Seann William Scott has been seen in movies like the American Pie series and The Dukes of Hazzard. He has lent his voice to the Ice Age movies and Planet 51. He can next be seen in Courteney Cox’s feature film directorial debut, Just Before I Go. In the film, Seann portrays Ted Morgan, a man who, on the verge of giving up on life, decides to go back to his home town to make amends. Just Before I Go costars Olivia Thirlby (Juno), Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope) and Kate Walsh (Private Practice). Now living in New York, Seann recently returned to L.A. to talk about the film.

Seann William Scott: I just got back to L.A. and it’s so different. L.A. is still so surreal to me.

National Monitor: L.A. is a different beast, for lack of a better word.

It is.

Plus, you’re from a small town in Minnesota and I’m from a small town in Ohio.

Where in Ohio?

The Dayton-ish area.

I dated a girl in Pennsylvania. We drove through Ohio and I liked it. It reminded me of Minnesota.

Totally different than L.A., which isn’t quite how you picture it when you move here.

How long have you been here?

12 years.

I’ve been here longer! I moved here in ’95, but moved to New York 10 years ago. You can’t beat the weather here right? New York Got crushed with snow this winter. I’m sure Ohio got crushed. Minnesota definitely got crushed.

I don’t miss that at all.

I don’t either. Not at all. This was probably the coldest winter I’ve experienced in my 10 years in New York. All this weather talk. [laughs]

Everyone can relate to weather. So anyways, in the movie, you go back home after your life has changed. Were you able to draw on any personal experiences about going home to Minnesota after your life has changed?

A little bit. I’m going back for my high school reunion – my 20 year reunion this summer. That might be similar where I will see people I haven’t seen in a while. There’s a little bit I could relate to about going back to a small town and running into someone you haven’t seen in a while. I did relate to the character because parts of him were more similar to me than other characters I’ve played.

So you’re not like Stifler [his character in American Pie] in real life?

Oh no! Thank God! I do have to say that there’s a little bit of Stifler in most men – and women.

Women are just as raunchy as men.

They’re actually worse. They’re really, freaking worse. [laughs] Sex and the City opened the eyes of some men who thought, “girls can be raunchy?” Kim Cattrall’s character proved that girls can be just as naughty, it not naughtier, as guys. As much as I like to think I’m a master instigator, and I’ve always been like that, I’m still a good guy. I’m not a jackass.

There’s nothing wrong with being an instigator.

No, not at all. I’m also the youngest of seven kids and I could get away with things. I was that guy.

I was the oldest, so I’d get my younger siblings to do stuff and they’d get in trouble. So I was that guy.

Nice! So we’ve covered the benefits of being both the youngest and the oldest. [laughs]

Exactly, so I was a little bit of Stifler too growing up. Speaking of Stifler, after the success of American Pie, did you feel like you “made it?” Did you have the “I made it” moment later on in your career?

I’ve never allowed myself to think that way because I know how fickle this business can be. There’s never been a single moment where I’ve forgotten how lucky I am. I never forget that and lose perspective. After American Pie, my mindset was, “how do I parlay this into another movie role? How do I get another movie from that role?”

Or will I get another movie role?

Yes, totally. [laughs] I’ve never been at that moment in my career where I’ve been so successful that offers kept pouring in. I like the fact that I have to fight to get good parts.

I think that it’s a small percentage of the acting world that has parts pouring in.

The fact that I get to be in movies is incredible. I’ve never felt like I really made it because I’m so driven. I know the kinds of movies I’d like to make and I haven’t really been able to make those movies yet. But even doing this press junket, it’s like, “holy shit, this is crazy.” At the premiere last night, my mom, my whole family came in, my niece, my nephew, my brother. My cousin flew down. My mom was sitting next to me and crying in the theatre. Those are the moments that are unbelievable. I’m a lead in this movie and Courteney Cox is directing. It’s unbelievable. I’ve never been like, “I’ve made it!” [laughs] I think, “I haven’t worked with Scorsese yet.” [laughs] Maybe that’s when I’ll feel like I’ve made it.

Same here. When I interview Scorsese, I’ll think, “I’ve made it as a writer.”

Exactly. We all have those moments in our lives when we feel like we’ve made it. However, I don’t think it’s good to see the world that way.

That’s probably good that you don’t. We all know people I this town who do.

Some people are freaking assholes.

I’ve had the “do you know who I am?” question and I’m like, “yes and I don’t really care.”

If I ever heard anyone say that, well, we all read stories about that shit. What was the last story about “do you know who I am?”

