Christmas Grumpy Cat Movie MStars News [EXCLUSIVE] Interview Part 3 [FULL MOVIE]: We Speak With Her Manager Ben Lashes About Grumpy Cat's Secrets And What Makes Her Grumpy!

Grumpy Cat's new Lifetime movie, Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever, premiered Saturday night, Nov. 29, to much fanfare. We found out in Part 2 of MStars News's exclusive interview with the superstar cat's manager Ben Lashes that there are talks for a sequel to the holiday film and how Parks and Recreation star Aubrey Plaza became Grumpy's voice.

In Part 3 of our exclusive, we find out some secrets about Grumpy, including if she has ever cracked a smile and some interesting facts about Ben's journey into the celebrity meme business.

 

MStars News: How's Grumpy Cat dealing with fame?

Ben: She could care less. None of it matters to her and that's the cool thing with Grumpy. She stays true to her roots. She's never going to get happy. She continues to stay unenthused about the whole thing.

MStars News: Is she ever not grumpy?

Ben: Behind-the-scenes she's a really cute cat. People who don't even like cats fall in love with her in person because she's adorable. She's super tiny, she's really cute, and very affectionate. Loves to be pet and held. She's a sweetie, but a lot of grumpy people can be considered sweet. She's normal like all of us.

MStars News: Has grumpy ever had a diva moment and thrown a phone at you like Naomi Campbell?

Ben: No, that hasn't happened yet. There are times when she gives me a look and I know she knows exactly what's going on. There was a time that Grumpy drove a car, a Camaro, in the mall in her movie, and I'm taking a picture of her through the windshield and she's like, "Are you kidding me?" Luckily, Hollywood magic is always able to be involved so Grumpy was never in danger even when she was driving the car.

MStars News: You have an interesting career. How did you get into managing Internet sensations?

Ben: I used to play music, for years and years I was a musician ... Toured the country and played shows everywhere from the Playboy mansion to the smallest clubs ... One of my family friends was the guy who created Keyboard Cat and he was my dad's good friend, I had known him since I was a little kid ... When he called me and was like, "Your dad said you were doing music, I put out this video," and I was like "Yeah totally, I saw it on The Soup, it's all over the place, my dad told me it was you, that's so awesome!" He was like, "Oh, man, no way! Everybody's using it. They're just using it and I'm not making anything." And I was like, "Well, these are the new pieces of pop culture. The new cartoon characters for this generation. There's no reason Keyboard Cat can't be like Mickey Mouse for the YouTube generation."

MStars News: When these memes come out, did you approach them? How does that work?

Ben: I mean it works out differently for everybody. I'm really picky with my roster ... Some people have found me because of an article. When they become a meme, "Oh, my God, I'm a meme. What do I do?" and they search, my name comes up. So I do get calls and emails from people when they find themselves in a viral situation ... I don't want to have the biggest roster of memes or clients — I just want to have the best.

MStars News: How did you then get in contact with Grumpy Cat?

Ben: I had written to Grumpy Cat — usually I become obsessed just like many of the fans, sometimes I'll reach out to somebody. So I had written to Grumpy Cat before, I got in touch with Brian, the brother of the owner. He's the one who posted the photo and named her Grumpy Cat. He and I had been writing and someone I was already working with was talking to him, and he was like, "You know who you need to talk to is Ben." It was a combination of me reaching out to them and somebody told them so when I talked to them I told them who I was and what I had been doing for the last three years. I really got along well with them and started working with them and helping them out and within a couple weeks we were meeting for the first time in New York City for The Today Show when Grumpy Cat made her first national news appearance. That was two years ago. It's been a crazy ride.

MStars News: For you, are there any memes out there we should be focusing on?

Ben: People should always stay on top of all the great new memes out there.

MStars News: What's the big one now?

Ben: I don't even know. The thing about memes that's crazy [is] they come and go faster than they used to. Memes are very similar to songs. Some are one-hit wonders, some become albums and classics and are timeless forever. I think when I first started doing this, when a meme came out and really started getting big, it would take two to three weeks for The Today Show to pick it up and put it on television ... Then it became a point where things would go viral and, if it hit huge, 24 hours it was on the news the next morning.

And that's what really changed for bringing memes mainstream. I feel like it's harder for a meme to become like Grumpy Cat and stick around for two-plus years and stay interesting and exciting because of how fast people are tuned into it.

MStars News: What's Grumpy's "favorite" song on the Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever soundtrack?

Ben: She did just make a Spotify playlist of the worst Christmas songs ever. She thinks that all Christmas songs are terrible — it's all a race to the bottom.

MStars News: Would you say she would give her Lifetime movie two paws down?

Ben: She wouldn't even wake up to review it!

Watch the full movie here.

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