Directed by Kyle Newacheck (Workaholics), the action comedy Game Over, Man! (available to stream at Netflix on March 23rd) shows what can happen when a star-studded event at an L.A. hotspot is taken over by armed gunman. Amid the chaos, Alexxx Kingle (Adam Devine), Darren Duncan (Anders Holm) and Joel Duncan (Blake Anderson) realize that it’s up to them to save the day by becoming heroes, if they can manage to survive the guns, explosions and all other manner of danger.

At the film’s Los Angeles press junket, Collider got the opportunity to sit down with actor Adam Devine to talk about why the Workaholics team wanted to make their own version of an ‘80s action movie, doing male nudity and why the decision was made not to use a prosthetic, the scenes he was most excited to shoot, and figuring out what the next chapter of their lives will look like. He also talked about what made him want to do the Disney family movie Magic Camp, shooting the romantic comedy Isn’t it Romantic, doing stand-up, and when he realized he was good at being funny.

Collider: How long had you guys been thinking about doing a movie together?

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Image via Netflix

ADAM DEVINE: After Workaholics, we wanted to make our version of a fun, big ‘80s action movie. We love ‘80s action movies. That’s what we were raised on. Obviously, our version of that is gonna be way more raw and way more R-rated and way funnier than most of those action movies. Some of them are accidentally hilarious. If we had more muscles, we would take ourselves more seriously.

What were the conversations like, when it came to you doing nudity? Who’s idea was that?

DEVINE: I think that was my idea, actually. It was in the very first draft. There were two scenes that made it through every incarnation of the script, and that was my dick being seen and Shaggy getting held up at gunpoint and having to sing “It Wasn’t Me.” Those two scenes were there when we pitched the movie, and when we would get feedback on the movie, those were the two scenes where everyone was like, “That’s so funny! That has to stay in!,” with both of those scenes, so that’s just what stayed in. So, when it came time to do it, I wasn’t that nervous because I had been planning on doing it for six years.

Was there any negotiation, as to how much dick we’d see?

DEVINE: I demanded that I get paid more than the other guys. I was like, “I’ve gotta make more money! My dick is out!” No, not really. Originally, there was a little bit more in there. We did a few test screenings, and it was the #1 scene in the movie that everyone talked about the most afterwards. They were like, “Oh, that was so funny!” But we found that people liked it even more, if we cut it down a little bit, so we did cut a few shots of the member.

Apparently, there were conversations about possibly using a prosthetic or maybe using different camera angles, when it came to the nudity.

DEVINE: We totally could have used a prosthetic, but then I would have had to answer all kinds of questions about why I used a prosthetic, whether I have a weird penis, and whether it’s super small. It’s very regular-sized. I’m not embarrassed by it. I just don’t have a lot of shame, so I’m fine with it. Now, I can’t make jokes about it either being super huge or incredibly micro because everybody is gonna know that I’ve got a standard issue.

And you’ll know exactly who’s seen this movie.

DEVINE: Yeah, that’s right!

Aside from the nudity, was there a moment that you were most excited about getting to do in this?

DEVINE: I was really excited for the Shaggy scene. That was one that we all envisioned, and it turned out just as good as we would have hoped. And we had such a good time doing the ironing board scene. That was the scene that we knew we needed to have, to show the scope and the scale of the movie. If not, we’re running around with guns inside of a hotel, which is cool and there are some really funny scenes, but we wanted to show that this is a big movie. Even though we’re doing it on Netflix, we got to do some pretty cool, awesome, big stunts that you haven’t seen before, in other movies. Netflix has been so cool with us. They could have pulled back, a million times. They trusted us, they like us and our brand of comedy, and they were pretty confident with what we were doing and that we could pull it off, and I hope we proved them right.

You guys have been doing comedy together for a long time now. Do you feel like it’s changed, over the years?

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Image via Netflix

DEVINE: We get asked about whether we’re sad, now that the chapter of Workaholics is over for us, but we were together before Workaholics. Workaholics wasn’t our first thing. We did comedy together for years before that, and then we did Workaholics for awhile. We’ve been doing comedy since ‘05 and Workaholics aired in 2011, so we were doing it for six years, before doing Workaholics. Now, I’m excited for the next chapter, and for us growing as comedians, writers, actors and producers. I feel like we’re starting to get the hang of it.

Do you have any idea what you’re going to do next?

DEVINE: I just did a romantic comedy with Netflix, called When We First Met, and it is the polar opposite of this movie. I’m sweet and lovelorn, and someone your mom wants you to marry. I like that I get to be able to do both. As an actor, you get pigeonholed into doing one thing, and that’s all you can do. I’ve been lucky that, with Pitch Perfect and Modern Family, they gave me a shot to show a softer side. I get to go off and do that, and then come back and do the more R-rated version of comedy that I love doing and watching.

