STARS ON MARS: Christopher Mintz-Plasse Shares What Fans Didn’t See on the New Fox Reality Series

[Warning: This post contains spoilers from the series premiere of STARS ON MARS.]

In the new Fox reality series STARS ON MARS, 12 celebrities—Lance Armstrong, Natasha Leggero, Marshawn Lynch, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Adam Rippon, Ronda Rousey, Tom Schwartz, Richard Sherman, Tinashe, Porsha Williams Guobadia, Tallulah Willis, and Ariel Winter—embark on an out-of-this-world journey to survive and thrive on “Mars”…while one “astronaut” is sent back home every week.

In the series premiere, the stars settled into their base camp, and had to take on their first task: fixing equipment on the surface of Mars. Ultimately, Mintz-Plasse was voted out and became the first to return home.

The actor, best known for SUPERBAD, KICK-ASS, and the TROLLS franchise, spoke with Give Me My Remote following his exit from the series…



What made you want to participate in STARS ON MARS?
I got sent the idea from my team. And they said, “Are you interested in a reality show where you go—?” And I said, “No, no, not at all. No, not reality. I can’t do it.” And they said, “Well, here are the people that are going on: Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman, and Ronda Rousey.” And I said, “Well, that’s very interesting, because those are world-class champions. So this show must not just be some BIG BROTHER-esque weird, dramatic thing they’re going for.”

And then they sent me the [pitch] deck, and it was beautiful. They put a lot of money into the thing, the space base and the deck looked incredible. And they told us that we were going to do escape room-style missions at the end. And I was like, “That’s very interesting.” And then they told me what they were going to pay me and I said, “I’m in; should lead with that. I’m in. Let’s do it.”

But it was very scary. It was very scary to kind of jump out of my comfort zone and do reality TV. I’ve never done it before. Some people on the show like Porsha and Tom Schwartz are so good at it, because they live in front of a camera for their TV shows. But it is a fine art to learn how to be yourself, 24/7, when they’re filming you. That’s something I was very scared to do. Because I’m sure you feel the same way, but like in a day, you ride very many emotions: you are happy, you’re funny, you’re sad, you miss your family. And you have to do all of that in front of a camera, which was very stressful, and it put a lot of unneeded kind of stress and weight on me. So it was an interesting and difficult task, but I’m very happy that I went out and did it and met a lot of really cool and nice people.

It seemed like you were the first one to arrive on the Mars compound. Was that how it played out, and how much time did you have to explore the compound?
Yeah, they put me in first. They had an idea originally whereas me and Natasha—remember Natasha is the last one to get found in the pod? They wanted it to be me and her, and I just felt kind of weird. I was already nervous going into a reality show, and I didn’t want a special introduction. I wanted to go in with everyone equally, feel like I’m a part of the gang…[and the producers were like,] “Okay, well your call time was 4 PM but now it is 4:30 AM, and you will be the first one going in.” I was like, “S—. Maybe I should have laid in the pod. It seems a lot easier.”

I was the first one, and it was just cool that they wanted me to be; it’s kind of an honor. And I walked in immediately and was like, “This is gorgeous. There’s a lot of care, a lot of love put into it.” And I kind of walk around, and, as the producers say, ”Say your thoughts aloud.” So I go in and kind of say what I’m thinking…then I’m just there by myself for like 10-15 minutes, and then people start cycling in. I think Rhonda came next which is super cool. And then Tom came in; I didn’t know who he was. Rhonda asked for Matt Damon and you got like a B-list Matt Damon. He kind of resembles Matt Damon, in a way, but maybe not as famous. Then it kind of went down from there.

It feels like that space could feel a bit claustrophobic. How much were you cognizant it was a set or did it feel like you were separated from the rest of the world?
In the beginning of the show, they wanted to try to make it as real to Mars as possible. Like when we did our intro walks, I went out in the middle of the outback of Australia at like 5:30 in the morning…and one of the showrunners and producers was like, “This is the last time you’ll ever see us! This is it. You’re getting sent off into Mars!” And like I put my helmet on, and go and do my walk I film. And then immediately I get in a car and I take the helmet off, and there’s like a bro, who is like, “I love SUPERBAD.” I’m like okay, we’re not really doing it [as if] we’re really living on Mars.

But then in the habitat, they tried to keep it as real as possible—the food was really crappy. And they didn’t give us our phones until like way late at night, which is probably difficult for some of the parents; I’m sure they wanted communication with their family. And I think that the producers, the showrunners, kind of learned as the day went on, “Oh, our clientele are getting a little frustrated. They don’t have their luggage, they don’t have their phones; if we want this show to be as good as it can be, we need happy clientele.” So they brought us our baggies and everything we needed. And they brought Marshawn his Hennessy, and things kind of opened up from there.

What was your favorite part of the set?
Well, there are no cameras in the bathroom, so that was really nice. It was great when it was like, okay, I see cameras everywhere. They’re filming my every move; I just need like a second to myself. You go to the s—-er and close the door.

The kitchen was like a really good hang point. A lot of people were kind of trying to make the best that they could of the food, dicing up some salads and potatoes. And the space set, where we’re watching…William Shatner, it was very cool as well.

