Pauly Shore had a good run in the 90s, appearing in a number of comedy movies that have gone on to become cult classics. But as the next decade came around, he quietly disappeared from multiplexes as he continued doing stand-up comedy and stayed mostly out of the spotlight. He would release a couple of independently produced movies across the years. But now, he returns to the type of role that made him super famous with a starring role in the comedy Guest House, which is streaming on VOD this Friday, September 4.

Guest House arrives in the grand tradition of Encino Man and Son-in-Law. Pauly Shore is playing Randy Cockfield, and he is electrified in the role, lighting up the screen with his bigger than life persona in a way we haven't seen in years. It's good to have Pauly back doing what he does best, and the movie couldn't arrive at a better time.

In Guest House, engaged couple Sarah (Aimee Teegarden) and Blake (Mike Castle) buy their dream home. But here's a big catch. A party animal named Randy (Shore) is living in the guest house and refuses to leave! When Randy throws a wild, sexy pool party, the cops show up and Blake gets arrested. Now, can he and Sarah get through their backyard wedding without a certain loser crashing the party...and ruining their marriage?

We caught up with Pauly Shore to chat about his sudden, unexpected return to the kinds of comedies that he made huge box office hits way back in the 90s. The guy has a lot going on, but for now, movies seems to be the place he wants to live most. Guest House is looking like a second wind for Pauly Shore, and he spoke about what we can expect in the near future.

Pauly Shore: If you get Guest House, you can also get Pauly Shore is Dead. No. I'm just kidding.

That's the double feature right there. Right?

Pauly Shore: The double feature, right! Yeah.

I don't think you get enough recognition for your role in Phantom of the Mall. Which they kind of ripped off your character a little bit in the third season of Stranger Things. I'd think that would be the best double feature for Guest House. Where you began, and where you're at now, you agree?

Pauly Shore: I I like to start things and then let other people make more money off them.

Was Phantom of the Mall something you started that people took from you and made money off of? I don't even know the backstory on that movie.

Pauly Shore: No, it's a movie I did in 1988. Yeah, and I was just kidding. That was a bad joke. Sorry.

I don't hear anybody ever bring that up when they talk about Stranger Things. And like your character and Steve's character in Season 3? They're the same dude.

Pauly Shore: I've never seen Stranger Things.

Oh, man. Yeah. They got him working at the ice cream shop, just like you were doing. Why don't more people know about this movie? No one has seen it really for so long.

Pauly Shore: You know, I guess I have to die or something?

Before they dig it out of the crypt. I'm gonna say...Bobby is either the greatest actor of our generation or he really hates sitting in that Tommy Lee sex swing. Because I've never seen such a genuine emotion come off a person on camera before.

Pauly Shore: Bobby Lee. Yeah, he makes me laugh. He's so funny.

That scene is hilarious.

Pauly Shore: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. That's how me and Bobby are in real life. Like, I'm obsessed with Bobby, you know. So I don't have Bobby. I have my assistant, Mike, here, so he's kind of like, you know, my little rabbits foot. You know what I mean? I think he's my lucky charm, so Yeah. Bobby and I have been very close for many years, and he was nice enough to do this part in the movie. He looked like he was in hell with me, which is part of, I think, the charm of our relationship. Because it's pretty much real every time. It's funny every time I go to the Korean spa, and I see him there. He leaves. He won't even hang out with me. Why? I don't know. He just doesn't, cause he knows that I wanted, like, you know, to hang out with him. I don't know. Ask him next time you talke to. I'm sure you'll interview him. Just say, 'Why do you dis Pauly Shore so much when he wants to be your friend and right be next to you?' It would be funny.

Your Joe Rogan episode is one of the more popular ones, where you went on and you talked about your past with these movies you did in the 90s. And then all of a sudden, now we get a new Pauly Shore movie. Did Guest House stem from that conversation, about getting back to doing these kind of movies?

