Piranha 3DD producer talks the Hoff and celebrity cameos that didn't make it into the flick

Piranha 3DD producer talks the Hoff and celebrity cameos that didn’t make it into the flick

June 1st 2012, 9:50am

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

John Gulager’s PIRANHA 3DD splashes into theaters and VOD today and to celebrate the occasion, executive producer Joel Soisson shared some interesting tidbits of info, including what ultimately didn’t make it into the film. Here’s what he said in an interview for MovieHole…

…on other celebs that were considered for the flick:

“Former basketball great Charles Barkley, hands down. During the scripting stage, Bob Weinstein had suggested there be more celebrity lifeguards than just Hasselhoff. Off the cuff, he threw out names like Snooki, Kim Kardashian and Barkley. Now, I don’t watch that reality shit so I don’t know much about Snooki and Kim but I am a HUGE Barkley fan. Seeing Sir Charles toss out some of his classic lines like “You know why that little girl’s crying? It’s because she’s thinking ‘my daddy’s a wussy’” — well there are at least 27 different situations in our movie where that line would have killed.”

…on how the almighty Hoff almost turned the role down:

“Hasselhoff initially turned the movie down because I had written some dialogue that referred back to his infamous hamburger incident. I had the water park owner offer him a burger and Hasselhoff was supposed to say “Is that supposed to be some kinda joke?” and the owner is like, “Huh?” cuz he’s never seen the video. I know, not all that funny and I was more than happy to dump it to get the Hoff on board. Turns out, when I had a chance to discuss the matter with him, all he wanted was to take ownership of the gag. In his version, he would be the one asking for the hamburger. Subtle difference but I totally got where he was coming from.

The Hoff is his own creation and he plays it to perfection. He is the Hoff, on screen and off, and even refers to himself as The Hoff when in casual conversation. He transcends egomania. I am truly in awe. I love that guy and I’m not joking. He loves his life and makes you love it too. I would even make “Schindler’s List” with The Hoff. He’s that good. And the Germans would actually dig the movie this time around.”

You can catch the Hoff, along with Gary Busey, Danielle Panabaker, Ving Rhames, Christopher Lloyd, Paul Scheer and Katrina Bowden (below) in select theaters and on VOD.