Netflix has done a good job of signing on some heavy hitters in both the comedy and drama realm in recent years. Among those is a series of movies coming from Adam Sandler’s popular Happy Madison productions, the latest which stars his pal David Spade. Yet while Spade is recognizable from a mile away—I mean really even with a mullet in Joe Dirt he’s recognizable--in the case of Netflix’s The Wrong Missy, his comedy is very different.
In the movie, David Spade is a bit of a curmudgeon and a straight man, comedically speaking, rather than the comedy highlight of The Wrong Missy. He doesn’t drink, he quotes The Affair and he’s generally not a huge risk taker. He's even generally sincere, which is unusual for the actor, who revealed in a Jo Blo interview also featuring his co-star Nick Swardson that The Wrong Missy was a bit difficult for him, calling the experience “tricky.”
David Spade: First of all, Lauren being so funny was a big help because most of it is her and then me reacting. But I’m trying to keep it together by giving good reactions so you can try to get a laugh off of Lauren and me. With Nick, he’s saying crazy things; I’m trying to get a laugh on my end and then go back to Nick. So, you try to double up like that and be “the voice of sanity” in the movie. But it’s definitely a tricky thing for me to play for me. It’s not my thing I do. I’m usually such uh thirsty for attention.Nick Swardson: Have you seen his Instagram? Good Lord. Hey everyone, remember me?David Spade: Hey guys, remember me from 20 minutes ago? I’m still here!
If you’ve seen The Wrong Missy, the movie hinges on a mix-up by David Spade’s character Tim Morris, who falls for a woman named Missy (Molly Sims) only to mix her up with another woman named Missy (Lauren Lupkus) he went on a blind date with once. Lapkus' Missy spends most of her moments onscreen making Tim more and more uncomfortable.
She’s a high-energy ball of awkward and often aggressive humor and if David Spade had been trying to play the same sort of in-your-face-funny character or even any character trying to get the last word in, The Wrong Missy would just be too much. As it is, Spade shows some restraint and lets Lauren Lupkus really go as hard as possible, as he revealed in the interview.
This extends to the physical comedy as well. In The Wrong Missy – and minor spoilers—there is a scene in which David Spade’s Tim tries to climb out a window to escape a bad date with “The Wrong Missy," but much of the funniest physical moments are left to his co-star. Comparatively, Lauren Lupkus really jumped into scenes involving dancing, crystal ball prophecies, falling off a cliff and hitting a tree and much more.
The Wrong Missy may be billed as a rom-com but it’s closer to a regular comedy in a lot of ways. It features some recognizable names, including Spade, Scrubs’ Sarah Chalke, an opening scene appearance from WWE’s Roman Reigns and some Happy Madison regulars. If all of that sounds good to you, you can watch it on Netflix streaming now. You might as well, because who knows when we'll get to see Spade in this sort of role again?
You can also catch David Spade in Netflix’s The Do-Over, The Ridiculous 6 and Love.
