Pauly Shore has made it clear he’d love to fulfill many peoples’ suggestions of him taking on the role of Richard Simmons in a biopic.
Shore, 55, rose to fame as a stand-up comedian and MTV personality in the 1990s, nicknamed “The Weasel.” He also forayed acting, with many roles on his resume, including recent voice work.
He’s appeared on-screen in comedy films, including Encino Man, Class Act, and Bio-Dome, none of which garnered any critical acclaim for the movies or Shore’s work.
Still, he’d love to appear in a new movie where he spotlights Simmons’ emergence as a pop culture icon and fitness guru.
He’s spoken to the man himself about taking on the role, but it seems that Simmons isn’t too keen on the idea yet.
Shore is convinced that he can still get the 75-year-old Simmons on board, with the help of a talented director to create a test version of the idea.
Pauly Shore gives update on Richard Simmons biopic
On Monday, Shore took to Twitter to let fans and followers know where things stood regarding the Richard Simmons biopic he wants to bring to life for Simmons’ fans and others to see his inspirational story.
Shore’s screenshotted message talks about how people said he resembles Simmons, leading to the launch of his Sweatin with the Wiez series on social media to honor him. Shore indicated someone made a meme about him actually portraying Simmons in a biopic, which started the idea of it all.
However, Shore says Simmons was “politely passing” on the concept after Shore contacted his representatives. Based on Shore’s note, Simmons “wants to remain private” with his life and not have the biopic made, despite his love for Shore and his mother.
“Richard, we all miss you, love you very much and want nothing but the best for you. You are in all of our hearts. You can always reach out to me if you change your mind,” Shore’s note said.
He didn’t end things there, as he explained that he still had an idea for how this idea could come to fruition.
“Why don’t we hit up Dexter Fletcher, the dude who did an AMAZING job directing Rocketman, the Elton John story? Dexter, we can do a test tape to present to Richard and his reps for his blessing? What do you think guys?”
As seen in the tweet below, Shore included other images, including a side-by-side of him posing similarly to Simmons. Along with that, there’s a mock movie poster with Shore dressed in fitness gear like the iconic Richard Simmons.
“Pauly Shore is Richard…And he’s got small shorts to fill,” a tagline on the poster for a potential movie says.
In addition to the critically acclaimed Rocketman, Fletcher worked on the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, replacing Bryan Singer as director for the final two weeks of filming. He’s listed as an executive producer on the project.
Recently, he’s directed several streaming projects with the romantic action comedy Ghosted on the Apple TV+ platform and the series The Offer on Paramount+, which looks at the creation of the classic movie The Godfather.
Fans want to see a Richard Simmons biopic
Many commenters seemed behind the idea of Shore appearing as Simmons in some sort of biopic, whether it’s made for television, streaming, or a widespread release in theaters on the big screen.
“This story needs to be told, #WeThePeople want it, your fans want it !” one commenter said.
Another brought up how Simmons’ classic Sweatin’ to the Oldies fitness series was “inclusive” to “all ethnicities, shapes & sizes.”
“He made exercise fun & didn’t shame people for not being a certain size. His humanity was always evident, as were his megawatt entertaining chops,” the commenter said.
Another individual said they want the Simmons biopic “to happen more than I have ever wanted anything to happen ever before” in their life.
Simmons has stayed private and out of the public spotlight recently
As Shore mentioned in the note above, Simmons is keeping his privacy. In 2014, there was speculation about Simmons’ well-being and safety as he hadn’t made a public appearance in a while. According to CNN, some suspected that Simmons was being “controlled” by individuals he was close with.
However, he addressed those concerns, indicating that he was doing just fine when he addressed the matter in a phone interview with the TODAY show in 2016.
“No one is holding me in my house as a hostage,” Simmons told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY.
“You know I do what I want to do as I’ve always done, so people should sort of just believe what I have to say because, like, I’m Richard Simmons!” the beloved fitness instructor said.
Based on CNN’s report, Simmons said he’d been taking care of some health issues, including problems with his knees after he’d “taught like thousands and thousands of classes.”
Simmons also said, “No one should be worried about me. The people that surround me are wonderful people who take great care of me.”
Last summer, TMZ released TMZ Investigates: What Really Happened to Richard Simmons on FOX and Hulu, spotlighting the iconic fitness instructor’s reclusiveness in recent years. Simmons broke his silence after the release of that special, with TMZ sharing a YouTube video about it.
While it appears the popular and iconic fitness instructor wants to remain private, Pauly Shore hopes he can get him to come around regarding his biopic concept for the sake of the fans and others to see his story.