Video:Role Models - Director David Wain and Writer Timothy Dowling
with Rebecca Murray"Role Models" follows co-workers who, after one really lousy day, wind up in trouble with the law. Rather than go to jail, they opt for community service. But neither guy is really into mentoring kids, and that's the charity they're assigned to.
Transcript:Role Models - Director David Wain and Writer Timothy Dowling
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the World Premiere of Role Models.
Writer/Director David Wain - Role Models
A commercial film, that's a nice change for you, right?
David Wain: "Oh yes. The red carpet was not as long on the other two."
And the budget wasn't as big.
David Wain: "And the budget wasn't as big."
What about having [Seann William Scott] on your film?
David Wain: "What about him?"
Did he ever stick to the script? Did he ever stick to what you wrote?
David Wain: "Yeah, once in a while. If he was in a good mood he might do it. No, I mean I've always, obviously, as everyone, been a fan of Seann William Scott. I never thought I'd be lucky enough to work with him. And to put him together with Paul Rudd, who I had worked with many times, two different types of guys – that's what I think was the big source of a lot of the comedy."
How did you know that was going to work?
David Wain: "I didn't. As with so many things in filmmaking, you hope it does. You roll the dice. And, you know, maybe it wouldn't have worked and then we wouldn't have been here tonight. But it seems to be getting a good response. I'm very happy about that."
Isn't it nice studios are saying yes to R-rated comedies?
David Wain: "Thank God because I wouldn't know how to do it any other way. It just seems like if you're doing a certain kind of comedy anyway, if it's not rated R you're sort of having shackles behind you and like so much you can't do and say that's part of normal, real life."
What sets it apart from the other comedies out there?
David Wain: "It's really funny. It has the most amazing cast, not just the leads but all the way down the line. Like hysterical, funny people from all parts of the comedy world. And it's actually kind of exciting and heartwarming at the end, too. I mean, not at the end – throughout. I mean it's surprisingly moving."
Writer Timothy Dowling
You came up with the idea?
Timothy Dowling: "Yes and no. I was hired… There originally was one of the producer's Luke Greenfield is a director, he wanted to do a movie set in the Big Brothers program and so originally he was developing it as a drama. And they kind of decided at a certain point, he's like, 'You know, maybe this should be a comedy.' And Luke had read a script that I'd written, a buddy comedy called Outsourced and he was like, 'Oh, that's what this should be. This should be a buddy comedy about two guys forced into the Big Brothers program.' So he called me up and basically we had lunch and he offered me the job. He said, 'Hey, I'd love you to come in and reconceive this and work on it.' And so I was hired, and we basically took that idea that was in the drama script and came up with a whole new thing. And so came up with the character of Danny and Wheeler and Augie and Ronnie and sort of created this world."
So did you call on your own role model experience for this?
Timothy Dowling: "Not exactly, but part of the idea of the film was that these guys should be the two worst guys that should possibly be mentoring kids. But then the flipside of it was like then who would be the two worst kids to pair with these guys? The idea for Augie came to me, it was like, 'When they meet for the first time, what would be a great sort of thing? What if he showed up dressed in full wizard regalia and is all into this sort of LAIRE [Live Action Interactive Roleplaying Explorers] world?' And the idea that Danny's just like, 'This kid seems so weird,' and is just utterly mortified by him, we thought that would be kind of fun."
Which character are you?
Timothy Dowling: "I'm probably somewhere between Danny and Augie. Probably somewhere in there."