Theo Von backstage at Stagecoach earlier this year. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Stagecoach) Theo Von is tearing through a bag of ballpark peanuts with shells scattered across the lap of his khaki cargo pants. At every inning changeover and break, he brushes them off to stand from his seat in section 106 of the Field of Dreams stadium in Dyersville, Iowa and accept every selfie request fielded across nine innings. And there were dozens and dozens.
Aside from Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber, who hit two home runs to help his team defeat the Minnesota Twins 7-1, the biggest star of last Thursday night was undoubtedly Von who made a surprise appearance to catch the MLB matchup amid a multi-state road trip he’s currently on with two pals. In every corner of the stadium — framed by meticulously arranged corn rows and blanketed by quotes from the 1989 film starring Kevin Costner — fans could be heard buzzing about Von’s presence or complimenting his wildly popular podcast, This Past Weekend, which regularly charts in Spotify’s top 10.
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Von embraces the attention. “I love Iowa,” he says. “I’ve been pretty fortunate where people are pretty friendly most of the time. And I like meeting people.” He was eager to talk to fans, and while he rarely does interviews outside of his own podcast or those run by close friends, he made an exception and accepted a request to speak with The Hollywood Reporter that was seamlessly facilitated by a rep for Netflix, which streamed the high-profile MLB game and remains home to two Von stand-up specials, 2016’s No Offense and 2021’s Regular People.
With a parade of Phillies players in the batter’s box, Von kept one eye on the field while chatting with THR about why he was rooting for the Twins, his desire to get back onstage (and his dream venue in Iowa) and lessons learned from his first major Hollywood effort as a writer, producer and star of the feature film Busboys opposite David Spade.
Thanks for the time. I was surprised to see you here in the stands. What made you come out for the game?
My friends and I had planned to do a little bit of camper traveling around the country but we ended up only having about 10 days to do it. Part of the trip was to stop here in Iowa, and this [game] was one of the linchpins of our travel. So we got here, and we’re going to do some scuba diving in Lake Michigan and a few other things.
What do you think of the game so far?
This is good. I’ve been here before when it was just a regular field of dreams, I guess, maybe the field of lesser dreams. But this is great, man. I see some of the greats out here. You got Rollie Fingers out here, Andre Dawson, CC Sabathia, Andruw Jones, so many of the heroes I watched growing up. Seeing so many of the greats is wonderful, and people seem to be having a great time. And the game has had a lot of hits already.
That’s what people want out of a game like this, lots of offense and big plays.
Schwarber’s got two homers, dude.
Who are you rooting for?
I think I’m rooting for the Twins today. Yeah, I like Minnesota. They’ve had a tough go here and there. They got scammed by all those people from Somalia, and then their own government scammed them. So, yeah, I’m going to cheer for them. Plus, I got attacked in Philadelphia a couple years ago. Some guy hit me with a fucking car hubcap or whatever near Temple [University]. So, I’m not cheering for them right now.
They’ve got to do some work to get back in your good graces?
Yeah, at least send an apology email. If you get attacked in a city, the city should send you an apology email. What are we even doing?
Tell me about your history with the Field of Dreams movie. Did you watch it growing up?
Oh yeah, we watched it growing up, and I watched it on an airplane the other day because I knew we were coming here. I wanted to relight the candle a little bit. It’s a nice story about a father-son that really brings people together. I’ve run into some fathers and sons here at the ballpark today, so that’s been really cool and kind of heartwarming to see.
It’s pretty heartwarming to see you engage with all of your fans here, too. I kept turning around from my seat to see the lines forming with people who wanted to meet you and take a photo. You’ve said yes to everyone. What’s the experience like for you of coming to a game like this to deal with the crowds of people who want your attention?
I’ve been pretty fortunate where people are pretty friendly most of the time. And I like meeting people. I mean, one of the things that’s kind of important sometimes is to make sure my own attitude’s good before I leave home. If my attitude’s not good, then I shouldn’t take my attitude in a place where it can be easily affected. But I love Iowa. My mom went to college in Iowa.
Where?
She went to a small school, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, called Co-Lin. I just love it here, dude. I love coming here and getting to spend some time meeting people. I met a lot of good people, and sometimes you have a good conversation and you get to be a part of making someone’s day a little bit more chill or a little bit more interesting. You dap it up for a minute and say, “Hey.”
With the popularity of This Past Weekend, you must not really be able to go anywhere these days without a similar reaction?
Yeah, I meet a lot of people. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes there’s a part of life that I miss. You miss having the element of surprise sometimes. That’s not really what God has planned or whatever for right now. I’m sure there’ll be a time again where people don’t pay attention to me or whatever, and then I’ll wish it was the other way. So, I don’t wish it away right now. I think I long for a sense of … I don’t know. We all long for a sense of a little bit of Iowa. I think everybody wants a sense of how it feels to spend an afternoon in Iowa. Driving through the state the past two days, we’ve been driving past cornfields through the rain. We went fishing yesterday in some lakes. Everything’s been perfect. Honestly, I want to do a show in the Surf Ballroom [in Clear Lake, Iowa]. That’s one of my goals in the next few years.
You had a big year on the movie front by writing, producing and starring in the movie Busboys with David Spade. What does that signal about what you want to do in Hollywood, or what did you learn from that experience?
One thing I learned is that it’s hard to make a movie. It takes a lot of attention over a long period of time from writing to getting it done. I learned how to do it from top to bottom, thanks to David Spade helping me out. It was a good experience. I’m not just taking some time to think about what I want to do next. One thing I do know is that I want to be able to get back onstage. And then I want to focus on taking care of myself and getting myself to a healthier space to see whatever possibilities can come from that. I can be able to honor them and maybe complete them if it’s something I want to do.
What do you mean by healthier space and how do you do that?
Just making sure that I’m taking care of myself because it’s a lot of stress. Yeah, I feel good, but just sometimes it takes a mental toll. Sometimes I take on too much and do much touring with not enough breaks. You think you’re Superman sometimes but you find out you’re just a man.
You mentioned getting back on stage. I would imagine that a time like right now, being on the road and meeting people, is good for material. Just living life.
I think so. We drive around and just joke around. My friend got the fricking measles, dude. What a fricking loser dude. He has a disease from the 1800s or whatever. I’m definitely not borrowing his clothes anymore. But yeah, we’re just doing our best. There’ll be more to come. I hope that the best is yet to come.
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