I actually interviewed David Koechner twice last year, but this was the first one. I spoke to him again for Anchorman 2, which came out first, in December. Prior to that, I met Koechner in Austin when Cheap Thrills played Fantastic Fest. It is finally coming to theaters this weekend after a run on VOD. Koechner plays Colin, a man who invites two men (Pat Healy and Ethan Embry) into a game where they compete for cash rewards doing increasingly dangerous tasks. Sitting quietly observing it all is Colin’s wife Violet (Sara Paxton). Find out how far you’d go when you see Cheap Thrills in theaters.
CraveOnline: You don’t often get the chance to do this kind of a lead role. Was Cheap Thrills really rare for you?
David Koechner: Yeah, so it was a wonderful opportunity. I’m happy it came about. We shot in Los Angeles. That’s another great thing, but to play with absolutely wonderful actors, that’s another great thing. There’s not a bad piece to this puzzle really. The cinematography’s fantastic, direction’s great, editing’s great. So just to be part of something that works as a film is such a treat.
How did it come to you?
They approached me. [Producer] Travis [Stevens] and [writer/director] Evan [Katz] had a meeting and said, “We want you to play the role of Colin.” And I said, “Yeah, let’s do it.”
Is Colin a lot more subtle than the comic characters you usually play?
I think so, yeah. Plus, I’ll tell you, I’d never watched it with an audience before and I was surprised how much laughter there was. I didn’t know there were that many laughs in the film. That really surprised me because we weren’t playing the jokes. We weren’t trying to be funny. It’s not like they’re laughing because it’s dumb. Those are genuine laughs but we weren’t making a comedy per se.
No, but it could also be uncomfortable laughter like, “Wow, they’re really going there.”
You have to release, right. Those are the best kind. You really are twisting and twisting and it goes off, so you have to laugh.
Is Colin basically the master of ceremonies here?
Yes, but he’s not the boss. Master of ceremonies is a great way to say it. He’s the ringleader. He’s Barnum. Someone else has got the big top, his wife.
Colin never has to make a choice himself, does he?
Nope. He’s unempathetic and he doesn’t really make choices other than trying to please his wife.
He’s not the villain either, is he?
Yes, because he’s complicit. He’s a soldier I guess. Yeah, he’s a villain. He comes up with a lot of the play. I think there’s her goal overall, but he has to get them there.
I would wonder if maybe she’s not a villain either. The villain might be human nature.
Certainly, that’s a great thematic way to look at it, absolutely. But let’s don’t let anybody off the hook. You can’t just go, “Oh, that’s the way people are.” These are awful people who are manipulative and seductive and ultimately just completely unethical, amoral and devious. Really are sociopaths.
Was it important to shoot the film in chronological order?
It was important to shoot the film in 14 days! [Laughs] And it wasn’t all chronological. We were fortunate that we were able to do a lot of it chronologically. Some of it we had to jump around but it’s such a bonus when you’re able to do it that way.
Would you make your own bets behind the scenes?
[Laughs] No, we didn’t. We didn’t.
Do you ever do that in real life with your friends? Not for serious money or serious things.
What, dare them to do stuff? No, I’m not that kind of person. Do you?
No, and I’m the kind of person who’s no fun at that. People give me two choices and I come up with a third one.
Yeah, Would You Rather, I’m like that too. I don’t like you to decide what my choices can be.
They say, “No, it’s one or the other!” And I say, “How can that be when I’ve just given you a perfectly valid third option?”
Yes, right. Your logic trumps theirs. I’m with you on that.
Some comedians or comic actors are always “on” when you’re in front of people and performing. Are you like that?
I would say yes, too much. Were you there last night?
I was not because I had seen it at SXSW already. I find when I talk to you, you’re very straight in an interview, with me at least.
Well, I have a responsibility to be a professional here and answer your questions. It’d be annoying if I was just trying to make jokes. That’d be awful. When I’m with one of my friends and my family, I try to keep it light and have fun. Who doesn’t want to get a laugh, right?
But I don’t think Robin Williams or Will Ferrell are unprofessional. That’s just what they do.
Will’s not always on.
It depends. We’ve had both with him. The Adam McKay movies, they are usually riffing.
Well, the two of them together, you don’t have a chance. Yeah, they’re going to be playing.
You’ve done standup. Did you come from the standup world?
No, no, I came from sketch and improv. I started doing standup about three, four years ago just because I love doing live performance and this way I don’t have to get a group of people to do it. I can just do it by myself.
What is your standup persona?
I do a lot of different stuff. I don’t have a one singular persona the way a lot of people do, and it’s a difficult question for me to answer because I do a lot of different character stuff as well. I have a wife and five kids so that sort of informs my standup as well. It’s also, I would say, more theatrical.
What are your favorite comedies?
Well, my favorite movie of all time is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That movie blew my mind when I saw it as a 13-year-old boy. I couldn’t believe this existed, something this great, this smart, this funny, this outrageous. It blew me away.
Is it a harder question now that you’re in a lot of the big comedy movies?
It is. It is and not to be an ass about it, but we see every kids movie. Those are the priorities so my wife and I don’t get out enough. I saw Woody Allen’s movie and enjoyed that, Blue Jasmine. That was really good but that’s not really a comedy.
Some of the kids movies are really great.
Some are really bad.
Some of them are.
Those are really tough. Do you have to see everything?
Yes, but now there is so much it sometimes get divided up.
“When pressed to name his favorite comedy, he couldn’t.” You know, we go to all the action movies too. I’ve got kids that are age 14 down to 2 so I see those ranges. I’ll see all your superhero movies and a lot of the other comedies are a little bit too randy to take the kids to.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
