It was as Doug Heffernan on the hit TV show The King of Queens  (1998-2007) that Kevin James first found fame. Co-starring with Will Smith in the 2005 romcom Hitch made him a known name in the movies. Since then, he’s been a part of numerous hits, including I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and the two Grown Ups films with buddy Adam Sandler. The duo are back together in Sony’s Pixels, a comedy action flick. In a fun and quick video chat from Cancun in Mexico, the 50-year-old funnyman talks about playing the president of the United States...
 
Did you ever think you were going to be cast as the president of the US? 
I did. Ever since I was a small child.  I felt that was my dream and once I had done that, I would cease to exist in the entertainment field… but that hasn’t happened because now I have some bills to pay, so I’m going to continue on after this one! (Laughs) I’ve amended my goals and I’ve shifted things around a little bit and I am going to continue on. But yes, it was pretty exciting actually. 

And did you model yourself after any American president? 
Yes, President Taft. He was a hefty guy with a big moustache and he was built like a Manatee… (laughs) but he had a nice gentle way about him.  

What would you do first if you were president?
First of all, it’s a crazy responsibility. What I mean is that I think they make it to be too big. If they toned it down and just relaxed and held the truth and kind of just acted like a real human being, I think things would be a lot better off. 

Do you think your catchphrase as president of the US would be ‘just chill’? 
Oh totally, man!  I’ve had that on a shirt and that’s what people would say when they first entered the room and left the room! (Laughs). I’d go: ‘Yes, carry on’ and then they’d leave while chanting ‘Just chill’. 

Was it difficult working with a green screen and attacking things that you couldn’t see? 
It is. That was very weird and that’s where you have to have trust in the director and the actors that you’re with, because you could feel ridiculous. There was an ‘X’ that marked the animated character on the green screen. I never saw the ‘X’ on the screen, so I would just yell at the whole screen in general, and I would just chase the screen down (laughs) and run away from the screen and they’d be like: ‘No, you have to focus on a certain area. There’s an ‘X’ on there’, and I never knew that. I just thought there was a rip in the screen. I never knew that was where we were supposed to focus! (Laughs) So, my eyes are crazy in the movie. 

KU