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Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Hannibal Buress, stars, John Morris and Brian Burns, co-writers, and Sean Anders writer/director of Daddy's Home






Paramount Pictures releases Daddy's Home nationwide on December 25th, 2015.


NYC MOVIE GURU: Did you and Mark have to flip a coin to figure out who was gonna play which role?

Will Ferrell: We arm wrestled. And I beat Mark, like, nine outta ten times. And even though Mark looks so physically fit, he's super weak. And I think you have Epstein-Barr, right? You're super tired, too. Yeah. So he would fall asleep while I arm wrestle him. And I thought, "Oh, that's perfect for Brad."

NYC MOVIE GURU: Linda, considering that these guys have worked together and they already had a rhythm, how was it fitting in with these two?

Linda Cardellini: It was great for me. I mean, who wouldn't wanna be in the middle of these two? I was a fan from watching them together in The Other Guys. Just the idea of being in the middle of that chemistry and getting to be the object of affection in the middle of that is just sort of a no-brainer.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Brian, where did the concept for Daddy's Home come from?

Brian Burns: When my wife and I got married, I inherited two really terrific step-kids. And then I also inherited a real dad who I came to discover how terrific he was--- but not so much in the beginning. So that was really the beginning of the idea of the movie. We had just gotten engaged when my stepdaughter, Cameron, was about seven years old. I was tucking her in at night, and she said to me, "So now that you and mommy are getting married, who's gonna take me to the daddy-daughter dance?" And then that was the beginning of the movie, the idea.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Sean, how did you get involved with the film?

Sean Anders: Yeah, we had actually heard the idea a while before we got involved with it. But there was somebody else attached to it and whatnot. And at some point, my wife and I adopted our kids from the foster care system. So, I'm not a stepfather, and I don't have a stepfather in my life, but from the time that we got our kids, we always talked about, "Well, someday, it's very likely that our kids are gonna reunite with their birth parents. And we're going to have to kinda make that adjustment of sharing our kids with the birth parents." When the script came to me the second time, we were much more kind of entrenched in that whole thing. So it spoke to me from that level. And I just thought there's so much comedy in the insecurity of that.

NYC MOVIE GURU: How did you get involved with the film, Hannibal?

Hannibal Burress: I got involved initially 'cause I think Craig Robinson wasn't available. You always gotta have a backup plan. And I was ready and waitin'. And so they hit me up. I was excited to do it. It was very fun.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Will and Mark, how was this different from making The Other Guys?

WF: Well, you know, it was a nice change of pace because it was fun to kind of approach this while albeit, you know, hopefully being just as funny. It was nice to kinda get back into kind of a family movie. Something that explored this idea of the blended family which is becoming more and more common rather than uncommon. And the fact that we could be funny but also have a nice message with it, too. So this was a nice segue for us to kinda have: a second film together

Mark Wahlberg: Yeah, we just kinda picked up right where we left off, you know? It was great. Having not done comedy before working with Will, he always made me feel very comfortable and creates a very safe environment so you can risk looking ridiculous and know that you'll still be protected. And [he was] always encouraging me to try things and open up.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Would you say that Daddy's Home is also about forgiveness and redemption?

WF: I think for sure, and also trying to make the best out of a uncomfortable situation for the benefit of the family and the kids. And working together. We spend a good part of the movie acting so childish. And then we finally decide to be adults and do the right thing. That's a big message part of the movie.

NYC MOVIE GURU: How and when did you realize that Mark Wahlberg was capable of being funny?

WF: Adam McKay and I had been fans of Mark's dramatic work for a very long time. And we noticed in some of the movies, he was also just very funny being so incredibly earnest and committed to his characters. And we just toyed around. Adam came up with the premise of The Other Guys. We toyed around with the idea of, "Gosh, could that be applied to a commercial comedy? Would Mark even be interested in that?" We've had some success in some of the other films we've done where we've plucked more dramatic actors, and thrown them in kind of comedic circumstances, and it's worked great. And we just sat down with Mark and pitched him the idea. Luckily for us, he was on board right from the beginning.

NYC MOVIE GURU: How and when did you realize that Mark Wahlberg was capable of being funny?

MW: I was absolutely dreading it. And Sean continued to ask me, "You workin' on your moves?" Like, "Yeah, I'm workin' on my moves." And I wasn't. Then I said, "I might need a choreographer," And he'd come to the trailer and, like, "Hey, let's work on your moves." I'm like, "Man, get the fuck-- will you leave me alone? I'm not working on the moves." And I waited basically until the last second. And, it’s 7:00 in the morning. There is, you know, a crew of a couple hundred people and then a couple hundred extras and they're like, "Alright. Bust a move." I'm like, "Oh God." But thankfully, Will jumped right in there. And he made everybody else feel comfortable. But my least favorite thing to do next to singing. And, of course, I had to do both in the movie. But people seem to love those moments.

NYC MOVIE GURU: What do you think are the basic elements that turn a comedy into a classic?

JOHN MORRIS: For me, it's if there's things that are quotable. Like I say to my friends. Like, "Oh, I repeat these lines over and over again." And in this, the guys improv-ed a bunch. We wrote some stuff, but they improv-ed a buncha stuff that's hilarious and we'll quote forever.

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