Pauly Shore: I think it kind of did. I think that people just...It's weird, like people are like... This is just...I'm just talking about myself. I'm not talking about other people. It's like people saw me for so many years in movies, and then didn't see me for so many years in movies. And they're confused why they didn't see me in movies anymore. You know? Because I didn't do anything, nothing went bad. I didn't have some weird drug overdose or lose all my money or some weird crazy thing. They just stopped giving me the movies. And the business is very...It's...I don't want to say it's all who you know. But a lot of it is like, 'Oh, this person that we wanted to get...' You know what I mean? And for this particular movie, my friend Jared, who works at LionsGate, was with Barry, who runs Grindstone. And they were just talking about me. And Jared was like, 'Yeah, Pauly's my friend.' Because Jared used to sell my movies at Disney, and they wanted me to be the police officer in this movie. And then when the director Sam saw my Joe Rogan episode, he was like, 'Screw the police officer. Paul is a movie star, like he needs to be starring in this movie.' And then that's when he called me and he offered me the lead role in the film. And once I read the script and figured out what it was about...I was like, 'You know what? I can make this work.' I softened the character, making him more likable more, real, and gave him a nice message at the end to bring some heart to it. I think I can pull this off. So they were really giving me my space to kind of put that feel in the script and put the feel into the the character because...You saw the film, right?

Yeah, I saw it last night.

Pauly Shore: So yeah, that was my focus, was to do that. And also, like, you know, because I always said like, 'Well, what's the reason why this guy sitting in the back house'. You know, why he's back? There is not just a crazy guy living there. I don't want to tell your audience the ending. But you saw it. And you understand now why?

Who did you steal the role away from? If this was already in production or going towards production...Was there somebody that was supposed to be in that back guesthouse that you kind of knocked out of the way?

Pauly Shore: Adam Sandler.

Seriously.

Pauly Shore: Finally, I got back at him after all these years of him taking my movies.

He always takes your movies.

Pauly Shore: No, I'm just kidding. No, I don't know who he was gonna offer it to. I don't know. He was gonna..You gotta ask Sam. If you ever interview him. I don't know.

I have a pitch for part two. I think they should rent that house out to David Faustino. And then you come back to steal the house from Faustino? No? And then you have a three way war between the new guy that's in there. in the guest house. Then You and the couple that are living in the house.

Pauly Shore: I like that.

And then I guess you could throwing what's going on in the real world right now on top of it.

Pauly Shore: I like that.

That might bring the comedy down a little bit. Flocka possum literally would give somebody nightmares.

Pauly Shore: It's like the Tasmanian Devil.

A lot of the scenes in this movie are shot kind of like a horror movie.

Pauly Shore: Yeah, it is. A little bit thriller, a little bit horror. Yeah. I thought Sam did a great job with the script and the pacing. It's dark. It gets pretty dark. You know?

Is the director's real name is Sam Macaroni?

Pauly Shore: Yeah. Macaroni and cheese.

Is that a selling point for you when you hear that the guy's name is Macaroni and you're like...Yeah, that's my director!

Pauly Shore: Absolutely. Because I wish his name was Sam Asparagus, though that would have been better.

That's kind of stinky dude, isn't it?

Pauly Shore: I didn't think about that. You're right?

I talked to you back when you brought out adopted. You said something that I always thought was really interesting. And that was...That movie has such a sweetness and heart to it, and it goes over the top. But you never go all the way into like Bobby or Peter Farley territory, where it gets so disgusting. You can't look at the screen. And it seems to me, you really kind of brought that aesthetic here, where it's edgy and it's super funny. But you still keep that heart and that electricity that you're all about. And kind of like, you know... There's a war going on, but by the end, you guys work it out. And I think a lot of people want that type of positivity right now. This isn't a bleak kind of comedy.

Pauly Shore: Yeah, that's my focus. My focus is, as a person looking at the script, I got to make sure that I pushed the boundaries. I don't go over the edge. I keep the heart, tell the story and move it along. But I think you're right. It's really important to me. Do not go over the edge. That's not my style. I never liked that. I'm not one of those guys. I appreciate that style of comedy, but that's not who I am.

No. And, some of the jokes kind of take it to the edge. But it always seems like it stays within what fans know Pauly for. And I would say this is really a Pauly movie. I don't know how to say if you're the star, because the two leads kind of put you where...You're kind of the third star. Don't you agree with that? But the thing about doing it that way is that when you're gone from the screen a little bit, we're all hungry for more. When Pauly shows up, every time.

Pauly Shore: God dammit, we hit that. That's what we wanted.

I thought this was kind of like Gen X versus millennials a little bit. That's kind of a theme.

