Nick Swardson Talks New Season Of 'Pretend Time' And Playing Himself As A Character (VIDEO)
Nick Swardson's played a drug-addicted gay prostitute, a stalker obsessed with a male ice skater, and more recently, a farm boy turned porn star. But the role he's most interested in is Nick Swardson.
"I'm developing more stuff in my voice, more Nick Swardson. It's me as myself in a sense and kind of in my voice, no accent no affectation," he says. "I'm growing into my own persona."
Still, Swardson's found success playing characters who are definitely radical personalities. In "Reno 911," his Terry Bernadino is all accent, affectation, and insanity dressed up in tiny, tiny outfits. And in his show "Nick Swardson's Pretend Time," he plays a wide variety of wacky characters who come from all walks of life.
"Nothing's really awkward for me," Swardson says. "I've always really put myself out there with any character I've done -- I married Ving Rhames, you know, so I've always put myself out there."
That lack of shame proved useful in his recent film "Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star" (which he co-wrote with Adam Sandler), where Swardson plays the title character, a naive midwestern guy who just wants to make porn. But Bucky is not so lucky when it comes to one crucial part of his anatomy.
"Bucky has a really small penis -- like really small," Swardson says. "An effects company had to come in and build a small penis over my penis, pretty surreal. Two guys take this plastic and molded it onto my crotch and wait until it hardened and then created another penis on that. I had to take my clothes off and they glued it back onto my body."
Despite the rewards of creating and playing a character like Bucky, Swardson isn't just interested in playing crazy.
"I kind of leave my career open," says Swardson. "This character was very thick and it was fun to do stuff like that, but I don't want to just be like making really sick characters every movie."
With "Pretend Time," Swardson says he has the chance to do more comedy in the style he wants to do it -- not surprising considering that he both writes and stars in the show.
"We just finished season two," Swardson says. "I liked Season 1 but it wasn't really what I wanted. I feel like this season is really the show I wanted to make content wise. You're kind of feeling your way through it -- it's rare that you get a first season and its like boom. This season has more stand up elements."
But Swardson certainly doesn't look back on any of the characters he's played with regret.
"I've been in the business 15 years and there's nothing on my resume I'm embarrassed about. I'm fortunate enough to create a lot of the stuff," he says.
Season two of "Nick Swardson's Pretend Time" premieres Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 10:30 p.m., EST on Comedy Central.
WATCH: "Pretend Time" preview
Pretend Time
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Posted: 10/05/11 09:50 AM ET