Fool's Paradise, directed by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator and star Charlie Day in his feature-length debut, follows the adventures of a recently released mental patient who becomes a big Hollywood star by pure coincidence.
Ken Jeong plays Larry, a down-on-his-luck publicist who finally gets his big break when he runs into Latte Pronto (Day), with the two embarking on a journey through the ups and downs of the fame machine and movie industry. Kate Beckinsale meanwhile plays Christina Dior, a fame-hungry Hollywood superstar concerned with her image, who becomes enamored with Latte.
Total Film and 12DOVE spoke to the pair about all things Day's passion project that has been in the works for over a decade.
12DOVE: What drew you both to the script?
Ken Jeong: Honestly, it was Charlie Day. This has been his baby for over a decade. He'd been working hard on this and it's a passion project for him. Once I read the script, I was in. I love Charlie. I loved every second of it.
12DOVE: Are there moments in the film that you relate to or feel parallel your own careers?
Kate Beckinsale: My [character] is fairly extreme. I don't have quite the same colorful personal life in real life as she does. But, we did the movie within a movie. We've done that a couple of times actually. And that was fun to sort of heighten how silly being on a set is.
KJ: I think every character was amplified to a degree where it kind of makes a deeper point about how important the movie is. It's, in a weird way, a morality tale of friendship, love, and support under the auspices of a Hollywood satire. There's a sweetness to Charlie as a person. And as a director, there's a gentleness to the satire as well. It's about something even more harmonious and sweeter.
12DOVE: I absolutely feel like the movie, at the true core of it, is a love story – which is something I don't think the viewer would expect.
KJ: Right? I give Charlie all the credit in the world. I've met a lot of brilliant people in my day and people who are geniuses, but he was so good at pivoting – if he saw something that he'd like, he would amplify that. And even on story he would rewrite things and do reshoots. I've never seen someone so committed to making the film he wanted to make and sort of adapt in the most open way and not go in a panic. When the person has written it as well, you sort of expect them to be way more kind of precious about it. But he wasn't at all. He was so bold with all his choices and trying things and changing things.
Fool's Paradise is in US theaters now. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond or skip straight to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.
