POSTED: Friday, September 3, 2010, 7:00 PM
Filed Under: Interview |
Movies |
TV
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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
| Charlie Day as Dan in Going the Distance |
The main goal of
Going the Distance (in area theaters today) is to be anything but the typical romantic comedy: The lovelorn leads (
Drew Barrymore and
Justin Long), stuck in long distance relationship, speak in expletive-laced sentences rather than amorous cliche. Many thanks are due to
Charlie Day, who plays Long's roommate Dan, and steals every scene he's in — whether it's giving heartfelt relationship advice while taking a dump or soundtracking Long and Barrymore's first tryst with "Take My Breath Away." But, of course Day is a scene-stealer; you've watched him do the exact same thing for six seasons as Charlie Kelly on
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
We called up Day to chat about
Going the Distance, the new season of
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Thu., Sept. 16, FX, 10 p.m.) and why the ladies love Charlie Kelly.
City Paper: I think a lot of romantic comedies live or die on the role you play in
Going the Distance — this quirky best friend to the bland romantic lead. It can be the best part of the movie...
Charlie Day: Or the worst.
CP: Like
Bruno Kirby in
When Harry Met Sally...
CD: I definitely wasn't thinking about being the next Bruno Kirby. I thought about the part the I was doing and just thought about doing the best that I could. But I also thought about making him real, and making him a guy you like so he wasn't just some stereotypical sidekick. I thought it was good that
Jason Sudeikis was there too, so it was the two of us and not just about one guy who is always there to be the shoulder to cry on.
CP: You're working with Jason Sudeikis again in your next movie,
Horrible Bosses.
CD: So far so good, obviously I haven't seen anything cut together but what we're shooting is certainly really, really funny. Boy, I hate to see how they mess that up.
CP: Did you just fall in love with Sudeikis'
Tom Selleck mustache? Was that it? You just couldn't get enough of it?
CD: That was it. And I had him on the set of
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia this year this will be third Sudeikis-Day joint you can see.
CP: As a Philadelphian and representative of our illustrious ilk, I do have to ask about the next season. Can you give me any hints? What can we expect?
CD: There's a lot of good stuff, we've got some great guest stars:
Dave Foley from
Kids in the Hall, he comes on and he's super great;
Tom Sizemore did a funny little thing. We did some really good episodes. Put it this way, Charlie and Dennis actually make it out of Philly for a little bit of an adventure.
CP: You're leaving us?!
CD: We're not leaving! We're just going on a little bit of a jaunt to Atlantic City and it makes a really great episode.
CP: If there's one place that you could make look worse than Philadelphia, it's Atlantic City. Did you guys go there?
CD: We actually shot it in Philly, in the Harrahs Casino in Port Charles [Port Charles is where
General Hospital is set, so we think he meant Chester].
CP: Did you get to gamble?
CD: I did not, I did a lot of acting. It was a long day.
Chase Utley and
Ryan Howard were in that episode, and they're really funny.
CP: I've read that you were a baseball player in college. How strong was your desire to just play catch with them all day?
CD: We did get to. In the scene, Dennis has a catch with Chase Utley and I asked if I could get in it for a sec and I threw him a knuckleball that blew his mind.
CP: So we should we expect you batting in Howard's spot soon?
CD: I could come in for a few relief innings but I don't think I could get a bat on the ball.
CP: One of the similarities you see between your
Going the Distance character and
Charlie Kelly is this certain sweetness. It's kind of like you've both been dropped on your heads a couple times but it only served to make you a nicer guy. What makes you gravitate toward these sweet-dunce roles?
CD: It's definitely like that in
Horrible Bosses too. The simple answer is that's part of the reason I got cast in that role. But also the sweetness comes out to make him real, and not a total cartoon character. You have to believe in the person as a real person and what helps me as a performer is knowing what the character is in love with or cares about. With Charlie Kelly, it's the Waitress and with Dan it was Garrett [Justin Long].
CP: The male bonding you get in this movie is so much more than in most romantic comedies, and director
Nanette Burstein lingers on you more than she has to.
CD: Yeah, I think that was in an effort to not be a totally stereotypical rom-com. And also in an effort to make it funny for both the girls and guys, and it's not just following that love story for the entire time. You're flushing out the world so they're not just these cartoon characters that you go for a joke or two but you get to live their world for a minute or two and see that, for lack of a better term, they're real people.
CP: I've met an inordinate amount of girls who say they would sleep with Charlie Kelly. Not you, not Charlie Day.
CD: I think it's a fine line.
CP: You say it's a fine line. But I don't think you're sleeping in your long underwear with
Danny DeVito every night.
CD: I've noticed a change in the last couple of years. I don't know whether it's sympathy or there's just a sheer animal attraction to a man in long johns.