The ESPN reporter? That story?

Maybe. I just remember thinking, I can’t believe people actually say that. I thought it was a cliché thing that you see TV characters say like in Entourage or something.

All of us who moved here from somewhere else and get into the industry has their first “Hollywood” moment – something that lets you know that you’re in a different world that what you were used to. What was yours?

I’m not sure. What was yours?

For me, my Hollywood moment happened a few weeks after I moved here. For my job, I went to a CD release party. There were celebrities there and I had never hung out with celebrities before. I thought, wow, they’re just people like anyone else. Of course, I understand that they’re human beings. [laughs]

Okay! I got something, but it’s a little bit different. I had never really done anything in Hollywood before my “Hollywood moment.” I hadn’t gone to any Hollywood parties or anything. My first “Hollywood moment” was the American Pie premiere. I knew that the movie was going to do really well. I didn’t know if it would do anything for my career, but I knew it was going to be really funny. The R-rated raunchy comedy was making a comeback. The premiere was at Universal Studios. I worked at Universal CityWalk just a year and a half before selling glow-in-the-dark stars and Bill Nye the Science Guy puzzles at Scientific Revolution. When we went to the premiere, I remember getting out of the limo and people were asking me for autographs and I was like, “wow!” When we were walking to the theaters, we walked past the place I used to work. I remember people going nuts and there was so much buzz about the film. That was such a Hollywood moment – a great Hollywood moment. Before that, I was just trying to survive and go on auditions. That was my first Hollywood moment – and a great one too.

That’s not too bad of a moment.

That’s my E! True Hollywood Moment – walking by the places I used to work wearing a lab coat selling glow-in-the-dark stars. I was like, “holy shit.”

It goes to show how fast things can change in this town.

In positive and negative ways.

Right? We’ve all seen E! True Hollywood Story though I don’t think they make those anymore though.

I don’t think so. They made a lot of them though and they were really not flattering. As an actor, you hoped they never made one about you.

We all know Courteney as an actress. Was it different working with a director who is also an actor?

It was – in a great way. I had a chance to work with Peter Berg for The Rundown. It was different with the way he came up with ideas. Peter was just brilliant anyways, but I have to think that being an actor for so long helped him communicate his ideas to the actors. Courteney was the same way. The way she could come up with ideas and communicate them was great because she is an actress. She was great and I honestly expected her to be great. You can be as successful as she has for as long as she has without being business savvy and she showed that. There were the surreal moments too where I thought, “I’m working with Courteney Cox!”

So you still get star struck then?

Oh I do. I personally don’t like to see stars because it freaks me out. I’m a film fan. I became an actor because I love movies. I didn’t wake up one day and decide to perform. I just love movies. When I realized I didn’t want to play sports anymore, the thought of performing and being other characters in an entertaining film and giving someone a break in their day, that’s why I moved to L.A. I still love watching films so when I see an actor, it freaks me out. I don’t want to ruin the image I have in my head of someone. I get star struck for sure.

Have you ever had a particular experience when you were star struck?

Meeting Clint Eastwood is one of my biggest dreams. One time, Sam Elliott was in the grocery store next to my house and I just had to meet him. I went up to him and said, “excuse me Sir. I just want to tell you that you’re a legend dude. Thank you for everything you do.” And he said [in a very deep voice], “thank you very much.” I was like, “whoa, that voice. That voice.” Have you ever had an experience when you were totally star struck?

Hmmm, good question Seann. Yes, Sigourney Weaver. I was working the Avatar premiere. I usually keep my cool, but Sigourney Weaver? Aliens? Hello!

Totally dude.

I still watch that movie all the time.

What do you think of the new [Alien movie]?

I’m cautiously optimistic.

Me too. It’s tough after those last couple of films.

Yea, I like to pretend the last two don’t exist.

The first two were amazing. So she [Sigourney] was a little tough?

No, I made an ass of myself.

Oh, okay.

I was trying to play it cool, but I was like Sigourney, blah, blah, blah, Aliens, Ripley, blah, blah, blah.

So you had diarrhea of the mouth? [laughs]

I walked away thinking, “I don’t think I came off very well there.”

She probably liked it. That’s funny dude. Well, thank you very much Frederick. I hope you can interview me for my next movie.

Me too! And when I’m a contestant on [the Courteney Cox produced] Celebrity Name Game (which he had discussed briefly at the round table interview), I hope you’re one of the celebrity guests.

That would be so much fun.

Just Before I Go opens in select theaters April 24 and will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and Video on Demand May 12.