Ken Jeong Opens up on Charlie Day’s Unique Process Directing ‘Fool’s Paradise’

Charlie Day‘s directorial debut, Fool’s Paradise, had its Los Angeles premiere yesterday, and among other well-known Hollywood faces, Ken Jeong was there to celebrate. The actor and comedian plays a key role in this satirical movie, and while he’s long since shed his newbie status in the film industry, some people still manage to surprise him.

In an interview with Looper, Jeong spared no compliment to Day, who gave his all in the creation and development of Fool’s Paradise, and in the process brought to the surface the very best Jeong has to offer. Above all else, the actor points out how, during the arduous creative process of this film, Day ended up expanding Jeong’s character, Lenny, beyond the original script, and pulled out of him a stellar performance:

“It’s all Charlie Day. This is his baby, and I was fortunate enough to be along the ride. This is — and I don’t say this lightly — in my film career, this is the best performance I’ve ever had, and it’s all because of Charlie. He brought out this performance in me, this depth of emotion, that no one has ever done. Not only that, he expanded my character in the reshoots to be the emotional core, and it wasn’t necessarily conceived as this emotional buddy comedy. I’m so inspired by what Charlie did.”

The reshoots Jeong mentions happened in 2021 and transformed the movie significantly from its original 2018 form. In the comedian’s perception, this amount of attention to detail on Day’s part is something to behold and feels like nothing he has ever seen before:

“While we’re filming, he realized he could redo it, rewrite it, and then basically a few years later, we all reshot like 27 pages of [the film]. I’ve never seen anyone do that in live film in my life. You can do that on Pixar films, animated films. “Toy Story” was rewritten for a decade, but I’ve never seen anything live-action being done quite like this. This was a passion project through and through.”

Those who have been following Charlie Day’s career from the humble beginnings of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia already know how much work he puts into his craft, but it’s always nice for others to appreciate it. Doubling down on his previous statements, Jeong made sure to point out Day’s impressive talent as a director, writer, and actor:

“This is all in honor of Charlie, and he deserves his flowers, because he wrote, directed, and stars in [“Fool’s Paradise”]. Again, [he] teased a performance out of me that I didn’t think I was capable of. There are literally moments in the movie while filming, me telling him, “I don’t know if I can do more than this,” and then he would push me. Look, I was a doctor, I’m a hardworking actor, I pride myself on my own work ethic, but he works harder. He’s that good, and I’ve learned a lot from him. Working with him inspires me to do even better.”

Fool’s Paradise will be released in theaters on May 12.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Charlie Day‘s directorial debut, Fool’s Paradise, had its Los Angeles premiere yesterday, and among other well-known Hollywood faces, Ken Jeong was there to celebrate. The actor and comedian plays a key role in this satirical movie, and while he’s long since shed his newbie status in the film industry, some people still manage to surprise him.

In an interview with Looper, Jeong spared no compliment to Day, who gave his all in the creation and development of Fool’s Paradise, and in the process brought to the surface the very best Jeong has to offer. Above all else, the actor points out how, during the arduous creative process of this film, Day ended up expanding Jeong’s character, Lenny, beyond the original script, and pulled out of him a stellar performance:

“It’s all Charlie Day. This is his baby, and I was fortunate enough to be along the ride. This is — and I don’t say this lightly — in my film career, this is the best performance I’ve ever had, and it’s all because of Charlie. He brought out this performance in me, this depth of emotion, that no one has ever done. Not only that, he expanded my character in the reshoots to be the emotional core, and it wasn’t necessarily conceived as this emotional buddy comedy. I’m so inspired by what Charlie did.”

The reshoots Jeong mentions happened in 2021 and transformed the movie significantly from its original 2018 form. In the comedian’s perception, this amount of attention to detail on Day’s part is something to behold and feels like nothing he has ever seen before:

“While we’re filming, he realized he could redo it, rewrite it, and then basically a few years later, we all reshot like 27 pages of [the film]. I’ve never seen anyone do that in live film in my life. You can do that on Pixar films, animated films. “Toy Story” was rewritten for a decade, but I’ve never seen anything live-action being done quite like this. This was a passion project through and through.”

Those who have been following Charlie Day’s career from the humble beginnings of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia already know how much work he puts into his craft, but it’s always nice for others to appreciate it. Doubling down on his previous statements, Jeong made sure to point out Day’s impressive talent as a director, writer, and actor:

“This is all in honor of Charlie, and he deserves his flowers, because he wrote, directed, and stars in [“Fool’s Paradise”]. Again, [he] teased a performance out of me that I didn’t think I was capable of. There are literally moments in the movie while filming, me telling him, “I don’t know if I can do more than this,” and then he would push me. Look, I was a doctor, I’m a hardworking actor, I pride myself on my own work ethic, but he works harder. He’s that good, and I’ve learned a lot from him. Working with him inspires me to do even better.”

Fool’s Paradise will be released in theaters on May 12.