Not only does Danny McBride and Walton Goggins’ new comedy Vice Principals explain Donald Trump’s America, but it’s also very funny. After all, the entire premise of the show revolves around the two vying for the big empty chair left by Bill Murray’s “Principal What’s-His-Face,” so of course it’s going to be funny. Especially since it comes from the warped, comedic minds behind the darkly funny Eastbound & Down, which Goggins once auditioned for. He didn’t get the part, obviously, though the breakout star of The Hateful Eight did reveal his failure led to the Vice Principals gig.
According to the Vanity Fair interview, the part in question was Jason Sudeikis’ dual role as brothers Shane and Cole Gerald in season three. Goggins was on break from Justified and decided to “take care of some personal business,” including a visit to the orthodontist for a big ol’ set of braces. Which, of course, was right around the time Eastbound called him in for the audition. Since he was a big fan of the show, Goggins decided to give it a shot:
“I walked into this room with my braces on, and my f*cking shorts on, and some white tube socks. I walked in and there were me and four comedians from Saturday Night Live, and it was like, ‘Well, this is never going to happen.’ That’s Jason, that’s so-and-so, this is crazy. I had a great time, and we had a lot of chemistry. I just talked to him philosophically about Kenny Powers.”
Despite losing out to Sudeikis, Goggins and McBride became good friends and the pair decided to work together at some point in the future. Hence Vice Principals, which McBride co-wrote with his Eastbound colleagues, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. Seems like it all worked out in the end.
(via Vanity Fair)
