Actor/producer Walton Goggins has been hitting it out of the ballpark in the last few years playing some memorable characters who've appeared in many scene-stealing moments. Now he's doing it again, alongside Danny McBride, in the new painfully hilarious comedy series, Vice Principals, which premiered on HBO Canada/HBO on July 17 at 10.30 pm.
Goggins and McBride, the series co-creator along with Jody Hill, play two lovable jerks, two politically incorrect vice principals of a southern high school who team up, sort of, to oust a new principal and take her job. Cue the hijinks, along with some drama and pain.
In Vice Principals, Goggins as Lee Russell and McBride as Neal Gamby are a pair unlike almost any other you've seen on television. And Goggins' Russell decked out innocently enough with bowties and colorful suits does some outrageous, laugh-out-loud, fall-on-the-floor funny scenes.
So, how has he managed to nab these great characters like transgender prostitute Venus Van Dam in Sons of Anarchy and the sadistic overseer in Django Unchained. He gratefully suggests:
I just threaten the writers to get these scenes. [Laughs] Seriously, from Boyd Crowder (Justified), Shane Vendrell (The Shield), Venus Van Dam (SOA), Billy Crash (Django Unchained) and now Lee Russell, well, they're all different yet they're all the same to me. I'm just trying to come from a place of truth and honesty. I don't care about me as an actor or of having to come off a certain way. The only thing that I'm concerned with is the story, and servicing the storyteller's imagination. And giving them different ways at looking at the story they've created. And if you come from that specific place, then you're not coming from a place of ego. We participate in the oldest tradition in the world -- people sitting around the fire talking about the saber tooth creature that almost killed them. And I think if actors approach it that way, and left their fuckin' cellphones in the trailer, as opposed to, 'Hey look at me and primp my hair' -- then you turn yourself over to an imaginary set of circumstances, and then it's just about the story. So working with Danny and these guys at Rough House Pictures, working with real artists, has been awesome. I've been lucky to work with several of them over the last five years of my career, and this is really the cherry on top. Danny gave me this opportunity to be in a comedy which is like a drama with comedic twists. That's a big invitation, and I take shit very seriously. I'm just grateful.
Rough House Pictures' creative team in the heart of old Hollywood-Courtesy Rough House
Goggins, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, says he based his new character Lee on an amalgamation of people in his life. While similarly outrageous actor McBride surprisingly admits to being a "pretty good kid who didn't spend much time in the Principal's office," Goggins' experience was the opposite. Goggins explains:
I hung out with a group of guys, and we were pretty bad. I was probably the nicest of the group, but we were pretty tough and we did visit the principal's office. But then Danny wrote Lee so clearly for me to work on, and I took that based on my interpretation and my life experiences that you bring to the table. Also, our costume designer, Sarah Trost, helped me define the character as well. Like the bowties that she came up with brought to mind a friend of mine named Eduardo, who dresses similar to how Lee would. So she just took that information to a whole other level, and that was just part of the whole collaboration. Writers to actors, costume designer to your DP, all down the line. And that was really interesting for me, having been a fan of Rough House Pictures and what they put out, how well they've worked together.
McBride, who rocked another lovable jerk, Kenny Powers, in Eastbound & Down, says of working with Goggins:
He's like up there as the favorite person I've ever worked with. We had a blast. Lee and Neal are characters we just loved writing. Walt came in, made it his own and turned it into something else. He does so much dramatic yet hilarious and heart-breaking stuff during the course that I can't for people to see it. When we talked about the script, this is a story about two guys who represent the pathetic struggle of the marginalized white man, who's seen his place at the table diminishing. So they're doing whatever they can to hold onto their lessening influence in a world that's rapidly evolving. So it was about characters that are flawed in ways that if you never knew anything about them, you'd be so turned off. And, then it's about cracking that human element in them where you see a little of yourself in there. Despite people's attitudes, there's a oneness underneath it all because ultimately everyone kind of wants the same things.
Goggins also hopes "these two deeply flawed, deeply insecure individuals will hopefully, if not find refuge in the world, will find it with each other."
HBO agreed to do two seasons of 9 episodes for a total of 18, and it takes place during one whole school year. McBride adds:
We had initially written this as a movie screenplay in 2006. But didn't crack it into a TV show until 2014. We were shooting the show in 2015 and then we started to see Trump running for President. So it might've been something that we were connecting with, and art was imitating life in a weird way.
The legend himself, Bill Murray-Courtesy HBO
The series looks like a blast, and also watch out for legendary Bill Murray playing the departing Principal. McBride offers, "Bill was amazing, such an incredible icon. It was not just amazing to see him work but also to see the effect he has on everyone else. We were in awe."