Owen Wilson Answers The Web’s Most Searched Questions

Owen Wilson takes the WIRED Autocomplete Interview and answers the internet's most searched questions about himself. How did Owen Wilson break his nose? How many movies is he in with Ben Stiller? Is Owen in every Wes Anderson movie? Is he a good skateboarder? Owen answers all these questions and much more!

Video Transcript

OWEN WILSON: Hi, I'm Owen Wilson, and this is the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

No, I have not Googled myself.

[LAUGHS]

I can't think of anything worse. How did Owen Wilson get his start? I guess, University of Texas. Wes Anderson and I became friends and college roommates, and then we started writing a screenplay together that became "Bottle Rocket."

How did Owen Wilson get his nose broken? At University of Texas, yeah, playing-- we were doing intramural flag football, and I got banged. But also, I think, just like as a kid, just roughhousing.

How many movies are Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller in together? I don't know, it feels like 70. You know, because we have a lot of sequels and stuff. So we have the "Meet the Parents," so there's three. We have "The Night at the Museum"s, that's three right there, although Ben was never there at "Night at the Museum" because, you know, Steve Coogan and I play these little miniature characters, so they didn't need him there.

Then we were in "Royal Tenenbaums," and "Starsky and Hutch," and the first movie, "Permanent Midnight." I feel like there's one more but that's nine right there.

- You're actually in 12.

OWEN WILSON: 12?

- 12 movies.

OWEN WILSON: There's 12 with Ben? What am I leaving out? Oh, yeah, "Zoolanders."

- And there are two.

OWEN WILSON: Yeah, how could I forget that? Yeah, yeah, we had two "Zoolanders." I think it's 11, but-- but they're telling me 12. OK. How many movies are Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in together? "Wedding Crashers," of course, and "Zoolander," and-- oh, and "Internship," so it's just three.

- Four.

OWEN WILSON: Four?

- "Starsky and Hutch" too.

OWEN WILSON: Oh, he was in that, that's right. He's really funny. He kind of does a little dancing thing in the bar mitzvah scene that makes me laugh. Let's go right here. Is Owen Wilson in every Wes Anderson movie? No, I'm not. I wasn't in "Moonrise Kingdom," and I wasn't in a few others. I guess my favorite-- I mean, I always have a soft spot for "Bottle Rocket," the first one, but then "Darjeeling Limited." I think the story kind of about three brothers was something that, of course, I can relate to. And I just loved being in India. So maybe that's my favorite.

Is Owen Wilson Australian? Yes, he is. G'day.

[CHUCKLES]

- Why do people think that?

OWEN WILSON: Do they think that? Is that something they think?

- Yep.

OWEN WILSON: I think that's kind of nice because Australians kind of-- they sort of have the reputation of sort of-- a kind of a "hail, fellow, well met." And maybe there is sort of-- I'm from Texas, and maybe there is a slight overlap in kind of the brashness of Texans and Australians. I like a lot of Australian movies. And-- and I've had fun being there. So yeah, let's say yes. OK, next one.

Is Owen Wilson a good skateboarder? You know, this one people think a lot, that I'm a skateboarder, because I did this skate video, "Yeah Right!" that Spike Jonze directed. I do a trick in it that people think is me, but some people say it's Eric Koston, and they did a cowboy switch, and it wasn't me, but I think it was me.

Is Owen Wilson coming back to "Loki"? Um, yes, he is coming back to "Loki." And I think we're going to start filming that pretty soon. I had a great time working on "Loki." Really enjoyed Tom Hiddleston and all the people on that. It's very satisfying doing that.

Who was older, Luke or Owen Wilson? That would be-- I'm older. I'm three years older than Luke. Was Owen Wilson in a fraternity? Decidedly not in a fraternity. I didn't graduate from college.

- Were you in the Frat Pack though? That's kind of like a fraternity of comedians, right?

OWEN WILSON: Yeah, was that-- what did they call that?

- Frat Pack.

OWEN WILSON: They-- no, I think the Frat-- wasn't that the thing with Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez in them? I think they-- that's what got called the Frat Pack. But maybe the group of comedians that they talk about, sort of Ben Stiller and Jack Black, I forget what the name was for that, but yeah, maybe I was a member of that. I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would have someone like me as a member. What's that joke?

Was Owen Wilson a model? (WHISPERING) No, I wasn't. Who--

[LAUGHS]

What does this one mean? What's this one? Who is your daddy, Owen Wilson? My father? Who's my dad? My dad is Robert Wilson, Bob Wilson. Great dad, and from Boston, although we grew up in Dallas because my dad worked in Dallas. And when we were kids, he was the head of the PBS station in Dallas, just a great guy. Yeah, I miss him.

