Whatever Happened To Jon Heder After Napoleon Dynamite?
Most people wouldn't expect a moon boot-wearing, tater tot-loving nerd to become a lasting pop culture phenomenon. But that's exactly what happened in 2004, when Jon Heder took on the role of the socially awkward titular teen in "Napoleon Dynamite."
The movie, actually filmed on location in Idaho, was an instant hit, raking in over $46 million at the box office and easily earning back its budget of $400,000. From the sleepy-eyed, monotone demeanor of Napoleon and his new buddy Pedro (Efren Ramirez) to nonsensical lines such as "I caught you a delicious bass," fans couldn't — and still can't — get enough of the movie's delightful weirdness. No one, including Heder, who was paid a mere $1,000 upon being hired, could have predicted just how big "Napoleon Dynamite" would become.
Ultimately, the oddball film transformed Heder into a household name, catapulting his career in entertainment. In the decades that followed the release of "Napoleon Dynamite," Heder appeared in a string of comedies alongside top names, became a regular voice actor and, through it all, maintained an appreciation for the character that started it all — despite Napoleon's lack of nun chuck, bow hunting and computer hacking skills. Read on to see everything that Jon Heder has been up to since "Napoleon Dynamite."
He starred in The Benchwarmers
After the instant success of "Napoleon Dynamite," it didn't take long for Jon Heder to land another comedic gig. In 2006, he took on the role of Clark in "The Benchwarmers," which sees him, Richie (David Spade) and Gus (Rob Schneider), all grown men, attempt to play baseball against Little League teams. For Heder, it was a given that whatever he did post-"Napoleon Dynamite" wouldn't be too serious, and "The Benchwarmers" certainly fit the bill. He told MovieWeb, "I'm not gonna try to get people to cry."
Similar to Napoleon, Clark is a bit on the quirky side, with some character traits stemming from Heder's own mind. "I mentioned to [producer] Adam Sandler, 'This is kind of a geeky guy, who has a paper route, rides a bike and wears a helmet ... he's the type to walk into the store and still wears his helmet,'" Heder explained to MovieWeb. " ... Adam was like, 'Oh, that's great. Let's have him wear the helmet the entire movie.'"
Unfortunately, while "Napoleon Dynamite" received rave reviews from critics, boasting a 72 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer, "The Benchwarmers" only got 13 percent. The consensus was that, despite being marketed as a comedy, the film simply wasn't that funny.
He experienced motion capture in Monster House
Also in 2006, Jon Heder added a brand new skill to his resume: motion capture. For the animated film "Monster House," in which he portrays Reginald "Skull" Skulinski, Heder gained first hand experience in what it takes to have his every move become that of a digitized character. Part of the job involved wearing a motion capture suit and having dots strategically placed all over his face, serving as markers for the animators later on in the process.
Heder explained to MovieWeb that it was a fun, yet challenging, experience. "I love being in costume and hair and makeup, you know? To help me so much with the character. It helps so much to be looking like the character," he said. "And you're not at all when you've got this wetsuit on with all these dots, and you don't feel like your character and you're not on location ... with all these cameras around you and this hi-tech stuff."
In a behind-the-scenes interview, Heder elaborated on the process, revealing that it took hours to get the dots perfectly placed, step into the wetsuit and also have a special helmet glued over his hair. It was a tedious transformation, but the head massage at the end of the day made it all worth it. Plus, Heder enjoyed working alongside his "Monster House" co-stars Mitchel Musso and Sam Lerner ... despite the duo regularly quoting "Napoleon Dynamite" on set.
He shared the screen with Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory
Unlike his previous comedic roles, Jon Heder had to put in a lot of physical exertion for 2007's "Blades of Glory," which sees his character of Jimmy MacElroy and Will Ferrell's Chazz Michael Michaels become ice skating's first all-male team.
Heder truly enjoyed bringing "Blades of Glory" to life. Not only did he appreciate the opportunity to work alongside Ferrell, he also embraced the ice skating lessons that they had to undergo. "We had to take training and we had to learn the choreography, and really work hard and slim down and get somewhat in shape," he recalled to SpitballingPod. "It really felt like a workpiece, so it was a very different experience [from 'Napoleon Dynamite']. It was fun in a grueling kind of way."
In fact, Heder broke an ankle on set, and feared that the production would get shut down. He told E! Insider, "Luckily we made it all work. After I broke my ankle, they borrowed all the safety gear from Nickelodeon because they're heavy on the arm pads and helmets." Unlike "The Benchwarmers," which flopped with critics, "Blades of Glory" was a hit. It earned 70 percent on the Tomatometer, with many in agreement that Heder and Ferrell were the perfect comedic duo.
He became a first-time father in 2007
We might not know whether Napoleon Dynamite got a "happily ever after" with Deb (Tina Majorino), but in the real world, Jon Heder is definitely enjoying being a family man. In 2007, five years after he and wife Kirsten tied the knot, the couple welcomed their first child: a daughter named Evan Jane.
