By Rick Duran, Senior Editor
David Koechner is best known to fans of this site as Champ Kind from Anchorman and Todd Packer on The Office (Editor’s note: True Frat Pack fans also love his deleted scene from the Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny DVD.) With roles in Talladega Nights, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Thank You For Smoking, Snakes on a Plane, and his own short-lived TV series The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show, in addition upcoming roles in Semi-Pro, Walk Hard and Get Smart, it was only a matter of time before Koechner was given a shot at a starring role. In The Comebacks, Koechner plays a bumbling coach blindly guiding his new football team to victory. Veteran actor and former pro-football player Carl Weathers (Rocky, Predator, Happy Gilmore) plays the rival coach in this spoof of nearly every recent sports film.
The Frat Pack Tribute had a chance to sit down with both actors for a roundtable discussion about The Comebacks, in addition to other topics such as the soon-to-be-filmed The Goods: The Don Ready Story (starring Jeremy Piven, produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay), the return of Todd Packer to The Office, athlete worship and Koechner’s recent shoulder surgery, as he showed up for this interview with his left arm in a sling.
An audio version is also available:
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So, what's with the sling on your arm?
David Koechner: June 26th, I got a Grade 2 A-C separation and I finally had the surgery, Friday October 5th, to repair it. Torn labrum, torn bicep tendon… don’t feel bad for me!
So what were you doing out on a ladder?
DK: Um, I was some construction done with the house and there was someone up on this patio overhang that we have who didn’t need my management. So I went up on a 6 foot step ladder to go up on a 9 foot overhang because he went up on it that way. I thought to myself, “I should get my other ladder,” but I didn’t listen to myself. I got up there, halfway up I put my foot up on this rafter. It was still wet from the morning dew. (Whistling slip sound) Bam! Ass-over, tin cups!
You need to come up with a better story. A heroic story!
DK: Who the fuck is this? (laughter) Who the FUCK is this? All she’s thinking the whole time is, “God, this guy is boring.”
No, it’s a good story but…
DK: “You had better come up with a better story!” Alright, I got in a bar fight.
I thought you were going to say you saved a girl from a burning building or you know… (laughter)
DK: That’s cliché! I’m not a hero, I’m a mortal man!
Assuming this was a painful injury, why would you wait so long to do the procedure?
DK: It was very painful at first and I had to wait for the swelling to go down. So we did, uh, the x-rays and then… it’s a process. You don’t jump to, you don’t rush to surgery. And so had to wait for the swelling to go down, did some physical therapy, wait for the swelling to go down some more. Then did the MRI and then scheduled the surgery. And my surgeon is good, so he always very busy and he’s also the surgeon for the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team. Then they were out of town for a couple weeks and that’s when he scheduled me in.
Were you in the middle of shooting anything when this happened?
DK: No (pauses) I haven’t worked in so long! Oh God!
You don’t feel any stress with the strike coming in?
DK: You know what? I can’t control anything, certainly not the electrician on the roof. So you give up, right? The whole time, I’m laying there going, “What’s the lesson?” I swear to God. The first thing I said to myself, “Why? Why? I gotta learn something, gotta learn something. What did I do wrong?”
Do you think it’ll be healed before the Don Ready stuff starts shooting?
DK: Oh yeah, yeah, I’ll be out of the sling in four weeks. And the physical therapy all of November. And then Don Ready starts October 3rd. (Ed’s note: Koechner actually meant Don Ready starts shooting on December 3rd.)
Who do you play in that?
DK: Um, Brent? I forget, I think his name’s Brent or something. One of the car salesmen. We were a team of men brought in to liquidate cars off a lot.
Are you Jeremy Piven’s rival or on the same team?
DK: I’m aligned with the protagonist. (laughter)
Ooh, big words!
DK: From Aristotle’s Poetics. We only kid those we love!
So obviously this film is a big physical comedy, were there any physical injuries?
DK: No, any real stunts were done by professionals that look a lot like me.
So you didn’t do any of your own stunts? Not the bus one?
