During It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s nine season run, Danny DeVito has been asked to do some crazy things by co-stars/ creators Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton. His character, Frank Reynolds, has hooked up with crack cocaine addicted prostitutes, hung out with Vietnamese gambling fiends, partied with people who sleep under bridges and insulted his own children to the point of almost total mental annihilation. For most actors, it would probably feel a little taxing to play that level of madness, but for DeVito, the process is an absolute pleasure.
Speaking during a roundtable interview at San Diego Comic Con, the veteran comedic actor talked about his annual excitement at reading the nonsense the guys come up with for him to do each year. In fact, he actually loves venturing so far out on the ledge…
”At the very beginning when we started nine seasons ago with the first couple of shows I was going to do, I loved the work, the writing, the guys, but I knew we had to keep pushing the envelope. After a few years, they really started taking me seriously too… I don’t ever say, ‘No, that’s too much.’ That’s part of the deal with It’s Always Sunny. (The writers) just work on digging the hole deeper and deeper. I have no idea what’s coming… I have no idea what they do in their private lives.”
For DeVito, it’s all about committing to the vision and committing to support his co-stars and taking the plunge with them. He’s obviously never shied away from the challenge, and luckily for everyone involved, neither have the guest stars. This upcoming season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, the first on FXX, the show will bring aboard plenty of special guests including Josh Groban and Sean William Scott, the latter of which will play Mac’s cousin Country Mac during an episode in which Mac will get to program the gang’s entire schedule for one full day.
DeVito and his fellow actors were all very aggressive in telling members of the media that the show will not change in the slightest thanks to the network move. It will contain the same level of raciness and the same basic tone, which really hasn’t changed much over the past decade. In fact, when I asked Charlie Day if he ever watched any old episodes and thought the show went too far or not far enough, he pointed to a completely different annoyance.
”I’m remarkably proud of the ideas and everything we’ve had to say. The jokes are always on the characters themselves, but I do get upset about little things like camera angles when I watch the old episodes.”
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia will return on September 4th on FXX.