Pauly Shore: Definitely. It was interesting. Someone said that, like in my older movies, it was always me being the younger kid and then going up against these kind of corporate, straitlaced people. And now I'm the older guy, going over to the corporate, straitlaced people that are younger. Does that make sense?

Yeah, I totally make sense, Especially when you see the movie. Now, are you gonna continue doing making these movies, or is this just kind of a one off before you go do more of...I know you're doing your podcast, which I used to watch that, like, a year ago. I don't know if you switched...Cause I used to watch you walking around the house, talking to yourself. Is that the same podcast you're doing now?

Pauly Shore: It's the same podcast, but it's been developed. And now we're on all things comedy, which is Bill Burr's Network. It's really developed. You should check it out. It's totally unique, and it's totally different. And there's nothing like this podcast that's out there. I moved to Las Vegas about two months ago, so I live here now and I'm starting it up here, and I'm really excited about it. I also have a karaoke show called Pauly-Oke, which I do these songs that I grew up with. And I'm getting ready to do a serious series called sweating with the Weez, which is like my version of the Richard Simmons sweating with the oldest. So every Monday, we're gonna release another workout video. So I'm just trying to fill all my days with fun content.

What's happening with the one man show in Las Vegas? Is that on pause? Are you gonna be able to do that any time soon?

Pauly Shore: Well, excuse me, everything is on pause. It's something that I was working on for a long time. I was touring it for a while, and then the Corona came. So I put a pin in it. But the good thing is, I put a pin in it in a place and a time where I was very comfortable with it on stage. So I just have to revisit it. But my vision for that is, you know, it's stories of my childhood, and it's similar to the Mike Tyson One man show, which was called Undisputed Truth. That Spike Lee directed. So I want to do my version of, like, growing up. You know, at the store and in MTV days, and and stuff like that, you know?

Well, are you talking to anybody about directing it? Actually, if you can't get the show on the stage soon, maybe setting up sort of your own stage and doing that as maybe...

Pauly Shore: I'd rather do it live in front of an audience. So, I mean, the good thing is that the script is locked, so I don't really need to develop it so much. I mean, once I get a director on board, we'll probably tweak it, but it's probably 80 -85% there, you know?

Do you want Spike Lee to come in and do it? Or do you have another director? I'm being serious when I ask that? Do you have another director that you think would fit that, if you actually filmed it for consumption?

Pauly Shore: I don't know who is gonna direct it yet. But me and my manager are talking about different people. We'll find someone that wants to direct it, that's right for the for the job.

Spike Lee just did David Byrne stage show for HBO. He may be interested in doing yours. Who knows? I mean, maybe Apatow might do it? Who knows? But it seems like right now, I would say you have such a resurgence of younger fans finding out about your movies. What is the first one you point them to? And say, that's where you start. And then this is where we're gonna pick up, here, with Guest House.

Pauly Shore: I would start from The movie that you mentioned, which was Phantom of the Mall. Let's go back to 1988.

You are a great actor in that movie. And you're not really doing the persona that people came to know you for on MTV a couple of years later. You see a different side of Pauly Shore, and you see where you actually were an actor, before the comic persona.

Pauly Shore: Yes. I acted before I did stand up. And then once I did stand up, I got on MTV. MTV then exploded. And then from there, you know, it was off to the races. But I agree with you. I mean, this character that I play in Guest House also, I think I'm acting in it. You know, I'm not playing the Weez, right?

It's the same energy, but it's a totally different guy. That's what I'm saying is, you can see where you started, and that you actually started as an actor before you started doing sort of the stand up, and bringing that into movies. That persona. I don't know what you call that. I don't want to be rude. People know it's Pauly Shore, the weasel, and they go see it. You were a solid actor like a Robin Williams is an actor, but he's also a comedian. You were that person before you started bringing the stand up comedy into movies.

Pauly Shore: Yeah, that's why I like acting better than stand-up right now. I would love to be doing movies. I mean, that's where I belong. That's where my home is. I believe my home is on the movie set. You know, that's where I should be. I've already toured America for the last 15-20 years. On and off. I would like to maybe get a residency here. Yes. Do my one man show. Maybe start my own club out here. I want to try to peel it back a little, and spend a little more time maybe trying to get back into some films.

Yeah, do more. Because people want it.

Guest House is available from LionsGate this weekend streaming on VOD.