Kevin James talks 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' with Kidsday

After seeing "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," Kidsday reporters Darwin Esteban, Brendan Kilcommons and classmate Violet Rand went to the AOL offices in Manhattan on Monday to talk to the movie's star, Kevin James. Here is part of their interview with him:

What was it like fighting with the bird?

Fighting with the bird was one of the hardest things I did in the movie because, first of all, I was scared of the real bird. They had a real bird there for a little while, but of course I wasn't going to fight a real bird. So that bird got to go home and they brought in a mechanical bird. It was really a big bird . . . . A guy was controlling it. It was a remote controlled bird and it was beating me up. It hurt a lot. It was hard to fight that bird and win. I don't think I did too well against it.

Did you have a stunt double for the dancing scenes?

The dancing scenes in Mall Cop 2 . . . why would you bring in a stunt double for dancing for me? You know I'm the greatest dancer who ever lived. Right? I don't think there's anybody better than me out there. I did all my dancing, unfortunately. So if you don't like the dancing then I'm sorry, but yes, I did a lot of the dancing and we do have a stunt double for some things I got to do, but not dancing.

What about for all the other scenes, did you do your own stunts?

I did most of them. There were a couple ones in there that I couldn't do, they wouldn't let me do and I was afraid to do so we have a guy who's much braver than me and he would come in and his name is Heath and he would come in and do the stunt for me. He would paste on a mustache and he would look like me except not as chunky, but we would chunky him up with a pad, and he would fall and hit a car or whatever, something crazy. I don't like heights. I'm afraid of heights. So he would do some of that stuff. But I wouldn't hold a snake, not that there's a snake in this one. If there was a snake in my movie I wouldn't hold it. I would bring in Heath. So the stuff I didn't want to do I would bring in my stunt guy. But I did a lot of it. I did most of it because I wanted it to be real.

What was your favorite scene to act in "Mall Cop 2"?

My favorite scenes were probably the scenes we have [with] a lot of other comedians in the movie, like Loni Love's [she played Donna Ericone] in there, we have a bunch of newer guys too, Vic Dibitetto, Gary Valentine, Ana Gasteyer [Mrs. Gundermutt], Nick Turturro [Nick Manero]. There were a bunch of very funny comedians to work off of. So I got to play around with them. Anytime I was with them, this band of misfits that were kind of like myself. They're security guards as well. We had a lot of fun. And Shelly DeSai [Khan Mubi].

What was your most embarrassing moment in filming?

My pants fell down when I ran away from one scene. I had a lot of stuff on my belt. I have a lot of equipment on my belt and when I was running away from . . . the desk at the hotel and I had to go run and chase somebody and the weight of the belt took my polyester pants down. So I was running basically in my underwear. And this was embarrassing because I didn't have Superman, but I had Spider-Man underwear on.

Kidsday review: 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' (5 smiley faces)

Last Saturday, we were on the red carpet before the advanced screening for the new movie "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" starring Kevin James. Do you like action, adventure, and comedy? We do, and we all agree: It was such a good movie! After meeting many of the stars of the film including James, Raini Rodriguez (she plays Maya), David Henrie (Lane), Daniella Alonso (Divina), and director Andy Fickman, we went inside to watch the movie with many of the stars. It was a fun afternoon.

The movie picks up six years after the first Paul Blart movie. In this film, Paul is invited to go to Las Vegas. At the same time, his daughter, Maya, finds out that she has been accepted to UCLA, but she is afraid to tell her dad because she knows he will be so lonely without her. They travel to Las Vegas and here is where their adventure begins. There is a group of bad people who are trying to steal many of the famous pieces of artwork that are displayed around the hotel.

The movie is so funny, even better than the first one, which we watched to prepare for the sequel. Kevin still dances like crazy in this film. Erin loved the scene where Paul has to zip line from one building to the next to break up the crime ring. She liked it because in the end he says, "Always bet on Blart."

Physical comedy is one thing that makes every Kevin James movie so great and that is what Darwin liked the best. Wait until you see him run face-first into a glass window. You will be shocked and laughing at the same time. Darwin also liked the bird scene with Paul Blart. It really is hysterical, especially since the piano player in the scene never comes to help him.

Brendan liked the action and the big fight scene between the bad guys and mall cops. He added, "It has action and comedy. Action because they're fighting and comedy because, well, you will just have to watch the movie to find out!"