DK: Oh, you actually saw the picture? I’ve been talking to a bunch of people who haven’t seen it. Um, well that’s done with what they call “trick photography.”
(Carl Weathers enters the room)
Carl Weathers: (Looking at the tape recorders on the table) Jeez, David
DK: And you know what? The best thing is you’re going to take them when we’re done.
CW: I was going to say… you’re selling which?
DK: We have an array! We have two Radioshack
CW: Which do you like most?
DK: One Panasonic, one Sony. I wonder who makes… they actually might all be made by the same company. It’s probably all the same recorder.
CW: They’re probably all made in China, by the way. (Looks under one recorder) Made in Taiwan!
Of the scenes you did together, did you take anything out of the script at all?
CW: We were never in any scenes together, first of all. The magic of movies.
DK: Contractually, Carl refused to be on the set when I was there.
CW: I refused to stand next to him.
DK: I don’t remember. Honestly, you don’t remember, um… If they let you improvise at all in a picture, then you forget
CW: Which is yours and which used to be in the script.
DK: And it’s picture to picture whether they let you improvise or not.
CW: Unless you have an ego like David, then you improvise everything! It was all his invention.
Crazy things like Ferrell does where he gives 500 answers and they just keep going and they’re going to be on the DVD
DK: Right
And they pick the best one. Did they do that?
DK: Uh, I don’t know. On this movie, ask Tom Brady, he’s much smarter than I am. And he will remember more than I do.
CW: I don’t remember that happening. You were so brilliant, it was one take and then out! That’s all I remember.
DK: We did a number of scenes and I think the rule of thumb is make sure you get your coverage as scripted. Let the playwright have it once, right? Please? And I would say that for everything, let’s try it as written and if it’s not working for some reason, then we can try something else. And if we like what we have and you want to try something else, then you can. But again, that goes to the temperament of each director per film. And again, it’s project-to-project because sometimes there’s no reason to improvise.
CW: That’s very true. Sometimes it’s so damn good, like, “What are you improvising for? It’s actually pretty good”
DK: Exactly as written
CW: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
DK: But this one certainly had a looser feel to it, and whatever fun could be had, it was brought.
Did you guys recognize all the things you were spoofing? Or did you have a favorite movie you wish they would have spoofed, like a sports movie? They’ve got a lot of them in there.
CW: I thought this movie was about horror. (laughter) This was a sports movie? I looking forward to spoofing The Exorcist.
DK: He carried his knife around going, “I can’t wait to get to use this.”
CW: Yeah, to use my knife. It would’ve been in the shower. (Mimics sound from Psycho)
DK: I had him fuckin’ practicing!
This is actually the Saw 4 junket
DK: Yes!
CW: Interesting. (pauses) Sports?
DK: Yeah, they did so many, there’s no reason to go, “Wait a minute, you missed this one.”
CW: “You missed that really good moment in 36 where Jesse was running and there was Hitler chasing him! You missed that moment. With an axe! No, come back here!”
DK: And you know, there’s plenty of pages, so it’s our job to go, “Wait a minute, you need to add this or that…”
So when you guys came in, there weren’t any suggestions you guys brought in?
DK: I certainly didn’t
CW: Oh come on, you did! There was always stuff
DK: Where I said this movie or that movie?
CW: Oh no no no, I was talking moments, I’m sorry.
DK: Oh no, he said were there movies where you’ve got to do this one.
CW: Oh, I don’t remember that. No
DK: No, there was a suggestion at times, like from source that suggested we should do from some movies that were then being filmed, which we didn’t understand. Like we would be spoofing movies that’s actually in the theater. Our first potential release date would’ve had us spoofing a film that hadn’t been released yet.
CW: Now I remember this
DK: That was mentioned, and we just turned our head.
CW: Why would we want to promote a movie that’s not even out yet? That doesn’t make any sense.
Can you tell us what that movie was?
CW: Those movies, yeah, you know they’ve got a slate of 20. You know what I mean? And we were supposed to spoof… No, I’m just kidding. I haven’t a clue. I just heard this through the grapevine.
