Thunderbirds host ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ stars for meet-and-greet ahead of game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) — Twenty years ago, Napoleon Dynamite, the low-budget comedy movie about a socially awkward teen from Preston, Idaho came out. And in the two decades since, it’s become a dry comedy favorite with quotable line after quotable line.

On Saturday night, the Springfield Thunderbirds hosted two of the stars of the movie, Jon Heder who played Napoleon and Efren Ramirez who played Pedro.

22News spoke to the beloved actors about what it’s like be a part of such a cult classic and do a special pregame meet-and-greet with their fans.

“No we’re pretty much big wherever we go this is no surprise,” said Heder.

“Well I don’t have much to say,” added Ramirez.

Both actors spent hours both at the VIP meet-and-greet as well as inside the stadium. The Springfield Thunderbirds were also hosting the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night in a big matchup as the team is vying for a playoff spot.

But as some fans told 22News, they came to the game for another reason.

“Meeting the two who played Pedro and Napoleon was really a lot of fun they were very gracious,” said John Wallace. “We got to talk to them for a little bit after we got our autographs which was really cool.”

“I think it’s awesome man,” added Bill of Easthampton. “You get to go meet celebrities and movie stars that we watched growing up and we get to share it with the kids… it’s priceless.”

And the T-Birds celebrated the 20th anniversary of the movie in style. The team brought in three alpaca’s, and sold 1% milk, boondoggle keychains and tater tots as an homage to the forever hilarious Napoleon Dynamite.

Originally Jon Gries, the actor who played Uncle Rico, was supposed to make it out to the game with just Efren Ramirez. But when Gries found out he was going to be filming a movie, Jon Heder stepped up and filled his spot.

Saturday night was also the Thunderbirds’ 11th consecutive sellout game.