Comedy powerhouses Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon bring their comedy skills to a head-to-head battle in “You’re Cordially Invited.” Jim (Ferrell) and Margot (Witherspoon) have each found the perfect wedding for their loved one. However, hopes for a dream wedding weekend are dashed when they learn the venue is double booked. They initially agree to split the venue, but they soon begin sabotaging each other’s plans.
Ferrell and Witherspoon lead an impressive cast with captivating chemistry that grows throughout the movie. While “You’re Cordially Invited” is a comedy, the heart of the story shines through as Jim and Margot are forced to confront their relationship with each bride, Jim’s daughter and Margot’s sister, respectively. The pair, while initially rivals, soon learn they have more in common than they anticipated, understanding why these weddings are so important to each other better than anyone else.
Temple of Geek spoke with Vinny Thomas, who plays Davey, Margot’s overworked and underappreciated producer. Although Davey is a producer, he acts more as Margot’s assistant, helping her plan her sister’s wedding. His quips are funny, and the way he crumbles under Margot’s withering stare is a hilarious dynamic that plays out on screen.
“It’s not hard to look at Reese Witherspoon and be like, that’s Mother.”
Temple of Geek: One of my favorite moments with your character is the reveal where he says, “I’m a producer for reality TV.” I fully assumed he was an executive assistant. Can you talk about creating this character and leaning into not only the comedy but that moment of, “I have to do everything my boss says, even though this is not my job?”
Vinny Thomas: Yeah, I think codependency is something that has always come naturally to me, just as a trait. I think there are those people who really love their bosses to the point that their work becomes their family and their friends and everything. So I really was in that headspace. It’s not hard to look at Reese Witherspoon and be like, That’s mother. Do you know what I mean? I would do anything for her.
I just kind of slipped into that as a super fan, but also someone who is fundamentally exhausted. In the back of my head constantly, I’m like, I surely have some sort of iron deficiency. Surely I’m not well. This job is probably killing me, going to put me in an early grave, but it is my entire life, so if I lose it, I won’t be living regardless.
Temple of Geek: I loved your dynamic with Reese because there were so many great moments where either you two would have great one-liners between each other or you would say something and she’d just give you this look and you’d be like, yep, cool. Great. And rush away. Can you talk about creating the dynamic and not just the comedy aspect, but making it feel very lived in?
Vinny Thomas: The dynamic just kind of naturally settled into itself because one of the first times we were on set together, Reese was completely locked in actor style, and she was, as Margot, kind of looking around the room, her arms crossed, fully getting into character. My dumb a– from over there was like, Oh, something is wrong. Something is wrong with her.
So I immediately went up, and I was like, Is everything okay, Reese? Are you doing okay? She goes, Oh, no, no, no, it’s okay. I’m acting. I said, I’m acting too. That was the initial kind of settling of this dynamic of me checking in, her responding very matter of factly, and me being like, absolutely. I agree. Yeah, I do think Davy is definitely a little meaner than I am, but still the same basic feeling.
Temple of Geek: You also got to work with Will Ferrell, who is a pillar of comedy. What did you learn from not only working with him but even just watching him?
Vinny Thomas: Oh my gosh, genius, an icon. Will is a much more high-energy comedy guy. I feel like sometimes I love subtlety. I love just moving my eyes around or making a shitty little quiet face in the background, but Will is big. He yells and he screams and he hollers, and he devotes every ounce of his energy to being ridiculous. It’s so funny; it never crosses the line for me into being hacky, or cringe or anything.
It’s just him being funny as big as possible. So if there’s anything I learned from him, it was don’t be afraid to take crazy swings, but you have to be 100% committed because you can’t be the person who yells, but you can see on your face that you’re not a yeller. You can see behind the eyes that this person’s not a yeller. You got to yell and really mean it when you’re crazy.
“[Nicholas Stoller’s] going to do whatever’s funny, so make sure to try it.”
Temple of Geek: Will and Reese were also producers on this movie. What did you take away from seeing them wear both those hats as producers and actors?
Vinny Thomas: Yeah, my takeaway was that it’s a lot of work but worth it, probably, in the long run. Producing is always an interesting position because you help create the overarching thing, but you’re not necessarily involved in the minutiae like with directing.