DK: It would be dubious of me to…
CW: And you, of course, are not dubious at all.
Did you have a “No Apollo Creed Clause” in your contract?
CW: No, I wanted Apollo Creed! I’m gonna definitely platform myself, c’mon! No, it never came up. It never came up and I think it would’ve been kind of silly to do anyway. I was just gonna say how do you stand there and spoof yourself? Then it takes you out of the movie you’re in and wouldn’t make any sense. You know?
DK: There was a Talladega Nights direct reference that I said, “Eh, we don’t really need this, do we?” And it went away.
Was that the scene with the guys on the track?
CW: That was NASCAR
DK: That was NASCAR. I guess because I was in Talladega Nights and that has me in uniform again, you think, “That must be Talladega Nights!”
The banana on the track thing
DK: But that doesn’t appear in that movie. If anything, you’d say why isn’t that Days of Thunder?
That’s what I was thinking. The costumes weren’t matching, I didn’t see you wearing Wonder Bread.
DK: There you go. And the original name of the character was Champ.
Really?
DK: Yes. And I said the same thing, “Really?” And they said, “Yeah yeah!” “Eh… really? Come on.” I said you don’t want me here in 6 to 8 months to a year and someone goes, “Why was it Champ?” Because somebody said so and I’m gonna answer the questions and I don’t know why! So they were smart to change that.
CW: Here’s what’s really brilliant. David started off by saying talk to Brady because Brady’s smarter. This guy’s very smart. Because there were moments like that and David made a lot of sense about suggestions, about things. Because you know, that’s his genre; His genre’s comedy. He’d say, “Do you really want to that? Because, because, because…” And it really made sense. It was really great to work with him, because you think just because you were in a lot of things, you learned a lot of stuff. But you know, you meet other actors who are really bright and have their finger on what is funny and what works. And this guy is one of those guys. So it was a really great experience to learn about comedy and what works and how it works, as a result of working with him.
DK: God, I love when Carl’s around.
So do you feel about… do you prefer comedy over action?
CW: No, he’s turned me off to comedy completely. (laughter) After I saw he was smart, he was too smart! I thought, “Damn man, I don’t want to work with you! You’re a pain in the ass, you’re a pain in the ass! You’re too smart!”
DK: I think Carl proved you can do all of it. He’s delightful in both and you look forward to seeing him in anything.
CW: Delightful, that’s what I am, delightful. I’m delectable
DK: No, but it’s fantastic because it’s so much more. Plus it’s Carl Weathers, so you’re double-impressed, and I dare say surprised, but pleasantly surprised.
I think they’re exchanging checks under the table.
CW: He doesn’t know it’s going to bounce but I put a lot of zeros on it.
For years, you’ve been in so many iconic movies, and my friends and I often quote your line about the stew from Arrested Development.
CW: Oh yeah, “Just get my stew on!” That’s it! Well, we’ve got hopefully I new “iconic movie” in The Comebacks. I’ve had to good fortune to be in some really good… to have good material. And work with really good people. And you have nothing to do with how good somebody else is. You just don’t, you know? You’d like be able to say, “Well, I’m really smart. I chose that guy. That was really good, I was gonna work with him.” But it doesn’t work that way and I’ve just been lucky. And I’m telling you, truly, I’m just really lucky. And David is just a funny guy. And I don’t mean he’s just funny. And so to work with him... It’s just strange… when you work with somebody good, it takes the pressure off of you. I don’t have to do very much. All you have to do is just look at them. And they inspire you on hand because of their ability and their freedom in what they do. And on the other hand, you work a lot less hard because you pay attention to them and respond to them and bang! If they’re funny, you’re gonna be funny. You’re gonna be good… if you’re present. If you’re not present, then that’s that a whole other story.
During the scene where you guys are staring at each through the prison window, I kept thinking there must be a really good blooper reel because you guys are just staring at each other in the face.
DK: We did several
CW: The reason we did several is because I could never remember the lines. That’s why we did several, to tell the truth about it.
