Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ATLANTA — Napoleon Dynamite hasn't been on the screen since 2004 but he returned this week to send a heartfelt message to a 12-year-old cancer patient.
Mary Elizabeth Paris, 12, is receiving treatment for her cancer at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, 11alive.com reports. She told her nurses her favorite movie is "Napoleon Dynamite" and says goodbye to them by doing the “butterfly lotus” hand wave. The nurses responded by decorating her room in gold, which is Napoleon's favorite.
Local news station Atlanta Alive tweeted actor Jon Heder, inviting him to wish her well on her recovery and Heder — as Napoleon — responded with a heartwarming and hilarious YouTube video.
According to video evidence, Napoleon Dynamite is married with a baby, has tamed his perm and now sports a beard.
“I heard you're a pretty big fan of mine, and that's pretty cool, I guess,” Heder says in the monotone voice of Napoleon. “You're going to do awesome ... and just listen to your heart, that's pretty much all I do.”
Heder wished Paris good luck and signed off with the same “butterfly lotus” wave.
