Some spoilers for You're Cordially Invited can be found in this story, but it already hit the 2025 movies schedule, so throw it on if you haven't already.
Prior to throwing on You’re Cordially Invited with my Amazon Prime Video subscription, I didn’t know a ton about the film outside of the fact Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell had teamed up for both verbal and physical comedy hijinks. Oh yeah, and Ferrell wrestling an alligator was somehow involved (but that joke played out far more wildly than expected). However, after watching the surprise rom-com, I learned more about the Nick Jonas cameo in the movie, and I’m loving how it came about.
In fact, director Nicholas Stoller admitted it was not his idea to bring in one of the Jonas Brothers to add some star power to the movie. He admitted to Collider he had in mind a “sexy pastor” for the marriage scenes that played out on the dock, but there was no specific cameo he was looking at. Instead, he just thought some random Hollywood hottie would be hired.
So, who came up with the idea? Apparently it was Will Ferrell himself.
[Producer] Jessica Elbaum and Will Ferrell have a personal connection with Nick Jonas. He's a friend of the court. They pitched him as a name, and I was like, 'If you can get Nick Jonas, that would be incredible.' They called him, and he instantly said yes and came for two days and took time out of his busy schedule. He was so funny. He was so game.
It’s always a gamble nabbing people who aren’t the most known as comedic actors to come in and do parts like these. This is likely particularly true of the You’re Cordially Invited scene, which involved a boat splashing water on a slew of wedding guests before said boat turned around and knocked down the dock in question. It’s a major --if not the most major -- scene in the movie, and it sounds like Jonas was down for some hijinks with the rest of the cast.
At a certain moment, I went up to him, and I was kind of nervous. I was like, ‘Do you mind if we dump water on you as if you've just gone off the dock?’ And he was like, ‘Oh, yeah, sure. Whatever you want.’ He was totally game. He was awesome. Really funny.
The good news is Nick Jonas has had some experience with comedy on set, having done comedy in his Disney Channel original series before he appeared in the wildly popular Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (a casting he's called "serendipitous" in the past). So him popping up here in the fan-proclaimed "Willerspoon" movie, while unexpected, was not completely out of left field.
He ultimately showed up in the movie in a dual wedding ceremony scene as the wedding officiant at Margot (Witherspoon)’s sister Neve's (Meredith Hanger) event. When Margot met him she clearly found him to be a handsome alternative to their hometown pastor, as did some of her relatives. When he did ultimately take over Neve’s wedding ceremony, he inexplicably dove into a rendition of Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open,’ leading to one of the film's funniest moments.
That is, just shortly before everything else went completely off the rails in the movie. (And, yes, some time before that alligator got involved.)
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