DK: We were going over that one a lot.
CW: Oh my God, man!
DK: It was like, “This is a long scene. Wait a minute, this is only a couple of pages!”
CW: The really hard part was, you know it’s funny, I mean, you just know it’s gonna be funny. But one thing to trust that it’s gonna be funny. The other thing was I’m looking at David, then I’m looking at the camera. There’s something about that change that really throws you. It’s not… I thought it was really hard to do!
DK: Because you were supposed to be… yes yes
CW: And I’m looking at the camera and you go, “Who you lookin’ at?” And it’s like, the focus on it of playing to David but then playing to the audience, breaking the wall, and then coming back as if it didn’t happen... you can try to make it funny and it falls. But if you play it real, as if it’s really happening, then the humor is in the thing. It was like I said, it was a challenge. But honestly because you’re working with such good people, it makes it so much easier. Because it’s hard; comedy really is hard. It ain’t easy! But when you’re working with really good people, they really support you and it just makes it easier.
Working with Melora on The Office, how many scenes have you had together?
DK: On The Office? We haven’t had any.
You were both in the “Sexual Harassment” episode.
DK: But do I speak to her?
No, oh ok, nevermind
DK: She’s in that episode, but she and I have not had any scenes together where they meet. We didn’t have any scenes together on The Office.
You guys have this really amazing dynamic
DK: In the movie or in The Office?
Well, you don’t have any dynamic with her in The Office yet, but the scenes you guys had together with the argument scenes in the house, I could see where Todd Packer might be getting under Jan’s skin in a very similar light.
DK: (laughs) Uh huh!
Will Todd Packer be back this season?
DK: Yes, he will be back. They called this week, but I had to do some press for a movie.
(laughter)
CW: Which movie are you doing press for?
DK: Oh, this drama
CW: Tell me when it’s out, I wanna go see it
DK: I’ll let you know
CW: I hear you’re really good in it.
DK: Press is great!
One of the subjects in the movie is first day of training. You had three former players come in, like Lawrence Taylor and Michael Irvin. And I’ve got to tell you, they really didn’t look like they should be in those uniforms.
DK: Really?
CW: (laughs) Oh boy, that’s wrong, man! That’s wrong!
LT didn’t look like he could make it halfway across the field.
CW: Those guys have been living well since the retirement, ok?
DK: I don’t know, I thought they all looked remarkably well, especially Michael. He’s in amazing shape. Eric Dickerson, to me, was always just one of my favorites. I was always rooting for him because when he was in the Rams, oh c’mon, he was amazing!
CW: All three of those guys
DK: Yes, all of them excelled in a sport that’s hard to excel in anyway. And they were the top tier, that’s the amazing. But Dickerson…
CW: Those rings say it all
DK: Just for me, Dickerson was the most exciting one to meet.
CW: Really?
DK: He was probably the oldest one out of all of them
CW: He wasn’t older than LT
DK: That’s what I thought. For me, it was more of a youthful thing, Dickerson was just amazing, right? A real gazelle
CW: He was a good player
DK: But those guys were having a ball. And they were cutting on each other the entire time they were there. You’ve never seen three guys have so much fun. But they kept making fun of Eric because he didn’t have a Super Bowl ring.
Carl, as a former pro athlete yourself, was there something that attracted you to this role?
CW: First of all, sports, yeah, that’s really attractive. But, you know, I think the idea of being subversive and sacrilegious
DK: (laughs)
CW: …does seem to attract me. Because you know, there things that are really valuable because they give us respect for seriousness of the real world. And to a certain degree, sports is one of them. But people take sports so seriously, that they fight and kill over them. People charge onto the field when their kids are playing and take the kid out. I mean, that’s insane!
