It feels strange now to think of a time when Danny McBride was not a household name. In 2008, the world of stoners and buddy-comedy lovers were given Pineapple Express, featuring a relatively unknown McBride as Red, a fast-talking Judas-type friend and drug dealer, alongside Seth Rogen and James Franco. Pineapple Express is a cult hit that audiences remember amongst the ranks of the Cheech and Chongs, Friday, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The nearly indestructible Red was integral to the plot, and his place is cemented in stoner-movie immortality. As for McBride, the deluded and somewhat morally bankrupt character who undergoes a serious character arch in his own rather ill-gotten way became something of a recurrence. Some may call this being a one-trick pony, but when his breakout performance in David Gordon Green's All the Real Girls is examined closely, it's clear he's anything but. Since he's written many of his most iconic characters, most of which are commercially successful, it's evident that the characters he creates are nothing short of genius.
'The Foot Fist Way' Kickstarted Danny McBride's Career of Anti-Heroes
What could be more known is that this arrogant character has a template McBride developed two years before Pineapple Express, named Fred Simmons. Fred Simmons is the protagonist of the 2006 film, The Foot Fist Way, which McBride portrayed with the same foolish bravado that has made him famous. The Foot Fist Way features Taekwondo black belt and instructor Fred Simmons who is struggling internally because his wife (Mary Jane Bostic) has cheated on him and repeatedly treats him disrespectfully. Although Simmons is considerably less conceited than his later characters, throughout the film, McBride acts with much of the same crass swagger he would later establish as his identifiable character style. The Foot Fist Way was co-written and directed by McBride's lifelong collaborator Jody Hill, who also acts in the film, along with the late, great Ben Best.
The development of characters like Fred Simmons, Kenny Powers (Eastbound & Down), and Jesse Gemstone (The Righteous Gemstones) comes from a significantly rebellious place. If you find yourself thinking that you may not like these characters in real life, it's because they are not written to be likable. McBride, Best, and Hill knew the character was unlikable but didn't believe it worked any other way, despite advice others gave them. As an observer, you must admire the courage that goes into creating a true anti-hero with few redeemable qualities and respect the brilliance required to write that nearly irredeemable person in a way that makes you root for them anyway.
With all that being said, The Foot Fist Way was not immediately well received and currently holds a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Nonetheless, their fans have to credit it for beginning a reputation that would make McBride, Best, and Hill one of the most well-known teams in filmmaking. The trio, and David Gordon Green all met in school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Today, you can hardly speak of one without mentioning the other within the same paragraph.
Jody Hill Wanted to Represent Taekwondo the Way He Learned it
Foot Fist's development story comes from Hill's study of Taekwondo, which translates to "the foot fist way." Hill is a third-degree black belt and wanted to make a movie that presented the way he learned Taekwondo; in a style far from the quintessential presentation of the martial arts instructor, who often reflects a peaceful and meditative individual. Instead, he wanted to represent the Taekwondo instructor as his instructor was and set it in his hometown of Concord, North Carolina. In collaboration with McBride, the two created Fred Simmons. What sets this film apart is a sense of relatability and realism. The strip market martial arts instructor is much more familiar than the mystical martial arts instructor that the film industry has frequently portrayed. But, it's deeper than that. The Foot Fist Way was developed against a $70,000-odd budget, and filmed in 19 days. The budget came partially from Hill's savings and his application for several credit cards. It does not attempt to look like more than what it is, which is a low-budget movie. It's a direct expression of what the writers knew, which wasn't an expression Hollywood widely represented at the time. Put simply, it's a movie that's unapologetically itself and captures the exact audience McBride, Hill, and Best made it for.
Along Came Will Ferrell and Adam McKay
In a way that may only be a testament to sheer grit and being at the right place at the right time, two members of that handcrafted audience were none other than Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. McKay and Ferrell were just starting Gary Sanchez Productions, and they chose Foot Fist as their first venture. This would lead to further collaborations, including Land of the Lost, a very confusing episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien that acted as exposure for Foot Fist, and Eastbound and Down, which Gary Sanchez Productions also produced. East Bound and Down would premiere in February 2009 and solidified McBride's now signature character type. Ferrell would also star in several episodes as one of Kenny Powers' adversaries, Ashley Schaeffer. The timeline of McBride's success accelerated dramatically following Ferrell and McKay's purchase of The Foot Fist Way. One month after he appeared on Conan O'Brien, not a prominent name in the mainstream film world, he starred alongside Owen Wilson in Drillbit Taylor. Pineapple Express was released by August of that year, and the rest, as they say, is history. But, in many ways, it all started with Fred Simmons.
Since then, McBride and Hill have created their own production with David Gordon Green, Rough House Pictures. Rough House has produced several comedic television shows and films but has recently moved into a genre-changing direction when they chose to produce the recent Halloween trilogy, all of which were co-written by McBride and directed by Green. As of right now, Green and McBride have a reboot of The Exorcist in production, which will see Ellen Burstyn's return to the franchise. It's astonishing what can happen when you have a product you genuinely believe in. If Danny McBride is not a testament to that, considering that it all started from a low-budget martial arts movie, nothing is.