But obviously it’s Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell, so they’re going to chip in and give their 2 cents with regard to the creative direction and everything else. It was just really interesting seeing people kind of at the peak of their careers doing a million things at once and still performing really, really well. I mean super, super funny.
Temple of Geek: Was there room to improvise on set?
Vinny Thomas: Yeah, a little bit. Not too much, but every now and then I would toss in a little something. I sometimes improvise when it feels like the line is coming to me too slowly. When whatever the line is, I can’t necessarily find it, so I just fill in the space, and it just feels right, and you have to do it. So yeah, there were a few moments of that that were really great. Definitely a lot of fun to improvise.
Temple of Geek: That feels like the perfect time to improvise.
Vinny Thomas: Oh yeah. Some might even say it’s required of you when you can’t think of the line.
Temple of Geek: You’ve worked with the director, Nicholas, before. What was your experience with him, not only on a film set versus a TV set with “Platonic,’ but just with the different styles of comedy that come into play?
Vinny Thomas: I think Nick’s style of comedy is whatever he hears that is funny in the room, if someone says something funny, he’s like, Oh my gosh. Yeah, say that, say that. Yeah, yeah, say that, say that. And he does that. He is excited. He’s like, Say that.
Hey’ll often come up to you, and he’ll try to brainstorm. Oh, what would be a good idea for this? So it is very collaborative, and I think at the end of the day, his style on “Platonic” and “You’re Cordially Invited” are very similar. It’s just a cool, nice director who definitely wants to; he’s going to do whatever’s funny, so make sure to try it.
“I’m excited for [platonic fans] to see me looming behind Seth Rogan in even more surprising ways.”
Temple of Geek: Did you take anything from your experience on “Platonic” into “Your Cordially Invited,” and then is there anything you took from your experience with “Your Cordially Invited” that you want to take into your next project?
Vinny Thomas: Yeah, from Platonic, I definitely took kind of relaxing and playing with the person who you’re performing with. Really just leaning into that and really connecting with them too to kind of make those jokes. From “You’re Cordially Invited,” I took the experience of working on a movie set, and so everything’s much more quick and kind of condensed a little bit because the timeline is much smaller.
So you got to be on your sh-t and you’re only going to have one or two takes sometimes. So you’ve really got to dig in and do those really well. I also took away the feeling that if I ever make a movie, I definitely want to do it near a lake. That sh-t was so pretty; that was gorgeous. I’m like, if I shoot a movie, it’s going to be by the water. You could shoot them anywhere. Do you know what I mean? I’m like, I’m going to make a movie on the beach.
Temple of Geek: What are you excited for fans to see in season two of “Platonic?”
Vinny Thomas: I’m excited for them to see me looming behind Seth Rogan in even more surprising ways. I’m always floating around, this weird little mosquito who’s just bothering people and just a weird little guy. I’m addicted to being a weird little guy. I truly can’t wait for people to see more of it.
Temple of Geek: Can you talk about creating that dynamic with Seth in the first season? How is it amped up in the second season?
Vinny Thomas: Yeah, there were a lot of moments when I was improvising with Seth. Because Nick gave us a lot of leeway to just kind of mess around. I think one of my favorites was we were dumping a bunch of hops or something into one of the giant vats that beer is in, and we were improvising something. At one point I think I accidentally said the word c-m, and this ends up in the blooper reel.
Seth was like, What? What did you say? So he immediately clocks it. I didn’t even register that I accidentally said it within the context of something; I might’ve just stuttered. So I start laughing, and I break immediately, and so then we both start laughing. I think it’s that kind of stuff that’s like we’re both kind of needling at each other a little bit in very dry ways. That’s amped up, I would say, even more combined with the physical comedy of me quite literally looming in different parts of the room.
“I think it’s high time for a Star Wars sitcom”
Temple of Geek: You got to be in “Ahsoka,” which is such a cool experience. What I’m curious about is how you wanted to ground your character in humanity versus the big bombastic aspects of this universe.
