It feels like Danny McBride and Jody Hill are old friends at this point, even though I think I”ve only ever been around them, face to face, a few times.
Part of that is just because of how loose and funny they are, and how easy the conversation always is when we sit down to talk about something they”re working on together. Part of that is because the projects they work on feel like they”re aimed directly at my sense of humor, like some secret I”m in on. And part of that is because I grew up with guys like Jody and Danny and I knew who they were as soon as we spoke that first time.
When they came by the HitFix studios last week to talk about their latest HBO series, Vice-Principals, it was a great conversation, fast and funny, and we covered a lot of ground. At one point, we were talking about what a crazy run it”s been since I first had Shawna Robertson mention The Foot-Fist Way on the set of Superbad, where Jody was hanging out that night. I mentioned to Danny that I am still trying to get my head around the notion of him in an Alien film directed by Ridley Scott, and he confessed that he”s as surprised as anyone by it.
He told me about his initial meeting with Ridley Scott, and it was a great reminder that many of the people who work in film begin because they are massive film fans in the first place. Danny seemed a little dazed by the idea that he has a substantial role in a film that is a part of a history that he has spent his whole life watching, and I love that for him.
We”ll have more of our conversation with these guys before the premiere of the series, and I suspect I”ll have more to say as the season rolls along. Maybe next time we”ll throw Walton Goggins in the mix, because he seems like a perfect new addition to one of my favorite ongoing collaborations in film or television today.
Vice-Principals premieres on HBO on July 17, 2016.