Freddy Got Fingered (2001)

Freddy Got Fingered marks Tom Green's directorial debut, as he considered himself more of a "segment producer" for his television show. However, making a feature film didn't strike Tom as different an experience as he'd thought it'd be.

Most of the filmmaking rush came from the absurdity of seeing the outrageous ideas which he (as director and writer), co-writer Derek Harvie and collaborator Shawn Greenson put to paper, being taken very seriously by hundreds of people trying to figure out a way to make them work. "It's exciting when you write a script and you write the most stupid, sophomoric things you can think of, never fully feeling they will be followed through on. The studio tries to talk you out of doing things, you negotiate what you really want to do, and the day it actually happens it's kind of bizarre." Sometimes for logistical reasons the jokes would have to be changed, but as the script was molded to match location and resources they would often become even funnier.

Visually, Tom's goal was to achieve humor through contrast by capturing the "real" look of dramatic films, but with insane stuff going on. He never wanted Freddy Got Fingered to look like a typical comedy with bright, poppy colors and goofy sets. The overall intent was not to be shocking or gross, instead hoping for people to have fun (even if they're confused) and most importantly leave the theatre saying, "I've never seen that before!"

Writing a movie with "lots of little bits of stupidity I could personally get into" versus just doing a movie off a script written for someone else gave Tom more places to go as an actor and the type of comedy he likes to do.

When trying to capture realistic emotions for particular scenes, Tom says, "I like to think about something that's happened to me in my real life and focus on that moment." For one particularly emotional scene, Tom recalled a summer spent at camp peeing in his pants and bed and smelling like urine all the time because he was afraid of the hornets' nest in the lavatories and too shy to go in the open outdoors. Tom feels that it's impossible for a comedian to be funny and cool at the same time. "You have to be more vulnerable, and make people laugh because they've gone through the same feelings and experiences you have and can relate to you."

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