Danielle Solzman
Actor/musician Thomas Ian Nicholas spoke to Solzy at the Movies on Thursday night as Wizard World Chicago opened for the weekend.
Thanks for joining Solzy at the Movies. How are enjoying your time in Chicago?
Thomas Ian Nicholas: It’s good, man. I love Chicago. I was just here with my band touring. I come here at least once or four times a year. My wife’s from Chicago so visiting family and just having a good time. I love Chicago.
A lot of us know you from Rookie of the Year and American Pie. Is there going to be a future for American Pie or have you all pretty much said goodbye to the roles?
Thomas Ian Nicholas: I haven’t said goodbye. As far as I know, Jon and Hayden, who wrote American Reunion, were hired to write American Pie 5. They put pen to paper and the script is sitting on a shelf at Universal. I haven’t got a phone call yet—and they said like, “Hey, we’re going to do this.” They usually call first and I usually say, “Yes,” and the ball starts moving but I haven’t heard anything yet.
You pitched for the Cubs in Rookie of the Year. Have they given you a World Series ring?
Thomas Ian Nicholas: They have not. It might be because I’m not actually from Chicago. I feel like yes—well, I’ve heard rumors and maybe it’s true that everyone on the field, including those serving popcorn have received rings. But they live in Chicago. So the only thing that’s working against me is that I don’t live here and I’m not from here. So maybe if I get a place here then Ricketts will send me one? Maybe I should do that.
What was it like working with Gary Busey?
Thomas Ian Nicholas: It was interesting. He’s fun. Crazy. Yeah. Crazy Busey.
What about Daniel Stern? A lot of us know him from Home Alone.
Thomas Ian Nicholas: Of course, yeah. Dan is great. He directed the film as well. He’s a great guy. He was kind of like a father figure towards the shoot. He’s not as zany as the characters that he plays. In real life, he’s very well-thought and more.
You played Walt Disney in Walt Before Mickey.
Thomas Ian Nicholas: I did, yeah.
What’s your favorite Disney film?
Thomas Ian Nicholas: The first Disney movie that I had shown to my son was Mary Poppins so I guess that would kind of be like my favorite. It kind of defines both of his worlds—live-action and animation—like his initial concept of Alice in Wonderland, which I learned about after doing the film. I knew none of that—nothing about his early life and career. It combines a live person in an animated world. He was involved in the making of it because he was obviously still alive so that one definitely is like my favorite Disney movie.
Alright, thank you for your time. It was nice meeting you.
Thomas Ian Nicholas: Yeah, nice meeting you, too. I wanted to show you real quick as well—which you may or may not like fantasy stuff. This is Handbook for Mortals. This is the new book that I’m producing into a film later this year. It just came out as a book last week so if you like reading, if you like fantasy, you should check it out, Handbook for Mortals.
Nice, thank you.
Thomas Ian Nicholas: Thank you.