Well, I worked with Ed Helms on that movie "Father Figures." And we just had a great time working together. It's funny, kind of when you show up to work, kind of you know, some days you kind of look forward to it more than others. But when I was working with Ed, I knew, you know, when I showed up it was going to be fun just kind of talking. Sometimes it can be kind of awkward when you're kind of left sort of sitting, you know, in a car doing a scene when they're not rolling. But with Ed and I, I don't know, we just really got along.

Owen Wilson turkey movie. "Free Birds," where I think the tagline was hang on to your nuggets, pretty good. And Owen Wilson Zoolander quotes. I mean, the one that people always say is "Hansel so hot right now," but I think that was Will Ferrell who says that. Oh, there's something about with spider monkeys, like tripping with spider monkeys, doing chocolate mescaline, or--

[LAUGHS]

I can't remember what it was. Oh, who are you trying to get crazy with, ese? Don't you know I'm loco? Yeah, and that came from that Cypress Hill song. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Lopez together again in "Marry Me." And we worked in "Anaconda," and I think this movie was about proving that that chemistry that we showed in "Anaconda" wasn't just a fluke.

Owen Wilson yellow jumpsuit. That would be "Bottle Rocket," but, you know, I've worn a jumpsuit in a lot of movies, and I feel like it's always a good-- when I see that in my wardrobe, I feel like it's going to be a good movie because I wore it in "Zoolander." In "Behind Enemy Lines" I'm sort of wearing a jumpsuit or flight suit. With Jackie Chan did I have one? That seems like I had a jumpsuit. But they're saying no. But yes, canary yellow jumpsuit in "Bottle Rocket."

Owen Wilson haunted house movie. Well, this is a genre that-- that I'm returning to. I did "The Haunting," and that wasn't wonderfully received. And so, you know, a lot of people would have maybe shied away from that genre, but I'm going back. And this time we're going to get it right. Although I think it still did well. And it was fun, there was a good cast on-- on-- on that movie. And I had fun doing it.

Owen Wilson, Boba Fett. What's the connection there? I don't know? I mean, I--

- Are you going to be in Star Wars, maybe?

OWEN WILSON: No. Not that I know of, but I like that character. Boba Fett is like one of the-- he's the Bounty Hunter, right? Yeah, so as a kid, you know, that was, like, one of the cool characters, Boba Fett. Great name too, Boba Fett. What is Owen Wilson filming? Right now I'm in New Orleans, and we're making a movie called "Haunted Mansion." And what is the source material for this? Is it a book? Or is it this? No, it's actually a ride, a Disney ride.

What animal does Owen Wilson play in "Fantastic Mr. Fox?" I played Coach Skip, I think, and the name of the game is slap-- slap bat, or slap back, or hotbox? No, hotbox is something we played as kids, where it's like a man in the middle that you're trying to tag out.

What is Owen Wilson's middle name? My middle name is Cunningham, and that's my mom's maiden name, and Luke and Andrew, my two brothers, they also have the same middle name. And, you know, when you're like a kid, and people kind of look up your middle name in school, so they would kind of, you know, say Richie Cunningham and stuff, kind of make fun of it, from "Happy Days."

What color are Owen Wilson's eyes? Blue. Azure.

[CHUCKLES]

Does Owen Wilson play guitar? No, I don't, although in "Starsky and Hutch" they have me kind of playing a guitar. And I'm actually on the soundtrack for "Starsky and Hutch" singing a David Soul song, "Don't Give Up On Me Baby," I think? And actually, when I was in Australia, I remember walking into a bar and hearing, like, a song, going, god, that voice sounds familiar, and it was my voice, although I'm not very musical.

And my friend, George Drakoulias, who did the music on "Starsky and Hutch," said that I broke three auto-tune machines trying to get that song right. Does Owen Wilson have tattoos? I just have one tattoo that I got in college on my shoulder, a four-leaf clover that says luck. I wanted it to say lucky and then I kind of chickened out and just had it say luck.

Does Owen Wilson sing? Well, I kind of answered that. That was part of my guitar answer. I wish I did sing, or wish I did sing well. But I'll do karaoke. And if you can't sing that well, you know a good karaoke song? One that I choose? "Tequila" because there isn't much singing. All you have to do is go tequila. OK.

That's it. Well, that was just kind of a real walk down memory lane for me. And it was great just kind of freestyling, and kind of moonwalking, and you know, going through that.