Paul Giamatti‘s lengthy filmography is filled with treasures, including the broad 2000 comedy “Big Momma’s House.” In the film, Martin Lawrence plays an FBI agent who has to go undercover as a larger-than-life grandma — the eponymous Big Momma — to track down an escaped criminal. Giamatti plays Lawrence’s partner, Agent Jonathan Maxwell, mostly serving as the straight man to Big Momma.
While the film might not be as critically lauded as Giamatti vehicles like “Sideways” and “The Holdovers,” “Big Momma’s House” was a hit that spawned two sequels and endless play on cable television. Variety recently spoke with Giamatti about the project as it approaches its 25th anniversary this summer.
“Holy cow. Twenty-five years, ‘Big Momma’s House,’” Giamatti said. “Nobody has brought up ‘Big Momma’s House’ in a long time. That was fun, it was ridiculous. The memories — it was kind of mayhem. What’s funny about that, whenever I think about that movie, for some reason, I think about the fact I can remember standing in this kitchen set doing this party scene with Octavia Spencer. She had this ridiculous little part, and both of us were like, ‘What is this movie?’ I remember seeing her win that Oscar and being like, ‘Wow!’ And then last year going to the awards stuff we were both like, ‘Wow! How did we get from there to here?’ So that was kind of wonderful. I always think about her for some reason, when I think about that.”
Watch a wild scene with Giamatti and Spencer from “Big Momma’s House” below.
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