Andy Samberg: so who's the merry prankster who supplied Justin Timberlake with his sexiest groove, turned Natalie Portman into a gangsta rapper. And launched an internet musical phenomenon? Hint: it's not Timbaland

A brief survey of Andy Samberg's musical output reveals an oeuvre that's at once ineluctably eclectic and irresistibly infectious. Consider the lo-fi Brooklyn beats of "Lazy Sunday," in which two young men search for a high-calorie buzz (cupcakes) and low-calorie escape (The Chronicles of Narnia, 2005) or "Natalie Raps," in which actress Natalie Portman spews bile on haters and spins verses about getting jacked up on "yak and bourbon." More recently it was the '90s-R&B-influenced grinder "Dick in a Box" featuring Justin Timberlake, which Samberg actually performed with the former 'NSync-er during a show at Madison Square Garden last winter. Created with longtime cohorts and fellow Saturday Night Live staffers Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, the songs--and their accompanying videos--have caused SNL's "Digital Short" franchise to become a centerpiece of the show, not to mention an Internet phenomenon.

This month the 29-year-old Samberg takes his act to the big screen with the daredevil comedy Hot Rod, about a hapless would-be stuntman (Samberg) who attempts to jump 15 buses on his minibike to pay for his pugilist stepfather's (lan McShane) lifesaving heart operation. Taccone co-stars, Schaffer directs, and the film, of course, has a carefully curated soundtrack--remember the band Europe?

ADAM SANDLER: How'd you like seeing Styx play the other night?

ANDY SAMBERG: They ruled.

ADAM: "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man"--they tore the house down.

ANDY: They played hard, man.

ADAM: Where are you?

ANDY: I'm in New York City. We're at the editing office finishing up Hot Rod.

ADAM: Oh, you're all over this thing.

ANDY: Yeah, we're involved.

ADAM: You fall right into the trap of being the young Sandler.

ANDY: If they use the bad takes, I'm done.

ADAM: You went to NYU film school--did you learn anything besides how to make crack out of Drano and baba ghanoush?

ANDY: I did learn that. I also learned how to get my parents to spend a lot of money.

ADAM: So, Hot Rod. I love the trailer and that crazy-ass stunt. The guy on the bike got hurt? ANDY: Yeah, he did. On the mail-truck jump the dude definitely took a bit of a pain spill.

ADAM: When you were a kid, could you pop a wheelie and pedal for a while?

ANDY: No. The irony of this movie is that I was terrible with anything involving wheels. All my friends were really sick skateboarders, and I kept trying to learn, which culminated with me doing ollies in my bedroom, splitting my mouth wide open, and getting 50 stitches. I couldn't laugh for a month. It was pretty embarrassing. I did learn how to ride a moped for Hot Rod, though. It kind of exorcized some demons for me--"See, wheels, I can control you."

ADAM: The reason I was bad at popping a wheelie or riding bikes was that I never knew where to put the balls. The banana seat--every type of seat--hurt Sandler's balls.

ANDY: So, wait--you could do a wheelie?

ADAM: I could ride a wheelie okay. But there were kids in my school who could pop wheelies and ride around the whole playground.

ANDY: You don't want to be too good at wheelies, though, because at a certain point you cross that threshold into unicycle. Then you've got to start wearing a fedora.

ADAM: Okay, if Justin Timberlake said that 'NSync was going to get back together, but they needed another guy, would you join?

ANDY: Absolutely--I mean, if they would have me. I could probably sing as good as the worst singer in 'NSync, right? Nobody really knows how good the peripheral guys are. I could probably get the dance moves down.

ADAM: Your hair moves nice when you dance, I've noticed.

ANDY: My hair has got a lot of spirit.

ADAM: That's probably the only thing you've got on the Sandman--cooler hair.

ANDY: Your hair is more universal, though.

ADAM: Well, in temple, yeah.

ANDY: I can't hold a yarmulke on for shit.

ADAM: So Sissy Spacek is in Hot Rod. I'm sure this isn't true, but people have said that after every take, she threw blood on you.

ANDY: I mean, yeah. I probably shouldn't say, just because she really appreciates her privacy, but it's sort of her ritual. She does it with her mind, just like in Carrie [1976]. She likes getting it on herself, too.

ADAM: See, no one talks about that, because they're always trying to make it look like she's about hurting other people. But that's what's cool about her. She wants to see what it feels like herself too.

ANDY: You know, we had a little on-set romance. No big deal.

ADAM: Oh, yeah? How long did that last?

ANDY: About 35 seconds, but that was mostly my fault.

ADAM: She is a pretty lady. What is she playing in the movie? Your mother?

ANDY: She plays my mom, yeah.

ADAM: Did you let Sissy be funny?

ANDY: We did our best. We were surprised she did the movie to start with.

ADAM: There's nothing better than getting that call. When Kathy Bates agreed to do WaterBoy [1998], I was like, "Really? She's going to do it?"