Didn’t you also do the Disney movie, Magic Camp?

DEVINE: Yeah, I did a full-on, PG-rated Disney movie that’s gonna come out.

Do you have to censor yourself on set, when you’re doing a Disney family movie?

DEVINE: No, because you have to censor yourself in life. I talk a certain way around my really close friends. With Blake [Anderson] and ‘Ders [Holm], I talk the way you see us talk in Workaholics and Game Over, Man!, but I don’t talk that way around a group of schoolchildren. If I’m visiting with someone’s kid, I’m not gonna speak that way to them. It’s not as hard as people think, to rein that in. I do have a pretty bad potty mouth, but you know not to say those things around children.

What was the appeal of Magic Camp?

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DEVINE: It was really cool! I was just coming off of the very tale end of Workaholics. I went from wrapping Workaholics to the set of Magic Camp. I knew it was gonna be fun to switch gears completely and not be Adam DeMamp, and to be this sweet character. I’m a curmudgeon, at the beginning of Magic Camp, and I don’t want to be there and be around the kids, but I grow to love them. It was really fun. And then, right after that, I did a big stand-up tour and got to be myself for awhile and tell the jokes that I like to tell. And then, I went right into Game Over, Man! and Isn’t it Romantic, which is a movie I did with Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth and Priyanka Chopra. That was really fun, too. It was the happy PG-13 medium with Game Over, Man!, which is hard R. Thank god, we did it on Netflix because it might have been too hard of an R. It might have been NC-17. So, Magic Camp is on one side, where I have to be wholesome because it’s a full-on family movie, and then Game Over, Man! is on the other side, where you can’t let your grandmother see it because she will have a heart attack, with Isn’t it Romantic right in the middle. There’s something for everyone.

What’s it like to go do a stand-up tour, after people know you from the films you’ve done? Does it change how you perform?

DEVINE: No. On the first tour I did, Live Nation put it together and it was an all-ages show. I didn’t realize that, and 40 minutes into my set, I looked out and saw a bunch of 12-year-old girls and was like, “Oh, gosh, what am I doing?! These poor girls! They did not know what they were getting themselves into!” When I’m promoting it, I try to make a point to say that it is an R-rated show. Parents need to go out and have fun, too. You can leave your kids at home and go out and have fun without them.

What do you enjoy about doing stand-up and getting that reaction from a live audience?

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Image via Netflix

DEVINE: It’s so fun! It really is. It’s cool. I’m really happy that I started in stand-up comedy, and I’m always able to go back and do it. When you’re making movies and making TV and you live in L.A., you’re in a little bubble. People don’t show appreciation because they see celebrities all the time, and that’s cool, but it’s also cool to go out and be in Chicago, Kansas City or St. Louis, or all over the country in some of these smaller towns, and have people come up and say how much they appreciate what you do. They might have been going through a hard time in their life, and your movies, your TV show, or your comedy show might have gotten them through something. That’s pretty rewarding.

When did you realize that you were good at being funny?

DEVINE: For most funny people, it’s a defense mechanism. They’re either picked on, or something bad happened. For me, I was hit by a cement truck when I was a kid, for real, and I couldn’t walk for two years.

You’d have to find humor in that.

DEVINE: Yeah, you do! I used comedy, as a way to make friends. I couldn’t be on the football team or the basketball team. A lot of kids, at that age, make friends playing baseball or soccer, or whatever it is, and I couldn’t go do that, so I made people laugh. I had a little notebook by my bed and I would write jokes at night. It’s embarrassing that I’m telling you this, but I would write scenarios down where I’d go, “If someone says this, this is what I’m gonna say.” I knew, pretty early on, that I enjoyed making people laugh and it was a fun way to make friends. And then, it turns out that ti’s such a fun profession.

It’s one thing to be funny, so when did you realize you could also make a living off of it?

DEVINE: I came out to L.A. and had delusions of grandeur that I was going to make it, like everyone else. You start to see how hard it is and you start to see people give up, and people that are super funny don’t stick to it and aren’t willing to work extra hard, stay up late and write that script, or go do those three crappy open mic shows at Chinese restaurants, laundromats and bowling alleys. I was like, “That person might be funnier than me, but I can outwork that person. I’ll show up and I’ll do it, and I’ll get better.” I believe that I’m still getting better. Me and the guys talk about how this was our first movie and we think it turned out great and we’re so excited for the world to see it, but I’m excited to see the next one too and we’re gonna keep trying to get better, for ourselves. In any profession, you want to be as good as you possibly can, but also for the fans that have stuck with us, this whole time, starting with YouTube and now to movies. We’re growing up.

Game Over, Man! is now streaming on Netflix.

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Image via Netflix
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Image via Netflix