Larry the Cable Guy on Mater, Cars 2, and Cars 3 [Interview]

Last Tuesday, I had the chance to sit down for a chat with comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who reprises his role as Mater in Cars 2.

Sprawled out on a hotel couch, Larry answered a bunch of questions, sharing his feelings on Mater, the Cars franchise, and his hopes for (and possibly a hint about) a Cars 3.

Do you feel like you can relate to Mater?

I can relate to Mater.

On a personal level? Like when he’s out of place at the gala in Tokyo. Have you felt that in your life enough that you can bring it to the character?

I felt that at dinner today—at lunch—when I went down to eat lunch. We go to this nice restaurant. I’m dressed like this, people are in suits—business attire—I come walking in, in shorts, this shirt that says Stinky’s on it, and a ball cap. I got some looks.

I felt like all eyes were on me, like, look at this guy. That’s how Mater feels when he goes to all these other places. But the cool thing about Mater—and about me—is, I don’t care how you dress, I don’t care what you do for a living; as long as you’re a nice person, you’re awesome. You know what I mean?

So he’s not into all that kind of stuff. As you can tell, I couldn’t care less about how I look. I mean, I’m not going to dress like white trash, you know what I mean, but I’m gonna—you know—I want to dress comfortable.

I’m comfortable. I’m comfortable in this, Mikey. You know what I mean. I’m a fat guy; I don’t like to tuck in. I can’t; it looks bad. Until I lose weight, this is how I’m dressed.

And I’m comfortable with that. That’s how Mater is. Mater’s awesome.

Who did you do more of your recording sessions with, John [Lasseter] or Brad [Lewis]?

John. I started out with Brad and went to John. I guess the movie needed a little bit of fixing up. They needed to, I guess—from what I understand—they wanted to fix a couple of things. They wanted to make sure they did a nice tribute to Paul Newman and so they kind of reworked some things.

And that’s when John got involved, ‘cause they just weren’t really happy with it in the beginning. And it’s just awesome [now]. I mean, they couldn't have done any better.

So I started with Brad, went with John. And Brad was still in there, though. So it was kind of a group effort. It took a group effort for this one. But it was great, it turned out great, and I don’t think they could have done a better job at beating the first [Cars].

There are a few laugh-out-loud moments in the movie, a lot of action. What’s your favorite scene?

Well [Mater] says so many things that are funny. When I screened the movie, every time Mater said something—except towards the end when he found out that people were laughing at him—but in the beginning, the first two-thirds of the movie, everything Mater said the crowd laughed at.

And you’re talking about the belly laughs, I belly laughed too. And I did the freakin’ line. I just forgot what I [had said] and I was, “Oh yeah, that was funny!”

The wasabi?

The wasabi is one of my favorite parts. [Mater voice] “Ooh, I want some of that pistachio ice cream?” Yeah, that was good stuff. That one, and probably the bathroom in Japan are probably my two best favorite scenes.

I like the one with the note. (Readers will have to see the movie to know what we were talking about here.)

[laughs]

That's hilarious... I like when Mater’s a waiter too.

What does Larry the Cable Guy drive?

Ford F250 and I also have a Dodge Challenger. Oh, and I did get one another vehicle that I don’t really drive a lot, but I got it because Lasseter picked me up in it a couple of times and it’s one of my all time favorite sports cars. But I really don’t drive it a lot, it’s more to look at. A Mercedes-Benz SL55.

That’s cool.

And I gotta tell you, it is so good looking. I bought it after the first Cars movie, a year after the first Cars movie came out—no, two years after—so it’s a 2008, and it’s only got 4200 miles on it.

You have to take it out more often.

I know, I do, but I have my truck which I love and then the Dodge Challenger is sweet! I take it when I take my wife out on a date, so that’s why it doesn’t get used a lot [laughs]. We never have time to go on a date!

I know you can’t say whether it’s happening or not, but are you hoping for a Cars 3?

Oh yeah, totally. And probab... [doesn’t finish the word] You know, yeah.

Just because it’s such a fun franchise. And as long as we’re still sellin’ the merchandise, and as long as people are going to see the movies, and people are buying [Cars Toons: Mater’s Tall Tales]... we’re going to do more ‘Mater Tales’. We’re doing more of those. And hopefully we’ll see a Cars 3 and hopefully it’s not going to be six years from now. Hopefully we’ll cut that in half and hopefully they’ll start working on a Cars 3 in a couple of years.

So you’re hoping to get the call?

Yeah, I’m hoping. And if I don’t—look—I’m happy with the ones we did. I’ll always be a part of Pixar history and I’ll be happy in the fact that I was the best-selling animated character of all time for Pixar. That’s awesome. It really is awesome. I mean—honestly—I am so thankful, I am so grateful, I never thought I would do anything like that. It’s just cool.