That Vote For Pedro Dance Was Three Takes Of Full-Body Panic
Jon Heder will forever be linked to “Napoleon Dynamite,” the tiny 2004 indie comedy that strutted out of Idaho and became a full-blown pop-culture phenomenon. More than two decades later, the actor is finally explaining just how little planning went into the dance sequence everybody still remembers.
Sitting down with Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier for ET Then & Now, Heder reveals that Napoleon’s climactic “Vote for Pedro” routine was completely improvised. There was no choreographer, no memorized sequence and no neat little eight-count waiting off camera.
There was only Heder, Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat” and the knowledge that the entire movie’s emotional payoff was suddenly resting on his ability to dance like nobody—and unfortunately everybody—was watching.
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Heder says he asked the production to clear away anyone who did not absolutely need to be on set. The nerves were real, but so was the commitment. He freestyled the dance three times, pushing himself so hard that he finished feeling ready to puke. The final movie stitches together the strongest moments from those takes.
That makes the scene even better. Napoleon is not suddenly transformed into a polished dancer. He is still Napoleon—awkward, serious and giving absolutely everything he has to help Pedro win the school election. The lack of choreography preserves the strange sincerity that made the character work in the first place.
Heder never followed the traditional audition path into the feature either. Writer-director Jared Hess had already cast him as the character in the student short Peluca, the scrappy predecessor to Napoleon Dynamite. By the time the full movie came together, Heder had already helped define the voice, posture, perm and peculiar physical world of the ultimate Idaho outsider.
During the ET interview, Heder also watches his first-ever appearance with the outlet, returning to the moment before anyone knew that moon boots, tater tots and one hand-drawn liger were about to become permanent pieces of early-2000s culture.
The career flashback does not stop there. Heder revisits “Blades of Glory,” the 2007 skating comedy that paired him with Will Ferrell. Preparing to play figure skater Jimmy MacElroy came with one painful complication: Heder broke his ankle while attempting a spin during training, briefly leaving the production worried that the entire movie might collapse before filming properly began.
He recovered, laced the skates back up and helped turn the movie into another enduring comedy favorite. Heder says he would be game to reunite with Ferrell for a sequel, provided the right idea could bring their gloriously incompatible skating duo back onto the ice.
A second Napoleon Dynamite is more complicated. Heder remains connected to the movie and regularly appears with castmates for live screenings and audience events, but he understands that recreating its accidental magic would require more than sending the same characters back to Preston and hoping the tots are still warm.
Away from Hollywood’s loudest machinery, Heder lives in Washington with his wife, Kirsten, and their four children. He has also carried the Napoleon Dynamite family into an entirely different arena as part of the ownership group behind the Richmond Flying Mummies, an Indiana summer collegiate baseball team connected to co-stars Efren Ramirez and Jon Gries.
His latest television assignment sends him back to school in a much less competent way. Heder competes on FOX’s “Nation’s Dumbest,” hosted by Jack Whitehall, where twelve celebrities face classroom-inspired quizzes, physical challenges and final exams while desperately trying not to be the last student remaining.
The upside-down competition airs Wednesdays on FOX with next-day streaming on Hulu. It is a fitting new stop for an actor whose signature character once proved that awkwardness, confidence and one completely unplanned dance can be a winning combination.
Watch Jon Heder Reveal How Napoleon Dynamite’s Dance Really Happened
In ET’s “Then & Now,” Jon Heder revisits his earliest interviews and explains improvising Napoleon Dynamite’s “Vote for Pedro” dance, breaking his ankle while training for “Blades of Glory,” his thoughts on possible sequels and his new FOX series “Nation’s Dumbest.”
Sources: Entertainment Tonight; FOX; Richmond Flying Mummies.
