Director Penelope Spheeris on Family and Hollywood, Part 2

What is the most rewarding aspect of your career? The most challenging?

The most rewarding aspect is when people (especially young people) tell me that my movies have changed their lives. What better reason to do the work? The most challenging part is managing politics and living with the volatility of the business. I feel fortunate that I was able to make movies and a good income when that was possible. 

As someone who has built a successful career in comedy, what’s one of the funniest or most fun memories you have from your career?

On the last day of the shoot on Wayne's World, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey were dead tired.  We were filming the scene where they watch the planes fly over the Pacer (which was really on a sound stage). They started ad-libbing and making up the funniest lines, like out of nowhere! They were laughing so hard, they could hardly speak. That was a precious, brilliant moment from two brilliant comedians. I will never forget it.

Where do you see your career going in the next 5 years?

Anna and I are preparing the release of The Decline series and until we get that done, I am putting everything else on hold. She is forcing me to do it and do it right. People really want to see them and I have been negligent in releasing as it has taken a while to recover from my mother’s passing, but we are on track to release them soon!

You’ve done several films about music. What drew you to that?

Music was my escape when I was a kid. After the carnival that my father owned, we grew up in trailer parks and were quite poor. We would collect bottles and scrape up enough money to go to the movies and buy a couple 45’s. Actually, just like today, music gets kids through a lot of hard times and identity crises. I recently got my California state license to be a foster parent and have had four pre-teen foster kids. I watch them use music and movies to make their lives better and remember doing the same when I was that age.