The Westside’s Starring Role in ‘Role Models’

Director David Wain recalls the Palisades-adjacent shoot of his 2008 Paul Rudd-starring hit comedy

By MICHAEL AUSHENKER | Pali Life Editor

Thanks to the giant success of Marvel’s “Ant-Man,” Paul Rudd has shot into the superstardom stratosphere. But roll back eight years ago, and the wiry, Chardonnay dry-witted actor—best known for comedies “Anchorman” and “I Love You, Man”—was just a hop, skip and a meltdown away from Pacific Palisades, filming “Role Models” in Venice and Santa Monica.

Director David Wain has a long-running history with Rudd and fellow actor/writer Ken Marino, both of whom co-wrote “Role Models” with him. Wain produced (and almost directed) Marino’s festival-circuit drama, “Diggers,” which co-starred Rudd; and he directed Rudd in the 2001 coming-of-age spoof “Wet Hot American Summer.” Tomorrow, a long-in-gestation prequel, “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp,” debuts on Netflix.

“Game Face, Bro!”

Bred on the comedy of Woody Allen, Harold Ramis, Cameron Crowe and Blake Edwards, Wain, a transplanted New Yorker, was hired by Universal Studios seven years ago to lens “Little Big Men” only six weeks before production began. This had Wain, Rudd and Marino furiously re-working the screenplay —previously converted from a drama to a broad comedy by screenwriter Timothy Dowling—as shooting was about to begin.

“This was my first big budget studio film. So it was kind of intimidating,” Wain told the Palisadian-Post.  “But when we started the shoot itself, we really got into it.”

The feature film originally took place generically anywhere but “the Westside is a cool, interesting, photogenic place,” he said.

Re-titled “Role Models,” the comedy starred Rudd and Seann William Scott as Danny and Wheeler, respectively; ne’er-do-wells stuck in brain-dead jobs as energy drink pitch men (Wheeler’s affirmation before embarking on their soul-crushing work: “Game face!”) who, after Danny’s public meltdown at an elementary school, get sentenced to the community service punishment of participating in the Big Brother-esque mentorship program Sturdy Wings, run by reformed coke addict Sweeny (Jane Lynch). Matched with their “Littles” — medieval live-action, role-playing freak Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and foul-mouthed African-American kid Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson) —“Bigs” Danny and Wheeler embark on the mentoring journey from hell.

But the cynical duo and their Littles eventually warm up to each other: Wheeler and Ronnie bond over big breasts and the rock band KISS while Danny realizes how important the “Lord of the Rings”-style re-enactment game LAIRE is to Augie. The Bigs wind up learning life lessons from their ostensibly unsalvageable Littles.

Rounding out the proceedings: performances by Elizabeth Banks, Ken Jeong and Marino, plus a who’s who of Wain’s comedic comrades from the 1993 MTV satirical show “The State.”

Despite shooting vituperative scenes with underage kids (including a running off-color joke referencing Palisadian Ben Affleck), Wain said there was no resistance from studio executives regarding the movie’s raw humor.

“Judd Apatow’s stuff was very popular at the time,” Wain said of the former Palisadian.

Shot Just Down the Hill…

The first two-thirds of “Role Models” were almost entirely shot just down Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica and Venice.

The Venice Canals’ 2419 Strongess Avenue doubled as Wheeler’s bachelor pad. Two Venice addresses served as the Littles’ family homes: 822 Valetia (Augie’s house) and 3111 Stanford (Ronnie’s).

“The party scene [where Wheeler loses Ronnie] was filmed on Venice Beach,” Wain said. “That was a really fun night.”

Expensive to shoot at, the Canals so perfectly fit Wheeler’s oft-vapid personality (“He has a slightly surfer mentality”).

Sure, Scott had cut his teeth doing comedy (“American Pie,” “Dude, Where’s My Car?”) but “it was a different style. Paul likes to improvise. Paul and Seann are very different. That was built into the characters’ [dynamics].”

The high school interiors at film’s start is El Segundo High School, also used in Apatow’s “Superbad” (which made Mintz-Plasse a breakout star in 2007).

On Sept. 21, 2007, Wain shot the scene in which Ronnie commandeers the SUV at Eddie Junior’s Market and Liquor at 825 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica; something akin to an action movie shoot for the director (“We had cameras up in the air!”).

Venice Boys and Girls Club doubled for Sturdy Wings. Areas were blocked off for the production, which demanded several classrooms just to house movie gear.

“We had a huge crew of 200 people: lights, catering, extras,” recalled Wain.

As for the running motif stemming from Wheeler’s KISS infatuation, “that was primarily my push,” Wain said. “Craig Wedren [the “Role Models” score’s composer] and I in college [New York University] had our walls plastered in KISS posters.”

Before Dowling’s draft, “Role Models” was originally developed as a drama featuring one parent and one kid. Team Wain’s overhaul was extensive enough to land Wain, Marino and Rudd screenwriting credits.

“Then came [the Writers Guild of America strike running from November 5, 2007 to February 12, 2008] and we had to stop writing,” Wain said.

Luckily, the script appeared satisfactory. Post-strike, Wain shot a few pick-ups.

Ultimately, the $28-million Universal comedy proved profitable following its November 2008 release, grossing $92 million in theaters worldwide plus $40 million in DVD revenue; achieving the success-qualifying goal of at least tripling its budget.

Wain’s World

Tomorrow, “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” reunites Wain with co-writer Michael Showalter and a formidable cast who were barely rising stars when 2001’s original was released, including Rudd, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper and Banks.

While the first one was made on a shoestring in the Poconos, this supersized return to Camp Firewood was shot “in the wilds of Malibu,” Wain said. “There’s definitely a big reunion flavor. It was a total blast. In some ways, it felt similar.”

This prequel included everyone’s participation by no less than “a sheer force of will. We wanted to do it. Finally, the stars aligned.”

Easy to see why a “Wet Hot” follow-up took so long: not only did the original’s actors go on to star in “American Sniper,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Ant-Man,” Wain’s “Children’s Hospital” series (featuring Marino) just completed season six on Cartoon Network while “Another Period,” a historical satire starring Wain and Michael Ian Black, debuted in June on Comedy Central.

Yet Wain admits he’s eager to revisit “Role Models” in a sequel; maybe even a spin-off involving LAIRE: “I loved ‘Role Models.’ We have talked about it. We just haven’t gotten around to it.”

Given the 14-year wait between “Wet Hot” movies, we should now officially be halfway to seeing “Role Models 2” in 2022. Game face, Westside!