Ex: Talking to Nick Swardson on The Wrong Missy, Reno 911, critics & more!

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

With the days getting longer and longer, it’s easy to run out of stuff to watch, even in what no one can deny is a golden age of streaming media. As a result, whenever something comes out that’s new, it suddenly becomes an event. For fans of Happy Madison, Adam Sandler’s production company, THE WRONG MISSY will no doubt be welcome. It reunites a lot of Sandler’s core crew (although the Sandman himself sits this one out), including David Spade, Lauren Lapkus, Rob Schneider, Jackie Sandler and the likeable Nick Swardson, who took some time to chat with us about the movie, his work with the Happy Madison gang, his relationship with critics, UNCUT GEMS and the new season of “Reno 911!”

NOTE: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On releasing THE WRONG MISSY during quarantine:

NS: Yeah, it’s a good moment for a completely absurd R-rated romantic comedy about fucking up a text and sending it to the wrong person…

We’ve all been there…

NS: YEAH! It’s the perfect time for that — not that there’s ever not a good time for an R-rated comedy, but it’s nice for people to sit back and decompress. Everything out there is so doomsday. This is just, sit back and zone out and watch complete absurdity.

And nice scenery…

NS: Yeah, it’s a little breath of fresh air with this Hawaiian background.

On making movies with the Happy Madison crew:

NS: They’ve went from being co-workers to my best friends. Sandler, Spade, these are guys I’ve toured with. I consider them like brothers. It goes way beyond work and has everything a family dynamic would have. Working with them is even better because we know each other so well at this point — and I grew up on them. Those Saturday Night Live years were my formative years, growing into what I identify as comedy. So watching Farley, Sandler, Spade, Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin Nealon, Phil Hartman, all these people, Jan Hooks, Nora Dunn, there were so many…it’s insane. It was phenomenal to be a part of something with all those guys.

On UNCUT GEMS…

NS: Yeah, of course I saw it. I thought it was incredible. I’ve never seen a movie that gave me so much anxiety…well…besides JOE DIRT 2… (laughs). The Safdie Brothers are just on another level. For someone who’s been in Hollywood making movies for fifteen years, I don’t even know how you’d start making something like that. I’m such a movie fanatic, and knowing what the process is, when I see a movie like INTERSTELLAR or LORD OF THE RINGS I think, how the fuck did you even start making this??? Like I get it, storyboards, this and that, but the Safdie Brothers…all those shots…the editing… it’s so intense to create that vibe with the music. It’s incredible.

On film criticism relating to comedy:

NS: Comedy is the most subjective thing on the planet. I have gotten into it with critics, but I’ve also become friends with critics. The more I’ve matured the more I’ve opened up dialogue with critics about it. So, at the beginning, I took it hard when people said “this movie SUCKS”…

Well… there is a viciousness to it sometimes…

NS: And there’s a chip on some people’s shoulders. A critic apologized to me because he said, ‘hey man, I wrote a scathing review of GRANDMA’S BOY and I’d just seen the trailer, I didn’t even see the movie. And then, one of my best friends said that it was his favourite movie, and then I watched it and it was really funny and I feel like such an asshole for doing that.’ And I was all like, ‘yeah, that’s a pretty dick move. Maybe print a retraction?’ And working with Sandler, there’s been a lot of comedy critics that just HATE us. And I had never really experienced anything like that, and I was…we’re just trying to make people laugh.

Is it gratifying when something like GRANDMA’S BOY becomes a cult classic?

NS: Yeah, and I pretty much predicted everything that was going to happen with it. When we were filming it I was like, 'oh God, this is so funny but it’s going to bomb so hard at the box office. Once it hits DVD it’s gonna be huge. But critics are gonna hate it.’ But it’s great… and it’s hard too when a movie like BUCKY LARSON, which I loved and put a lot into, gets a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. And it was such a softball movie for critics to hate. They were like “worst movie ever…biggest piece of shit”. And I love that movie…People hated it just to hate it and never watched it. And again, you can “not like it” but at least give it a chance.

On R-rated comedies on Netflix…

NS: At the end of the day you want to see a comedy with an audience. You want to share an experience. And R-rated comedies go through phases. People will be “it’s dead” but then 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN comes out and “it’s back!” Or THE HANGOVER. There’s an ebb and flow but the state of movie theatres will be a real question now and it’s hard to get these movies made because they either hit or they don’t. It’s tricky, with a movie GRANDMA’S BOY, it’s great comedy but no one went to see it. BUCKY LARSON, no one went to see it.

Is there a metric for that on Netflix? They must be doing well if they keep getting made?

NS: Yeah I don’t know the exact metric but I think they do really well. They’ve re-upped Sandler’s deal a couple of times now. Nobody ever gets tired of laughing. Nobody ever says ‘oh I hate laughing.’

On Lauren Lapkus and Jackie Sandler:

NS: Lauren was phenomenal. She fit in effortlessly but she’s already got a great body of work… when I was on set and I first saw her do a scene, I thought she’s really going for it. Physical comedy is so tricky but to ground it and commit to it, I thought she was brilliant. And Jackie (Sandler) was phenomenal. I think it's her best role – she was great.

On “Reno 911!”

NS: I’m not on this new season. I had talked to them. I love Reno and I love everyone on it – it had nothing to do with that. It was more my schedule and figuring out what to do with Terry – a character that I kinda retired and he had a book-ended story. We’re still talking about it so we’ll see how it plays out. But I’m not on this new season but I do hope people support it — it’s hilarious.

THE WRONG MISSY is now streaming on Netflix!