What started as a meme joking about actor and comedian Pauly Shore playing fitness guru Richard Simmons in a biopic film has become a movement over the years, and that movement is now gaining steam.
According to People Magazine, Shore loves the idea.
He noted their similarities and stated, “There’s also joy we both have and love to share, and a flamboyancy. We’re both very physical, we’re both over the top and silly. So there are all those parallels that make sense.”
Shore even noted getting acquainted with Simmons in the past stating, “I would always see him driving his Rolls Royce down Sunset Boulevard in the ’80s and ’90s, waving to everyone, and he’d always pull over and say hi.”
“We’d mess around, and he’d come and see my mom, Mitzi, at the Comedy Store. It was just mutual joy when we’d see each other,” he added, referencing the infamous comedy club that he grew up in.
Shore also noted, “I reached out but his handler, who said, ‘Hey, Richard remembers you and loves you, but he just wants to chill right now.”
RICHARD SIMMONS UPDATE pic.twitter.com/AFpUZnBChS
— Pauly Shore (@PaulyShore) September 25, 2023
“But so many people are so interested that I’d love to do it, not just for the movie’s sake, but to authentically tell his life story as a friend. What was his childhood? Who were his siblings? How did he become who he did?” he went on.
“He was all about positivity and helping people. And there’s so much angst and divisiveness in the world, so I think a dose of that positivity is what people need. A Richard Simmons movie could unite America!” Shore concluded.
In order to keep this train of thought going, Shore was also recently featured on TMZ detailing plans to shoot a test short to send to Simmons in the hopes that he will reconsider.
He said, “It’s not about me. It’s about the response to the people.”
“These people are the ones that want it,” he concluded.