Heder fully embraced his role as a new dad — even the one aspect that many parents dread. He told People, "I think I was basically prepared for everything, [but] I didn't realize changing diapers was going to be as fun. That was actually the thing I was most apprehensive about, but now it's like, 'Let's change a diaper!' I hope she's made a doo doo, so I can just change it. She's always awake and happy and playful when she gets a diaper change."
Since the birth of Evan Jane, the Heders have welcomed three more children, two boys and a girl. On Instagram, the actor posts adorable photos of his family of six, including a Halloween snap in 2017 that shows the clan sporting a wide range of costumes, from "The Backyardigans" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" to Kip (Aaron Ruell) and Pedro from "Napoleon Dynamite." He told The Hollywood Reporter that, while continuing to expand his career in entertainment, he's been able to simultaneously lead a normal life at home as a husband and father: "That's what I'm most proud of."
He led the online miniseries Woke Up Dead
Following his successful dive into the world of ice skating, Jon Heder picked up yet another skill in 2009: playing a corpse that's come back to life. In the online miniseries "Woke Up Dead," which premiered on Crackle, Heder is Drex Greene, a struggling college student who has a slightly bigger problem than student loans, job hunting and failed relationships. The comedy's inaugural episode shows Drex emerging from a body bag in true Art the Clown style, coming to the realization that he's deceased and embracing his new reality.
Heder told Backstage of the show's unique plotline, "The project was the bending of genres. It really attracted me to the idea of a guy becoming a zombie, but he's conscious, so it's completely kind of throwing all the rules out the door. Yet there are the familiar aspects of zombiehood that come to play." For example, despite not appearing very zombie-like, Drex has a constant craving for brains.
According to the show's executive producer Stan Rogow, "Woke Up Dead" originally started with a very high-minded concept: "This was a reimagination of the zombie mythology, and an allegory for the disconnection of youth." Needless to say, the concept changed over the course of time, resulting in an outlandish zom-com.
He temporarily struggled with fame
Being a well-known celebrity sometimes isn't all that it's cracked up to be, and it's certainly not something that Jon Heder aspired to when he set out to become an actor. He just wanted to create cool projects, not necessarily become famous. However, after the instant success of "Napoleon Dynamite," he was. And after a while, the negative aspects of fame, like constantly being approached in public, started to weigh heavy.
He told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, "About 10 years ago, maybe more, I was letting it bother me a lot more. I felt like I was always having to deal with it and tell people why people can't treat you this way. It really got to my head." Eventually, Heder was able to alter his mindset and think more positively about his situation. "I just didn't want to be bothered by it [fame] anymore. I know that sounds simple, but it really helped me change my perspective."
Now, for example, Heder welcomes strangers who approach him on the street because they're a fan of his work. He feels proud of films like "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Blades of Glory," and is happy that they had such an impact on people. At the same time, he has no interest in gaining any more notoriety.
He returned as Napoleon Dynamite in an animated series
"Napoleon Dynamite" might be a staple in pop culture, but even the biggest fans likely don't remember the extremely short-lived cartoon of the same name that aired on Fox in 2012. Jon Heder and the entire cast of the original film voiced their respective characters, who get into fresh antics in Idaho.
According to Mike Scully, co-developer, producer and writer for the cartoon, its creators walked a fine line between maintaining the quirky nature of the movie and picking up the pace in order to make it work for animation. He told Flickering Myth, "We knew it would have to be faster and more visual, while still remaining true to the tone and characters of the film. We wanted to keep the small-town feel. We wanted to avoid pop culture references and modern technology as much as possible. We didn't want a bunch of teenagers running around with cell phones. However, we wanted it to have the pace of 'The Simpsons' and heart."
Yet unlike "The Simpsons," one of the longest running shows of all time, "Napoleon Dynamite" was canceled by Fox after a mere six episodes, despite it ranking No. 6 in the top 10 programs watched by teens.
He did a long stretch of voice work
The abrupt cancellation of the "Napoleon Dynamite" cartoon didn't deter Jon Heder's desire to do more voice work. In 2012 alone, he was heard in a slew of projects, including as Eagle Claw in "The Aquabats! Super Show!," Leo the Cat in "Pinocchio," Sir Jonas in "A Mouse Tale," and Seth in "Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two." Such work continued over the next several years, with Heder also lending his voice to the character of Vognaut in the 2015 video game "Armikrog," which follows space explorer Tommynaut (Michael J. Nelson) when he's captured in a fortress on a strange planet.
In an interview with Digital Trends, Heder expressed how much fun it was to take on a role that, for once, isn't so loveable and quirky. "You realize Vognaut is a bad guy in the story and I typically don't play villains, so it was fun for me to play that," he said.