Vinny Thomas: I think [Jai Kell] is a very easy character to empathize with. He’s this young freshman senator from this backwater planet. He’s idealistic, but pretty shy. So I think that the great thing about Star Wars is that a lot of the stories are very relatable and a lot of the characters, even if they’re twi’leks or huts, have a lot of traits that humans have. The humans in the show, I think it’s just really good to play them like folks. Jai is a nervous young politician who’s responsible for bringing this entire planet into the fold of the Senate, which is easy and simple to think about.
Temple of Geek: I enjoy exploring the political aspects of Star Wars. I always think that’s very cool. Is that something you would like to see more of? As the Senate is being rebuilt, maybe exploring your character and where he fits into that?
Vinny Thomas: Holy sh-t, absolutely. I think it’s high time for a Star Wars sitcom if there was a half hour sitcom about Jai’s first month in the Senate, that was like “Veep.” Him trying to navigate these different dynamics between all these different planets, figuring out voting, and where even does he sit? Where does he go to have lunch?
All the big senators who command these giant populations in these huge regions of space, he tries to go eat with them in some fancy restaurant, and they’re like, No, you sit over there. He’s drinking blue milk and worms at basically a 7-Eleven or something. I think there’s so many little details about what the day-to-day life is like for this low tier political figure, this bureaucrat in the galactic senate, that have never been explored and I think are inherently funny. I think that would be so fun.
Temple of Geek: Oh, I completely agree. I just see him getting in an elevator with Leia Organa and panicking, not knowing what to do. This is his moment, and then she gets out of the elevator. He’s like, well.
Vinny Thomas: Yeah, he’s ramping up to pitch this idea for legislation to Leia Organa, and he’s covered in sweat, but the elevator’s so fast, and maybe he’s never been on an elevator that quick before.
Vinny Thomas Explains How he Wanted yo Set his Presentation Apart in “Smartypants” Season 2
Temple of Geek: I’m so excited for season two of “Smartypants.” The presentations are completely unhinged and I love it so much. What did you want to bring to your presentation to make it stand out from others you’ve seen?
Vinny Thomas: I drew a lot of my own graphics for mine. If you like unhinged, which it sounds like you’re a fan of the unhinged. I truly can’t wait for you to see some of the drawings that I made. It’s weird. You think about how the presentation’s going to go, and I didn’t rehearse mine very much. I wanted it to feel like you’re just having fun in the room and just talking with people. But the way it feels and the way people interact with you when you’re doing that is totally unexpected. Some of the words that came out of my mouth, oh my gosh, I truly can’t wait for you guys to see. The drawings are gross. You’re going to love ’em.
Temple of Geek: Can you talk to me about that interactive element and having people maybe challenge your presentation and having to defend it. Which is I’m sure an aspect that you weren’t necessarily, you said you didn’t practice a lot, but that’s something you can’t rehearse.
Vinny Thomas: Yeah, exactly. You can’t rehearse what kind of people are watching you. You might get a little freak. That’s got a little something to say. People had a lot to chime in. I don’t know if I was challenged that much. I think what was interesting about my presentation, it was very chaotic, but then at the end there was kind of a very earnest discussion and a lot of very frank questions. I felt like more of an expert than I’ve ever felt like in my mind. People were asking me questions as if I knew everything about what I just presented on. I took that authority and I reveled in it. I rolled around in it like a little pig, and it worked.
Temple of Geek: As you should, as you should. That’s your moment to shine. With “Star Wars” and “You’re Cordially Invited” and all these amazing projects, is there any genre or big franchise or anything that you’d like to dip your toe in that you haven’t been able to before?
Vinny Thomas: Oh my gosh, there’s so much. I’ve always wanted to play the kind of happy, weird villain that sometimes pops up in media, a real smiley kind of bad person. So that’d be great. I love some of the stuff DC is making now, especially some of the animated stuff. “Creature Commandos” is so funny. I think everyone should watch “Creature Commandos.”
It’s funny, but also bleak and terrifying and sad, but it’s so funny. The writing on it is so good. So definitely something like that, a more dry kind of sci-fi like Severance I would love to be in. Yeah, there’s a million things. I dunno if I have one single dream thing. I think my dream is to make cool stuff for weirdos and freaks and yeah, I think that’s it.
“You’re Cordially Invited” is available to watch now on Prime Video.
