Planet of the aping

Korine, right, and Diego Luna (dressed as Jacko) in Mister Lonely.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery; in Harmony Korine’s world, it’s also an inspired brand of lunacy. In Korine’s new film, Mister Lonely (his first since 1999’s Julien Donkey-Boy), a misfit group of celebrity impersonators give stars like Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin a strange, heartbreaking tribute. We asked Korine to name the famous personalities he’d most like to imitate and why; read below for some genius fan appreciation.

James Brown
“I met him once under a bridge in Nashville. He was handing out $5 bills. I had never seen anyone with patent-leather white boots standing under a bridge like that. I remember a homeless man gave him a plastic comb as a token of his appreciation.”

Stepin Fetchit
“He was one of my favorite actors. A lot of people don’t give him the credit he deserves. His comic timing was impeccable. I saw a picture of him juggling four pumpkins in front of a taco stand in Waco, Texas. He was the kind of actor who made you feel drunk after watching him in a scene. When I have a child, I’m gonna name him Stepin Fetchit Korine.”

Peg Leg Bates
“He was the world’s greatest one-legged tap dancer. My whole life I wanted to be able to dance with only one leg. Peg Leg Bates could spin on his peg leg so well that sparks would fly from the friction it caused. He made me dream of cutting off my own leg. He had many women who adored him and helped him up stairs because he refused a cane.”

Harrison Ford
“I always loved Harrison Ford. After I saw him in The Mosquito Coast, I took a trip to the Amazon rain forest and tried to build my own ice machine. I once wrote a poem that said, 'Harrison’s Ford has a flat tire.'”

David Allan Coe
“He’s one of my favorite songwriters. He was sent to jail for a long time for assault and burglary. I once saw him play a benefit concert at a local custodians’ school, and he couldn’t remember any of the words to his own songs. He had a two-foot dreadlock that dangled from the side of his head, and when I looked at it closely, I saw something inside that resembled a baked potato. There was a girl in the front row vomiting. I met my future wife that day.”

Shirley Temple
“She was one of the greats. When I watch her acting style, it’s almost a religious experience for me. I heard from a mutual friend that every morning she would wake up and do a single push-up and then look in the mirror and recite 'The Pledge of Allegiance' to herself. For some reason, she always reminded me of Ol’ Dirty Bastard.”

Mister Lonely screens at Tribeca starting Apr 29.