Josh Duhamel, Kevin Dillon and Dan Bakkedahl Talk 'Buddy Games: Spring Awakening'
Moviefone speaks with Josh Duhamel, Kevin Dillon and Dan Bakkedahl about 'Buddy Games: Spring Awakening.' "We didn't want to be mean-spirited in any way," Duhamel said.
Opening in select theaters on May 19th and on digital June 2nd is the new comedy ‘Buddy Games: Spring Awakening,’ which is a sequel to 2019’s ‘Buddy Games,’ which was directed by actor Josh Duhamel (‘Bandit’).
What is the plot of ‘Buddy Games: Spring Awakening?’
Following the events of ‘Buddy Games,’ faced with their biggest challenge yet, Bobfather (Josh Duhamel), Doc (Kevin Dillon), Shelly (Dan Bakkedahl), and Bender (Nick Swardson) set out to honor their lost friend Durfy (Dax Shepard) only to find themselves in the middle of where it all began – Spring Break – where they learn their old school ways of partying hardly compete with today's generation.
Buddy Games: Spring Awakening
Who is in the cast of ‘Buddy Games: Spring Awakening?’
‘Buddy Games: Spring Awakening’ stars Dan Bakkedahl (‘Trumbo’), Kevin Dillon (‘Entourage’), Josh Duhamel ('Shotgun Wedding’), James Roday Rodriguez ('The Dukes of Hazzard’), Nick Swardson (’30 Minutes or Less’), Lochlyn Munro (‘Detective Knight: Independence’), with Ginnifer Goodwin (‘Zootopia’) and Jensen Ackles (‘The Boys’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director and actor Josh Duhamel, as well as Kevin Dillon and Dan Bakkedahl about their work on ‘Buddy Games: Spring Awakening,’ making a sequel, their characters’ friendship, how they’ve changed since the first movie, and what Duhamel wanted to say about masculinity.
(L to R) Dan Bakkedahl, Josh Duhamel and Kevin Dillon star in 'Buddy Games: Spring Awakening.'
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interview.
Moviefone: To begin with, Josh, at what point after making the original movie did you realize that there were more stories to tell about these characters?
Josh Duhamel: I had ideas for days. We have ideas for twelve of these if they'd let us. I knew that there was enough story inherent in just these guys' relationships, and having a group of friends very similar to these guys, that there's so many different directions you could go. I felt like we made a funny movie the first time and then I saw how people reacted to it. When we showed it in theaters I was like, "Oh my God, these guys have the same stupid sense of humor that I have." They get it. I was really worried about it. I'm not kidding. So that was a relief to be honest. Then to see it do really well was even further affirmation that people like to be a little naughty. They like to laugh at things, maybe they're not supposed to. We went even further on this one because there's a lot of stuff out there that, to me, is funny. We wanted to do it in a way that wasn't overly mean spirited. We didn't want to be mean-spirited in any way. We wanted it to be good-natured, but we did want to poke some fun. We poke a lot of fun at ourselves and it's the only way to break through this stuff is just to lighten up and not be so sensitive and have some laughs. That's the main purpose of these movies.
MF: Dan, can you talk about the adventure these guys go on together to celebrate the life of their deceased friend?
Dan Bakkedahl: Well, I think what was really brilliant about this is that if we're going to start on a down note, like, "Oh my God, one of our best friends just died," it's great that we built this, "Okay, we got a plan. It's half-baked because it's us." Then, "Well, okay. Something comes in, but we're going to stay on track. Okay, now we're split up, but we're going to stay on track. Okay, now we've all got terrible hangovers, but we're going to stay on track." We keep on the mission. There's a lot of off ramps where we go off to get loaded or try to get laid or whatever our thing is, but ultimately we get back on it because it's all about honoring this friend.
(L to R) Nick Swardson as Bender, Dan Bakkedahl as Shelly, Kevin Dillon as Doc, Josh Duhamel as Bobfather and Dylan Playfair as Larry Lampshade in the Comedy film, 'Buddy Games: Spring Awakening,' a Paramount Global Content Distribution Group release. Photo courtesy of Paramount Global Content Distribution Group.
Related Article: Josh Duhamel and Elisha Cuthbert Talk True Crime Movie ‘Bandit’
MF: Kevin, can you talk about how Doc has changed since the first movie and what it was like for you to reprise this character and reunite with the rest of the cast?
Kevin Dillon: Well, I love working with these guys. I had a great time the first time around. I feel like we all hit it off right away. I felt like, I don't know how he's really evolved. I don't really know that. He's devolving, I feel. He's still Doc, but these guys don't give him many credit for that. It's like, "Oh, he's a chiropractor, that don't count." But I think all he does is wait around for the Buddy Games. To be honest with you, this time the Buddy Games didn't even really happen. It's a death that brought us together this time. So we still only did one real Buddy Games with the original ‘Buddy Games.’ It was like an accidental Buddy Games. It wasn't a planned Buddy Games. But yeah, I think that's what he's really waiting for.
MF: Josh, do you think any of the characters have grown or changed since the first film, or are they the same guys they’ve always been?
JD: Well, I like to think that Doc’s probably evolved the most because he was in a pretty dark place in the first one. True to form, we all sort of lifted them up. I got a group of friends that whenever one of us is down, everybody lifts them up. It's no man left behind. So yeah, I guess I hadn't thought a lot about how much we've evolved, but I think that when you lose somebody you love as much as we did Durfy, I think people's true colors come out. That's part of the evolution is even in the worst of times, these guys still show up for each other. I think that's part of the growth that you see. But at the end of the day, they’re still dudes who want to have fun, who really, truly, I think as they get older, appreciate this friendship that much more.
(L to R) Dan Bakkedahl as Shelly, Nick Swardson as Bender, Josh Duhamel as Bobfather, and Kevin Dillon as Doc in the Comedy film, 'Buddy Games: Spring Awakening,' a Paramount Global Content Distribution Group release. Photo courtesy of Paramount Global Content Distribution Group.
MF: Finally, the film explores the idea of masculinity and what that is in 2023. Josh, what did you want to explore and say about the idea of masculinity with this movie?
JD: Well, we wanted to have some fun with the extreme stuff that's out there right now. We didn't do it in a way to be mean-spirited. We wanted it to be fun, and I'm hoping that even those that are extremely woke can look at this and go, "Okay, that's pretty funny.” Because we're still making fun of ourselves at the same time. So it's like if we're going to do it to you, we're going to do it to ourselves too. In this day and age, I think that everybody is pretty damn sensitive and we just wanted to lighten it up a little bit. I wanted to make a movie that was unapologetic, that explored some things that I might be a little bit provocative or controversial and we did it. But I think we did it in a way that balances the line pretty well.
(L to R) Josh Duhamel as Bobfather, Dan Bakkedahl as Shelly, Kevin Dillon as Doc, and Nick Swardson as Bender in the Comedy film, 'Buddy Games: Spring Awakening,' a Paramount Global Content Distribution Group release. Photo courtesy of Paramount Global Content Distribution Group.
Other Movies Similar to ‘Buddy Games: Spring Awakening:'
- 'The Hangover' (2009)
- 'Death at a Funeral' (2010)
- 'Grown Ups' (2010)
- 'The Hangover Part II' (2011)
- 'Bridesmaids' (2011)
- 'The Hangover Part III' (2013)
- 'Grown Ups 2' (2013)
- 'Buddy Games' (2020)
- 'Shotgun Wedding' (2023)
Buy 'Buddy Games' on Amazon
‘Buddy Games: Spring Awakening’ is produced by The Long Game, and Dakota Kid Productions. It is set to release in theaters on May 19th and on digital June 2nd.
