Napolean Dynamite star tosses his moon boots

LOS ANGELES - He has tossed off his moon boots and traded in his tether ball, but actor John "Napoleon Dynamite" Heder still thinks nunchucks are "pretty sweet."

Heder, 28, gets a chance to break free of Napoleon's super geek shackles on Friday when his new comedy School for Scoundrels debuts in US theatres.

But for fans who raved about his role as the simple-minded nerd, Heder said, there is a little bit of Napoleon left inside him even if he is all grown up, living in Hollywood and looking forward to becoming a dad.

"I still think nunchucks are pretty sweet, and the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot," he said.

"There's a lot of similarities, but I like to think I'm a mature version (of Napoleon). If I'm in an awkward social situation, I know I am. Napoleon doesn't."

Napoleon Dynamite told of a high school kid who didn't seem to understand, or care, he was a geek. He wore moon boots, played tether ball and wielded nunchucks, a martial arts weapon, with gusto.

The 2004 movie was made for US$400,000 ($610,000) by a pair of unknowns, the husband and wife team Jared and Jerusha Hess, and it starred Heder, a college student studying animation, not a professional actor. Yet, Napoleon Dynamite became one of the most talked-about movies at the Sundance Film Festival and was an art house hit raking in nearly US$45 million at US box offices.

That success cut like a double-edged sword for Heder, however. He became an instant sensation, highly sought after by Hollywood agents and producers, but all they wanted him to play was the same sort of loveable loser as Napoleon. In effect, Heder was typecast as a geek.

"It was kind of like your traditional producer casting, which is like, 'he's hot right now, let's get him' (or) 'oh, he does comedy. I don't care how he plays the character, let's just get the guy who plays Napoleon Dynamite."'

In School for Scoundrels, Heder's character is a New York meter maid named Roger who begins the tale as awkward and shy, but soon gains the self-esteem to tame his inner geek. The real problems for Roger begin when he starts to assert himself.

The film co-stars Billy Bob Thornton as the teacher of a confidence-building class Roger joins, and Jacinda Barrett plays Roger's love interest.

"For my career as an actor, I was very interested in like, yeah, I definitely wanted to do something that was different," Heder said. "This is more of the straight man, the everyman."

Along with overcoming Hollywood typecasting, Heder said a major issue over the past two years has been dealing with his new-found celebrity status.

In shops and restaurants, fans hound him for autographs, and he said for the most part he is OK with it because his fans helped make him a success. But there are times, such as at a friend's wedding, where he does not want the attention.

I am "totally feeling my way through. Sometimes I'll find out, 'oh, this is how I can react,' but it's been hard. It's been very difficult," he said. "But because of struggle, we have triumphs, and there's been a lot of good times."

And earlier this month, Heder learned his wife was pregnant with their first child.

"I've been ready for a while. I've been wanting kids bad," he said.

In other words, life is pretty sweet.

- REUTERS