Fool’s Paradise star Ken Jeong credits his “best performance ever” to director, writer, and co-star Charlie Day, in this exclusive interview with Mama’s Geeky.
The satirical comedy Fool’s Paradise follows a not so good publicist (Ken Jeong) who stumbles upon a fool (Charlie Day) after his release from a mental facility. The fool is unable to talk, but he looks just like a famous actor, who is a problem to work with. Insert the newcomer and both their lives are turned upside down as they are whisked into fame and fortune.
Ken Jeong’s character Lenny really is the heart of the film, which Charlie Day wrote, directed, and starred in alongside Jeong. His arc is one for the ages, which is perfectly portrayed by Jeong. Day is incredible in the film as well, and together the two have fantastic on screen chemistry.
In this interview he gushes about Day, crediting his best performance ever to him. He also reveals that much of the film was rewritten, right there on set, adding more to the Lenny character.
Ken Jeong Talks Fool’s Paradise
Mama’s Geeky: This movie was so fun. I absolutely fell in love with your character. Like I was rooting for him the whole way through. But I’d love to know what it was about fool’s paradise that made you want to be a part of it.
Ken Jeong: It was Charlie Day. The only two words you need to know. He wrote, directed, stars in this and he actually expanded my role during an 11th hour reshoot that we did. He basically rewrote a third of the movie and made my character more of the emotional core of it off of his character. And that’s never ever happened to me in my career.
And it really is his direction and his guidance. He brought out the best performance I’ve ever done on film. I mean, that’s just the bottom line. And I don’t say superlative stuff like this, I’m not that kind of guy. But this is the best thing I’ve ever done. And it’s because of Charlie.
It’s why I’m here doing this because this is his moment. He deserves to have his flowers, you know? It’s funny, I’m playing his publicist in the movie and I feel like I’m his publicist right now, where literally, I can’t say enough superlatives about Charlie, because, again, he brought out a performance in me that I didn’t think I was capable of.
Mama’s Geeky: You’re phenomenal and to just be acting against someone who literally has no lines…
Ken Jeong: He has no lines! That’s how unselfish he is as an actor. He gave me all his lines.
Mama’s Geeky: What’s it like to act off of that?
Ken Jeong: Honestly, because he’s also the director. This is his movie. I’m literally having my director in every scene with me. He is pushing me to perform it. Honestly, it was like doing a play, where he’s just getting it. Where, if you care about acting, if you care about your craft, you want to work with the best and Charlie’s the best.
I just want the public to know he’s one of the best directors. Not only that I’ve worked with but I honestly believe he has the potential to be one of the best directors in the game. He’s that good. He’s that specific. He has that passion. He’s that beloved.
I mean, look at the cast we have from Kate Beckinsale, Adrian Brody, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, John Malkovich, the late Ray Liotta, Common… you have an incredible cast. He’s not just a director for hire, he’s an auteur. There’s so much passion and it’s infectious because you see him care about what he’s doing. If you care about what you do, you want to stay at his level.
That really is this wonderful push and pull mechanism where he guides me to a deeper performance. And it’s always like, hey, let’s make it great. Let’s make it more emotional. Let’s make it more authentic. Which I’m always game for. I get a little choked up thinking about how much he cared about the film and how much he cared about me in this film. I don’t think I’ve had this kind of care as an actor. I really haven’t.
Mama’s Geeky: Well, thank you so much. That’s my time. I really appreciate it. And I’m looking forward to the Community movie!
Ken Jeong: Six seasons and a movie! Thank you so much.
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About Fool’s Paradise
A satirical comedy about a down on his luck publicist (Ken Jeong), who gets his lucky break when he discovers a man (Charlie Day) recently released from a mental health facility looks just like a method actor who refuses to leave his trailer. With the help of a powerful producer, the publicist helps the man become a huge star, even marrying his beautiful leading lady.
Their adventures lead them to cross paths with drunken costars, irreverent unhoused action heroes, unpredictable directors, super-agent, and power-mad moguls. Fame and fortune are not all they’re cracked up to be, and the two men must fight their way back to the things that matter the most.
Written and directed by Charlie Day in his directorial debut, the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor stars alongside an all-star comedy cast.
Featuring one of the final screen performances of Ray Liotta, the cast includes Ken Jeong, Kate Beckinsale, Oscar® winner Adrien Brody, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco, Jason Bateman, Common, Jillian Bell, Dean Norris, Jimmi Simpson, and John Malkovich.
The film is produced by John Rickard, along with Tim Zajaros and Christopher Lemole, Alex Saks, and Rick Dugdale. The executive producers are Kirk Michael Fellows, Rob Gough, Manu Gargi, and Bob Shapiro.
Fool’s Paradise hits theaters on May 12th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.