In your time there, was there anyone in particular you bonded with?
It’s a bummer, because I’m in a group chat with everyone right now, and I was the first one out. So I definitely feel like the outsider in the chat; they all seem really connected and really close now. And I’m like, “I was the guy that was there for 40 minutes! Hey!”

[But] I met Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch the night before we went, which was in Adelaide. So we traveled [from] LA to Brisbane, and Brisbane to Adelaide. We had a night off in Adelaide. And we’re staying at the same hotel, and they were up at the bar, and it was up the rooftop bar, and I got to hang with them for a couple hours. Richard and I really hit it off and became very chummy in the habitat. They didn’t show too much of it, but he had my back and we’ve been texting a bit since, so I would say that him and I probably connected the closest.

Did you watch the episode as it aired? What was the fan reaction you saw?
I’ve looked on Twitter and it seems like people like it. You never know how it’s gonna go. I think [it was] a lot of, “Well, I thought I would hate this and I like this”—a lot of those tweets. It’s hard not to like it. It’s just really charming, funny, entertaining people. The casting director got a lot of really great, unique people on the show.

But I have a hard time watching myself. I kind of knew the stress that I put on myself and how difficult it was for me in those two days—and I was only there [for] two days. I also learned I’m very sensitive. So I was there two days, and I’m already having a hard time. but when I watched it, they edited very nicely and it seemed like I was having a good time, which I really was, in moments.

And there’s stuff on the show where Tom is explaining VANDERPUMP RULES to me, like what the show is. I don’t even remember that conversation. I really didn’t. Because your brain is thinking the whole time, “How can I make good content? Right now needs to be funny. This needs to be funny, they’re laughing in the other room. I gotta go there and be funny.” So your brain’s really working on how to make the show really good. And then like little moments like that, where I wasn’t even trying to be funny or anything, he’s just explaining the show. I was like, that’s good. That’s good for the show. I don’t even remember it.

Was there anything in particular that didn’t make the cut that you were most bummed fans didn’t get to see?
I think there was a funny moment—Marshawn calls all the women “little mama.” “What’s up, little mama?” And then I tried to call them little mama and they’re like, “That was just so cringy and weird.” And Ariel was just like, “Chris don’t do that. Don’t do that, it’s really cringy, man.” I was like, how does he get away with it? Like I can’t call them little mama; doesn’t work. I thought that was funny.

Then I had a longer spiel at the end when I was trying to explain why I should stay on the show that I thought was kind of funny, but I know that they got to edit these things. So they did a great job.

What was going through your mind when you were doing the elimination challenge? Were you thinking about trying to find a way to stay on the show, thinking about making good TV, or was it a blur?
Well, honestly, by that point, my brain was not even thinking about the TV show, because I knew there were ten other people doing the task, and I knew that they were getting the content they needed for the show.

But it was a really big bummer for me, because I have really bad asthma. And what you couldn’t tell is that they flew in like $20,000 worth of fake red dust, and they brought in a really big fan. And the dust was really intense…The helmets didn’t stop it at all. So like this is day 2, I was already kind of stressed. We’re wearing the suits for like, an hour, an hour and a half before we even film. Everyone’s in pain. They’re really heavy. And I’m like, “Yay, we finally get to do the task.” And open up the door—it is just gnarly dust. So I was really, genuinely, worried about my health, because I have had asthma attacks in the past, you know?

So that was the real reason I was not helping out; I was kind of low-key freaking out that I was going to have an asthma attack. And then later, in the elimination round, I had to think of something [to explain what happened, so I said], “Oh, I was doing you a favor by not helping. I’ve done this before, I’d just be getting in the way, there’s too many cooks in the kitchen here.”

But it was really like a bummer, because I met some of the writers and producers after I got eliminated, and they ran me through some of the other missions that they’re going to do throughout the season. And I was like, “Put any of those first and I’d still be on the show; you paired me with the worst one for my health!” It was a huge bummer. But you know, it is what it is.

As you were worried about having an asthma attack, were you thinking, “Maybe I shouldn’t be on this show?”
I could never have guessed that the first mission would have been something that I couldn’t do. I really didn’t expect—I guess I should have expected it, because I’ve watched THE MARTIAN, the Matt Damon movie, on the way out [to film this] and like the intro scene is him in a gnarly dust storm. And he gets knocked away and that’s when he gets stranded on Mars. And of course that’s the first thing…I guess I’m the Matt Damon in that situation. I got stranded—except I got a nice flight home back to LA

Did you specifically choose THE MARTIAN because of the show, or was that a random thing just available on your plane?
Oh no, I chose it…I listened to a podcast called “The Habitat,” which was about people living on Mars in Hawaii, and I watched THE MARTIAN; I tried to do my research.

Any regrets about being the first one to leave?
Yeah, it was sad. It was sad to go. I got on that side of the glass and [was] watching all of them on the other side. I kind of wish I was there longer with them. I kind of wish I could bond with them a little more. Like I said, in the group chat, I feel like the outsider, definitely. It was a lot of really cool, unique people and everyone was super nice. So I wish I made it a little bit longer so I could have bonded a little more with them.

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