Will Forte interview: An 'Extra Ordinary' comedic talent

Photo courtesy of Good Deed Entertainment

Comedian Will Forte is not afraid to go to extremes for a laugh. From his days at SNL, he never projected a fear of jumping into the deep end if the comedic ends justified the means. This is the man who famously shaved half of his face for TV’s “The Last Man on Earth” and put a celery stick up his butt for the cult-classic movie version of “MacGruber.” Nothing seems too extreme for Forte, and that’s just the way he likes it.

His latest comedic challenge is the satanic parody “Extra Ordinary”, in which he plays a washed-up rock star who has made a deal with the devil for one last shot at fame and fortune. Forte describes his character as a “dopey Satanist”, and he wasn’t even supposed to be in the film. He was supposed to be on vacation, but after reading the script he couldn’t pass up the opportunity and immediately turned his trip into a working vacation.

Forte and I recently saw down to talk about “Extra Ordinary” and how shooting the film in Ireland turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The possibility of a TV series of his beloved film version of “MacGruber” is also discussed, and the following is a transcription of that conversation.

Q: It’s good to see you again, Will. You probably won’t remember this but the last time we met you were here promoting “Nebraska.” When you’re on the road so often promoting different projects, is it easy or difficult for you to keep answering a lot of questions during these press days?

Will Forte: This process of promoting a film takes a while to get used to. I haven’t done this in a while so I feel like my answers aren’t as concise as they would be if I had been doing this for longer down the road. For “Nebraska” we did so much promotion that it took me a while to get used to it and I was also doing that press tour with Bruce Dern so he does a lot of the talking (laughs).

Q: I get that. Usually when you’re further out from shooting the movie it’s also harder to go back in your mind and remember how things were on set, right?

Forte: Absolutely. It’s also a weird process promoting this particular movie because most of the people who made it are in Ireland. It’s kind of weird to be talking about it without having them here with me. We made this movie about a year-and-a-half ago so talking about it now is bringing up some good memories about making it.

Q: How’d you get involved in a film like this that was shooting in Ireland?

Forte: I got really lucky and feel like this was meant to be. I had just finished the fourth season of “The Last Man on Earth,” I was so exhausted and had a plan to go to Ireland on vacation. Two weeks before that vacation was supposed to start this script shows up and I immediately said no way, I just want to decompress. But then I read it and it was so funny that I had to say yes. Also, once I found out that the same guys who wrote the movie were going to be directing it, that was another big sign that this was something I really wanted to do because I knew that they would be able to bring out all of the fun subtleties in the script.

Q: Was that a coincidence or do you respond better to working with writer-directors?

Forte: It’s always different and since this movie was the first thing for these guys it was tough to go on previous work. They seemed to know what they were doing from the script and it spoke to me. Sometimes when you read a script it’s very apparent what they want from a character and this was one of those.

Q: Is the “MacGruber” TV series a go or are you still waiting to hear back on a green light?

Forte: We’re still waiting to hear back. We’ve written a bunch of scripts and hoping to hear back soon, they’re deliberating right now. We’re very excited about it and crossing our fingers but we don’t officially have a green light yet.

Q: Are you surprised by how that movie got a second life on Blu-Ray and DVD and became the cultural phenomenon you intended it to be from the beginning?

Forte: It’s tough to go through that situation where you make something you’re really proud of, which sounds really dumb because it’s such a filthy movie, and then it bombs so hard. It’s way easier to handle that when you’re proud of the movie you made and didn’t have to make any artistic concessions. We couldn’t control who went to see it in theaters but in our hearts we made the movie we wanted to make. So when we hear that people have given it a second chance after bombing so hard in theaters it’s a really nice feeling. Hopefully we’ll get to do the TV show but we’ll always feel this special connection to “MacGruber” which is odd because it is a very filthy movie (laughs).

Q: “Extra Ordinary” is currently doing the opposite of bombing because audiences are really loving this movie. Did you know on set that this one might be special?

Forte: I’ve made enough movies and TV shows to know that you just never know which ones will connect with an audience. I have a weird sense of humor so I can’t trust my own judgment. Similar to “MacGruber,” all you can go on is what makes you happy.

“Extra Ordinary” is now playing in limited release.