGW:
When you do Leno, do you create all new material?
Larry: I do.
This will be my 10th appearance coming up. I’ve done 70 minutes
of material on there and not repeated a thing. It’s difficult, but
I write all the time and I’ve got notebooks full of one-liners that
I’ve never even tried before. I’ll have at least enough. Every
time I go on, I’ve tried out enough stuff that I know its going
to work and Jay’s a good friend. He makes it comfortable for me
on there. Depending on who the guest is, I ad-lib off the guest. Jay sets
me up with good stuff.
AGW:
Any movies coming up?
Larry: We’ve
got another Blue Collar movie coming out June 4 on Comedy Central. Then
I start filming a movie called Delta Farce.
AGW:
Who do you play in that?
Larry: It’s
a little different for me. I play more of a straight man. I’m still
a doofus but not as much of a doofus. I’ve toned down my doofusness.
I wanted to do a movie that I thought our troops would be happy with,
especially when we’re at war. We sent the script to all the (Defense)
departments: the Army, Navy, Marines and the Pentagon, and they loved
it. They liked it so much they want us to do the premiere at Walter Reed
Hospital.
some pictures
on this page courtesy of and copyright Disney/Pixar, 2006
picture of
Larry courtesy of and copyright Country Music Television, 2006
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