Puttin’ Up his Dukes

Director Jay Chandrasekhar brings the good ol’ boys to the big screen

In the pantheon of cherished childhood memories, The Dukes Of Hazzard lies somewhere between Big Wheels and ColecoVision. That’s serious pressure for director Jay Chandrasekhar, a veteran of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe whose film resumé includes Super Troopers and Club Dread. We spoke to Chandrasekhar about living up to the Dukes legacy with his remake, due out in August, which stars Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville and Jessica Simpson.—Ben Detrick

WAS IT HARD TO KEEP THE PG–13 RATING?

Jay Chandrasekhar: Seann, Johnny and I are rated–R kind of guys, so all of us were like, “What can we get away with?” We did a lot of research and tried to do things in a way that was still raw, suggestive and edgy. I shot a rated–R version, which is probably going to be a little more reflective of what we do, but the PG–13 version is going to be good too.

HOW FAITHFUL IS THE FILM TO THE TV SERIES?

Jay Chandrasekhar: We took the script that someone else had written and made 25 drafts. We replaced virtually all of the dialogue and changed a lot of scenes and made it a little more wild and out of control, which was sort of what the original show was for me. It was that Southern, rebellious, anti–cop thing—and then there was Daisy Duke in those shorts. I wanted people to feel the way I felt when I was 10.

FOR SUPER TROOPERS, YOU USED MATCHBOX CARS TO PLAN CHASES, SO IT MUST’VE BEEN CRAZY TO PLAY WITH A BIG BUDGET.

Jay Chandrasekhar: We had 30 General Lees and we trashed 22 of them. It was incredibly fun to really do the first thing that comes to your mind with these stunts. We crashed a lot of cop cars and race cars. It was tough because a lot of our money was spent on mechanics; we’d crack up these cars so bad they wouldn’t start. They’d get them back out the next day, and then we’d crash them again.

WAS IT A CHALLENGE TO DIRECT ATTENTION away FROM JESSICA SIMPSON’S BREASTS TO DAISY DUKE’S ASS?

Jay Chandrasekhar: You know, she really worked out and got into great shape for this. Your eyes are drawn to the right place. She’s just hot as balls. And she actually does a great job in the movie. She inhabited Daisy in a way I didn’t think was possible.

HOW DID IT GO WITH THE REST OF THE CAST?

Jay Chandrasekhar: It was a dream. To work with Burt Reynolds was like, “Holy shit, can you believe it?” He’s the reason I was even introduced to this type of moviemaking; I saw Smokey And The Bandit many times and counted the swear words.

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