'FUBAR II' Offers More Mockumentary Headbanging

After making a huge impression as Dean and Terry with their humorous 2002 headbanger mockumentary 'FUBAR,' actors Dave Lawrence and Paul Spence weren't sure if a sequel was in the cards. But those doubts have been cast aside with 'FUBAR II,' which made its world premiere last week at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"At the beginning we were like, "Let's leave well enough alone, and let's not taint the original,'" says Spence seated alongside Lawrence, both dressed in character. "I guess you would call it pressure. The people who like it a lot have become super fans out there, so I think we felt a little bit of pressure."

"We were like, 'If we do a sequel, it's not just going to be whatever, it's going to have to have some kind of point to it, right? So once we came up with the right idea, that's when we decided to do a sequel. We didn't just want to do one to do one. We had to have the right idea."

'FUBAR II,' directed by Michael Dowse and opening in theatres Oct. 1, follows Dean and Terry to Fort McMurray, Alberta, in their quest to find jobs. The friendship is challenged, though, when Terry falls in love with Trish at a local watering hole and Dean's health problems flare up once again. Think of 'It's a Wonderful Life'-meets-'Trailer Park Boys,' and you get the gist of the picture.

"For me, it was a chance to improvise a film, an opportunity to greenlight the funding without a script, to be able to do that, and to show people we were capable of doing that, not just once but twice," Lawrence says. "For me, I love improvising so to be able to show that formula can work, I saw it as a huge opportunity to show that lightning doesn't strike just once."

Although there was a sizable amount of time between films, Spence and Lawrence continued to portray the characters with a DVD-release tour, presenting at an awards show in Vancouver and a book tour. Both say there was no difficulty in getting back into character.

"I think they're relatively easy to slip into," Spence says. "For me, Dean is one part headbanger for the people out there and the other part is Paul's subconscious. He's a partier and has no responsibilities so you just get to say whatever you feel like with no repercussions, so it's super fun to play Dean. It's definitely like a holiday from real life to be this ridiculous character.

"We've been friends forever so you throw on the wig or get the hair extensions and start talking like a headbanger. It was like, 'Here we go again.' The nonsense just kept flowing out. It's a bit nerve wracking because now, all of a sudden, there's a big camera crew versus just one person and a sound man, but at the same time, I realized right away that, 'Here we are back in our element.' It was just us improvising and going with whatever comes up."

"Once you have a character developed, it's not that hard to turn your brain into him," Lawrence adds.



One particular scene which might have some heavy metal fans talking concerns a chainsaw going through a poster of Ronnie James Dio who passed away earlier this year. Spence says there was never any discussion about removing the scene, which was shot prior to his death in mid-May.

"The whole point of having that poster was a tribute to Dio, and it remains a tribute to Dio, because my respect for him hasn't changed," Spence says. "And I think Dio, wherever he is right now, if he could see it, he would think it's f---ing awesome. I don't think we ever considered once taking it out of the film because it's a tribute to him, and I think he would think it was awesome as well -- and I hope Wendy thinks it's awesome too."

And while both say there will be plenty of bonus footage and gag reels when the film becomes available on DVD, a 'FUBAR III' is still up in the air.

"I don't know," Lawrence says, "Space Odyssey. Terry and Dean go to space. In 3-D."