The characters seen in "Armikrog" were created by animator and writer Doug TenNapel, with the game itself independently published. Heder, a gamer himself, expressed appreciation for the non-mainstream project. "Indie games have really blossomed and really found a place where artists and creators can come together, just like there are different outlets for filmmakers to get on now with YouTube channels and Netflix and the internet," he said.
He moved to Washington from Los Angeles
Given the fact that Jon Heder never aspired to become famous, it makes sense that he always felt a bit like an outsider during his years living in Hollywood. Compared to his home state of Oregon, it was a completely different world. In an interview with "Inside of You Clips," Heder gushed about how enjoyable his small-town childhood was: "I loved it, I'm obsessed with it. I always tell people, if I could match that childhood for my own kids, I'd love that." This is why (in addition to wanting cooler weather), the Heder family moved to Washington state, right outside of Portland, Oregon, in the midst of the pandemic.
Though he does miss California and considers himself to be a Hollywood guy at heart, Heder's current setting is what he envisioned for his kids. He told The Hollywood Reporter, "I had always imagined this more of a picturesque life for us in a place with my family, with four seasons, in a much more normal environment rather than raising them in Hollywood, which wasn't necessarily bad. I miss California so much and I will always look back fondly on it. There are so many people that we love there."
Heder admitted that he sometimes feels like an outsider in Oregon as well, but he's come to realize that this isn't a bad thing. He's able to be part of two worlds, having a Hollywood career and enjoying a quaint setting with his family.
He starred in a feel-good holiday film
With films like "Blades of Glory" and "The Benchwarmers" under his belt, Jon Heder is certainly no stranger to raunchy comedies. However, while he appreciates the humor of a crude joke, he's made sure that his filmography encompasses much more. A desire for versatility is what drew Heder to the 2021 holiday flick "Funny Thing About Love," which follows Samantha (Summer Bellessa) as she brings her boyfriend Bryce (Jason Gray) home for Thanksgiving, only for her family to plot a reunion between her and her ex, Luke (Kevan Moezzi). Heder plays Charlie, Samantha's older brother.
"The pendulum is always swinging, but there are a lot of people out there who live their lives a certain way and they don't invite that in," Heder told The Hollywood Reporter about adult-humored comedies. "But [with this film], there is a cleanliness that feels wholesome and nice."
Heder added that there's a relatability that audiences can feel when watching "Funny Thing About Love." Though most parents don't have their daughter's ex-boyfriend waiting to greet her for the holidays, many viewers can see themselves in the characters. "In our society nowadays, too, so many people are online looking for love or to find their match," Heder told THR. "At the holidays, people really want that someone special and this film really speaks to that."
He's still proud of Napoleon Dynamite
Even after sharing the screen with comedy powerhouses like Will Ferrell, David Spade and Rob Schneider, "Napoleon Dynamite" remains Jon Heder's favorite film of his decades-long career. He told HuffPost, "Obviously, it's my biggest film. To this day, I'm pinching myself. Like, I made a movie and people saw it. More than a few people."
Heder is proud to be part of a film that brings such a strong sense of nostalgia to adults who first saw it as kids or teens, similar to how he feels about movies from his own adolescence, like "The Goonies" and "Back to the Future." While some have concocted dark theories about what "Napoleon Dynamite" could mean on a deeper level, the movie for the most part brings levity to those who grew up with it.
He's also proud to represent a different kind of nerd, one who isn't super smart or desperate to fit in. Rather, Napoleon marches to the beat of his own drum. "He doesn't know how much of an outcast he is, and that's what gives him that confidence. He's trying to be cool sometimes, but mostly he just goes for it and does it," said Heder, naming Napoleon's invitation to popular girl Summer Wheatley (Haylie Duff) to play tetherball as a prime example. "He thinks that's normal. He thinks, 'Why wouldn't you want to play tetherball? Tetherball is the sweetest thing in the world.'"
He's still in touch with his Napoleon Dynamite co-stars
Decades may have passed since Jon Heder initially shared the screen with the cast of "Napoleon Dynamite," but he's still in touch with a few and, much to the delight of fans, has released several projects with them. In 2016, Heder and Efren Ramirez appeared in a Burger King commercial to promote the chain's cheesy tots. Just like in "Napoleon Dynamite," Heder asks Ramirez if he can have one of his tots, and proceeds to scoop up an entire handful.
Then, in 2024, in celebration of the movie's 20th anniversary at the Sundance Film Festival, Heder, Ramirez and Uncle Rico actor Jon Gries got together to film a segment for social media that proves that they haven't outgrown their eccentric natures. In the clip, the trio gets really close, sharing a bed, shower and even food, with Gries baby-birding a chewed banana into Heder's mouth. Heder captioned the post on Instagram, "20 years strong and we're still as hot as the tots in my pocket burning my thigh." Soon after, the three announced an eight-stop tour to keep the 20th anniversary festivities going.