The word “Oscar” is rarely found anywhere near Danny McBride’s name, not because the North Carolina-born actor isn’t talented, but rather because the narrow-minded Academy tends to overlook such modern classics as Pineapple Express, Observe and Report and The Foot Fist Way. (Their loss.) But after his turn as the salt-of-the-earth future brother-in-law of George Clooney’s serial business traveler/expert intimacy avoider in Jason Reitman’s much-lauded Up in the Air, McBride now finds himself squarely in the middle of feverish awards season speculation. And he’s just as surprised about it as you are.
We spoke with McBride about his experience opposite Clooney, his upcoming film projects (Your Highness, Hench), the disappointment of Land of the Lost and the future of Eastbound & Down.
What’s it feel like to be part of an Oscar contender? Has it sunk in yet?
Danny McBride: It’s only something that’s started to settle in over the past few days, really, while I’ve been doing press for it. It’s like, “Oh sh*t, people are really talking about this like that.” It doesn’t surprise me — from the very beginning, I thought this move was something really special. It’s always good when you make a choice and get behind a project like this. You always hope that it resonates and that people identify with it. It’s a good feeling.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I just never imagined I’d see you in an Oscar flick.
DM: I’ve never imagined myself in one! I mean, I really thought with Hot Rod that things were going to go that way. It was a big shock to me. So this is vindication.
I thought that was one of the Academy’s more egregious snubs of last year.
DM: Yeah. I think Hot Rod is what made people call for ten Best Picture nominations.
You and Clooney share one of the most pivotal scenes in Up in the Air, in which his character rather clumsily attempts to convince you to not to bail on marrying his sister. Can you talk about how that scene come together?
DM: That was one of the refreshing things about this — a lot of the stuff I’ve been on, everything’s based around improv and the scene is made there on the set. You have no idea what they’re actually gonna use. But this script was really tight. It was sharp. So we really didn’t deviate from the page really at all. That was good, to trust the words that were there and to trust the scene and just go with it.
It was actually the first thing that I filmed on the set. I’d never met Clooney before. It was just like, sit down and here we go. It was a little intimidating, but luckily Clooney’s a super nice guy and Jason keeps the set really mellow and nice. It was easy to kind of find your feet and move forward.
So they just tossed you in there?
DM: Yeah, they tossed me in with the wolves, man. So a lot of that nervousness was just real.
You’re partnering with Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green again on Your Highness, which has a pretty impressive cast. What’s it about?
DM: It’s like a fantasy comedy, but more of a fantasy movie. Kind of in the vein of those late-‘70s/early-‘80s fantasy films like Conan, Beastmaster and Krull. David directed it — he’s an old buddy of mine from film school. James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel – they’re all in it. We just got back from it a few weeks ago, wearing armor and swinging swords around and killing things. It was a great time.
How would you describe its tone? I hear it referred to as a “medieval stoner comedy,” which isn’t all that helpful.
DM: It’s not really a stoner comedy. I mean, my character is like a lazy prince — he’s second-born and isn’t gonna be king, so he really doesn’t give a sh*t about responsibility or anything. So he takes puffs from the bong of the wizard’s weed, but that’s by no means a driving force in the film or anything.
And what’s Hench about?
DM: Hench is based on a graphic novel, but instead of centering on the superhero or supervillain, it centers around the sort of faceless, nameless henchman that like works for a supervillain.
They are underappreciated, aren’t they?
DM: They really are. They go through a lot of sh*t. There’s no union, no benefits, nothing.
What does the future hold for Kenny Powers in the second season of Eastbound & Down?
DM: We are writing that as we speak. I’m taking a break from figuring out where Kenny goes to talk to you right now.
So if there’s a scene in the second season where Kenny talks to an annoying reporter, I’ll know what inspired it?
DM: It wasn’t you. It was the guy before you.
Did you always have an idea of where you wanted to go in the second season? Has it always been mapped out?
DM: With the first season, we kind of approached it as if it were a movie and just broke it up into 30-minute increments. We wanted it to stand on its own in case we never got a shot to do it again, but we always had ideas of what we would do for the next chapter. We don’t have any interest in doing a show that’s going to reach enough episodes for syndication. We do have an overall end in mind if we do take it further, but it would be three seasons at the most. Even in the second season, we’re approaching it as if we’ll never get a chance to do it again. We would be much more interested in doing a new TV show than trying to beat this one into the ground and tread water.
Land of the Lost proved to be one of this year’s bigger disappointments. As you look back on the experience, are you able to pinpoint where things went awry?
DM: A movie that large is just a beast, you know? It hits for some people and doesn’t hit for others. I thought a lot of people unfairly went after Will (Ferrell), to tell you the truth. I thought it was one of those things where a lot of the reviews and stuff were just striking on him. I think Will’s a pretty funny dude; I like watching him do just about anything. It’s not the first movie I’ve been in that’s gotten blasted by the critics.
I loved Will’s impression of Ric Flair in Eastbound & Down.
DM: That’s who we modeled him after, yeah.
Is he going to be back for Season 2?
DM: Quite possibly…
I’ll take that as a yes.
DM: …But as his character in Land of the Lost. [Laughs]
Damn.
Up in the Air expands nationwide Wednesday, December 23, 2009.
