/Film Interview: Nick Offerman Talks ‘The Kings Of Summer,’ Humor On The Internet, ‘The Lego Movie’
There’s a lot to like in the coming of age comedyThe Kings of Summer, which opens on May 31. TheStand By MemeetsSuperbadstory of three boys who run away from home to make their own house in the woods creates an entertaining and relatable microcosm of teenage life thanks to the script byChris Galletta.Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arieseach do wonderful work as the three main characters andJordan Vogt-Roberts' direction brings it all together with a timeless, exciting tone.
But the true highlights are the supporting performances by some of TV’s most recognizable faces. Paramount among those isNick Offerman. Best known for his role onParks and Recreation, the actor steals every scene as the man most responsible for the boys running away from home. His performance is heartbreaking, laugh out loud hilarious and totally unforgettable. So whileMegan Mullally, Alison BrieandMary Lynn Rajskuball excel in their small roles, Offerman is the stand out.
We were lucky enough to speak to Offerman aboutThe Kings of Summerand he told us about his love affair with smaller films, how the Internet is hurting comedy, and a bit aboutThe Lego Movie. Read it below.
/Film:Hello Nick, how are you?
Good, good. So I really enjoyed the movie. How did you first hear about this project? It seems like a smaller movie and you’re a pretty in demand actor.
Did you explain that to some of your younger costars, like Nick Robinson? Your chemistry in this is really good and it’s one of his first starring roles.
(Laughs) Because Nick is your son in the movie, did you spend some time with him before hand? Or did it just develop on set or in rehearsals?
And your character, Frank, is great at these sarcastic put downs, but he’s also got a lot of personal issues and you really toe that line very well in the movie. Was the character that complex on the page?
There are a lot of complex and nice scenes in the movie, but my two favorite scenes are your scenes at the door talking to the Chinese delivery guy and the cops. Are those improvs? They seem like they were just right in your wheelhouse.
I mean bringing them from Los Angeles to play these smaller roles was what I think takes the movie into the stratosphere, because those little scenes, which are usually throw aways in a low budget indie, you cast some local stoner as the delivery guy, but Jordan the director brought in top notch talent and so every one of those scenes to me… It’s some of the funniest stuff I’ve seen out of people in a long time. So yeah, we took the spine of what Chris wrote and added some frosting.
These days comedians and comedic actors get a lot of shit for potentially offensive jokes. Do you feel like America is becoming overly sensitive towards comedy?
I mean love it or hate it, that whole Justin Bieber Anne Frank thing is like “God, what a sad place the world has come to that some crack a kid made in a guestbook in a Museum in Amsterdam is international news capturing headlines?” So yeah, I continue to remind myself not to give a shit about what people say because I’m doing the job I’m doing, because people find me entertaining some of the time and so I’m just going to continue doing that.
I try not to look at anybody’s opinion about much of anything, because I don’t have the time. I think it’s a waste of time. If people are going to keep saying “Hey we are going to keep hiring you to interpret scripts for photographed entertainment,” then I’ll say “Then I don’t give a shit what a reviewer says or certainly some blog.” I mean that seems to me like somebody who thirty years ago would have been lonely and sad, now they have a place where they can rant about something. It used to be to their cats, now it’s to the seventeen people reading their blog.
I wish we could talk more about that but I ’ve got to wrap up. Last quick thing, what can you tell me about your role as the voice in the LEGO movie? I think that’s going to be so awesome from the guys that did 21 Jump Street.
They came up with this part for me in the LEGO movie and they sent me this script and it’s a kid’s movie. It’s a movie created by a toy company to market to kids and I was so moved by their script and their idea and the themes of the movie. They are very creative and the theme is very much about maintaining one’s individuality and creativity in the face of a world that might have too many rules. I’m so grateful and moved that they wanted to keep working with me, because I’m just really big fans of theirs. I think they are going to bring us a lot of really quality entertainment in the years to come.
