Stephen Hibbert [Interview]

Some people do some of their finest work behind the scenes.  This can be extremely prevalent in the world of film.  For every Quentin Tarantino, there are hundreds of other brilliant writers and filmmakers doing wonderful things, for the simple joy of being able to do what they love for a living.  Some people hold this embodiment as a sense of pride, others maybe in frustration.  No matter, they are a crucial element to the world of film.

One man who embodies this idealism to the core is the very Stephen Hibbert.  His track record is extremely impressive, writing for shows like MADtv and Boy Meets World and more.  But, the embodiment of being “behind the scenes” can be hidden metaphorically behind the very iconic figure that Stephen will always get to know he was a part of.  The “man behind the mask” if you will.  I’ll just throw it out there: Stephen Hibbert was The Gimp in the legendary film, Pulp Ficiton.  You remember him.  You probably remember that strange sense of confusion when the phrase “Bring out the Gimp” was first muttered, and the strange shocking feeling when you saw man completely covered in leather, face and all, being violently pulled from a box that we can only assume he called home.  Yep, that was him.

But, as we love to do here, we wanted to explore the career of the man behind such an iconic role.  And what a career!  Stephen Hibbert has done some wonderful things, and we are happy to exploit them for our own benefit right here at Trainwreck’d Society!  Just for you fine readers.  That being said, check out a few words we were so fortunate enough to get back from Stephen!  Enjoy!

How did you become involved with writing the screenplay for Julia Sweeney’s SNL character, Pat, being brought to the big screen? And what are you thoughts of the end result as a film? 

Julia and I were married and writing partners, at the time, and Fox approached us to write a movie for Julia’s very popular (at the time) SNLcharacter, “Pat.” The film ended up at Disney. While the film didn’t turn out as well as any of us would have liked, I still think there are some wonderful performances: Julia’s, Dave Foley’s Charlie Rocket and there are lots of truly funny jokes and scenes. So I’m actually pretty proud of much of the movie, and think it’s fair to say it’s better than you remember it, that is (in the unlikely event ) you’ve actually seen it.

Many folks out there may not recognize your role in Pulp Fiction by your face, as we were not able to see it. Because you were The Gimp! You were the sort of human centerpiece of the infamous scene in any even more infamous film. So please tell us….What was it like to film such a distrubing scene?

It was great to be a part of such an amazing film. And, while being wrapped up in all that uncomfortable leather gig was a bit of drag – the rest of the cast and crew were amazing and we had a blast making it. I’m sure for many people “Pulp Fiction” is a highlight, if not the highlight, of their careers. I know that no matter what else I do in show business, I’ll never have a cooler credit.

You were a regular series writer for MADtv during its inception. What was it like in the early days of the show? Did you ever believe the success the show would later such a hit?

It was a fun gig. I was only there for the first season, but I made some great friendships. You never what will be a hit, and I never think about that sort of thing.

After your stint at MADtv, you moved on over to Boy Meets World, which seems like a pretty drastic change as an outsider looking in. Is this so? What was your experience like overall on this show?

Boy Meets World was a great place to work. And it was just exercising another part of my writing muscle, after MADtv.

What would you say the major differences would be between writing for an animated series such as Darkwing Duck or Animaniacs as compared to shows like Boy Meets World and MADtv?

It’s all about trying to be as funny as possible. And it really dooesn’t matter if it’s character in a one-off sketch, characters we know so well in a sit-com or animated little, bouncy things – stay true to them and everything generally works out.

So, what does the future hold for you? Anything in the works you would like to shout out?

Like nearly everyone else, writing a screenplay, Trying to stay busy with freelance work, acting whenever the opportunities arise.

What was the last thing that made you smile? 

Making my 3 amazing kids laugh, always makes me smile.