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'Animal House' co-stars Karen Allen, Peter Riegert forever linked by comedy classic

Lifetime achievement award recipients reunite for screening in Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – There's not going to be an orgy. But there will be a toga party.

Just don't expect to see Karen Allen and Peter Riegert wearing one.

The "National Lampoon's Animal House" co-stars are in South Florida this weekend for a screening of the 1978 comedy classic during the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, which opened Friday.

In the movie, Allen and Riegert play Katy and Boon, romantically involved students at the fictitious Faber College. Off-screen, Allen and Riegert remain close friends, forever intertwined by their roles.

"I'm always going to be connected to Karen," Riegert told Local 10 News. "That's one of the perks of doing that movie."

Riegert's Boon delivers one of the film's most memorable lines to Allen's Katy prior to an epic Delta Tau Chi house party: "It's not gonna be an orgy. It's a toga party."

Upon its release, Riegert said, strangers would recite the lines to him, "like from across the street, like we were all buddies."

"There's a lot of quotable lines in 'Animal House' that continue to be very quotable lines," Allen added, although she admits, "most of the highly quotable lines are Delta lines."

Allen, who was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in 2017, is also starring in a new movie called "Colewell," which will have its southeast premiere Saturday afternoon at Savor Cinema.

Karen Allen, who plays Katy in the 1978 film "National Lampoon's Animal House," speaks to Local 10 News about her performance in "Colewell," making its southeast premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

"Colewell" tells the story of a woman whose occupation and life's work is being taken away from her when the local post office is shuttered.

"Extra Innings," a short film about a reporter who interviews a major league baseball manager in an attempt to uncover secrets, will precede it.

Riegert stars as the manager of the team in the short.

Peter Riegert, who played Boon in the 1978 film "National Lampoon's Animal House," speaks to Local 10 News about "Extra Innings," a short film screening at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

"I fantasized about playing baseball when I was a kid, but then reality ensued and I realized that wasn't going to happen," he joked.

Riegert grew up in the Bronx rooting for the Red Sox.

"Because I was in love with Corinne Galgay," his 13-year-old babysitter, who was from Boston, he said.

Riegert also considers himself "a long-suffering Mets fan." But he was happy to see the division foe Washington Nationals win the World Series.

Like Allen before him, Riegert will receive a lifetime achievement award at Saturday night's screening of "Animal House."

Allen, 68, and Riegert, 72, will be in attendance for a question-and-answer session after the movie (which Riegert calls "a great example of a cultural success") and the toga party to follow.

"That's the only reason I'm here," Riegert said of having Allen join him for the honor.

Karen Allen shares a laugh with her "National Lampoon's Animal House" co-star Peter Riegert before the opening night of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Nov. 1, 2019, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Allen and Riegert will be sans bed sheets at the toga-themed after party, which is inspired by a scene from the movie. As Allen correctly pointed out, though, Katy didn't wear a toga.

"Having Karen there will ensure me that I will be responsible and not become flippant," Riegert said.


A screening of "National Lampoon's Animal House" will begin at 10 p.m. at Savor Cinema as part of the 34th annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. General admission tickets cost $12.

A screening of "Colewell" and "Extra Innings" will begin at 2:30 p.m. at Savor Cinema. Tickets are $15 for general admission seating and $11 for Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival members.


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