DK: It is insane
CW: So to find a sports movie that just rags on all that stuff and all the people involved in it and we make fun of the whole thing, it’s like hey, it ain’t life and death here
DK: It’s a game
CW: It’s a game! That’s it! And on top of that, the thing that really, more and more as I go along, people look at sports and get confused. Professional sports is about entertainment and dollars. It’s not amateur athletics. So people start getting so serious about what’s going and what athletes are doing. “And my kid is looking to…” How about your kid looking up to you and the teachers? What are they doing looking up to the guy that’s making $25 million a year? Ok, that’s sweet but how about looking up to the teacher that’s teaching them something, and looking up to mom and dad. And looking up to some of the other people that are there working for $25 an hour that are trying to help them out.
DK: And honestly, those are the real heroes. The guy that gets up for work every fucking day…
CW: Absolutely!
DK: ..and doesn’t quit the job, and has an insufferable boss and sticks with it. And stays with his family; and does all that stuff. Right? Who takes care of everybody the whole way; those are the real heroes. Plus, if somebody makes a mistake in life and if he’s a superstar athlete, whatever, that doesn’t mean doesn’t mean your child should emulate that. That should be an opportunity for the father or mother or son or daughter to have conversation and say, “See? That’s a mistake. How did that person get to place in his life where he did that? Here’s why you shouldn’t get there.”
CW: Yeah, so it’s interesting. For me, the movie, for us, I certainly speak for myself, at the end of the day is about pay. This is about having fun in life. This is not life or death kind of stuff people are involved in here, you know, in athletics. And we are just gonna rag on it and rag on it till we can’t rag on it anymore.
What speech, you had so many funny speeches, that you couldn’t get through at all? The one about the little kid?
CW: That stuff was just wrong
DK: Aw, really? Couldn’t get through cuz I couldn’t remember the lines?
CW: (laughs)
DK: The one that was really fun was the last inspirational speech. He starts out thinking he’s going to tell a really inspirational speech, which turns into how horrible his life is. That one I liked; it made me laugh quite a bit. Then he sits down and just starts bawling. “Aren’t you supposed to turn your own personal tragedies into…,” “Really?” I thought that was pretty funny. And then the other one I liked was where he started talking about his old bucket, his old helmet. Played for the Golden Vultures. “Did you ever score a touchdown?” “No, not one. Not because the team wasn’t any good, but because I had no talent.”
Have they told you if there’s gonna be any commentary for the DVD?
DK: No, we haven’t done that yet
Do you remember any scenes that didn’t make it into the film?
DK: I don’t think I’ve seen the final final cut. And it is hard to remember everything.
CW: And there’s stuff they wouldn’t allow.
DK: And there were different cuts and stuff like that, so…
The MPAA originally gave it an R-Rating.
CW: They did?
DK: It’s PG-13
When it showed up on BoxOfficeMojo in the early summer
DK: Yes
It had an R-Rating
DK: Yeah, Tom and I went and met with the MPAA and you get to present your argument. And then they come in and have a quorum. And they have enough people, a quorum of people saying, No, it’s PG-13 and that’s what we got. So you’re able to make your arguments.
Was there any nudity in it that Brady had to take out?
DK: They, you know what, oddly enough, there were a couple of times they took a couple of things out whenever the Rudy-type character Martin plays, whose name is…?
Randy?
DK: Randy, his character always has “randy” things to say. And some of those got cut down. And they took some of those out. He was mistakenly saying some things that were very sexual. “Toss your salad” was one of them.
They took that out?
DK: “Buff your helmet.” Was that one in there?
That’s in
DK: There was one… “steam your weiner and stick in my bun”
CW: Oh my God, why would they edit “toss your salad” out? C’mon!
Your herpes line killed in the theater.
DK: That’s very funny. “I want what you and mom have!” “Herpes?”
(laughter)
CW: (laughs)
(Voice from the hallway says our session is over)
DK: Are we leaving?
CW: I think we are. I think they’re running us out.
DK: Thank you guys.
I hope you get better soon
DK: I’m on the mend.
You’ve got so many projects coming out, I think you’re going to have a big 2008.
DK: I hope so, I hope so. Thank you very much!
The Comebacks opens in theaters nationwide October 19th, 2007
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Friday, October 26, 2007.
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