The last time I spoke to Will Forte, it was a transitional time in his career. He was a year removed from his eight-season run on "Saturday Night Live" and the box office disappointment of his starring vehicle, "MacGruber." At that time, It seemed things were just starting to happen again for Forte, which left him quite reflective. Now, it's safe to say, things are very much happening. So much so that we've dubbed this weekend, "The Weekend of Will Forte."
This weekend there are two wide release movies hitting theaters: "Rock of Ages" and Adam Sandler's "That's My Boy." Will Forte is in both of these movies. Also, Sunday is Will Forte's birthday. The Weekend of Will Forte, indeed. Forte is currently in Ireland filming the indie movie "Run and Jump," but he took the time to call in to address his celebratory weekend, the latest on Alexander Payne's "Nebraska," and "MacGruber 2," which could sort of happen.
I'd be remiss if if we didn't speak with you for Weekend of Will Forte.
[Laughs] You're the only person who thinks that.
That's not true!
I'm going to tell my family that. They might be the only people who respect that.
There are only two wide release movies being released this weekend and you are in both of them.
That's very exciting.
How are you celebrating The Weekend of Will Forte?
Not only is that happening, it's my birthday on Sunday and it's Father's Day and I love my dad. So it's going to be a great weekend.
Happy early birthday, by the way.
Thank you very much.
My favorite thing about you in "Rock of Ages" is that you're wearing the patented Will Forte fake mustache.
Oh my God. I love mustaches. I'm actually doing something right now in Ireland called "Run and Jump" and I have a full beard. I guess it's the next logical step after so many mustaches all of the time. But, it feels a little weird. It feels almost like I'm wearing too much hair on my face.
I don't think I'm down with that. I like just the vintage Forte mustache.
[Laughs] Well, the good news is that when I'm done, I'm going to be able to shave it off and have a very lush mustache.
Oh, good. Was Mitch's mustache in "Rock of Ages" at your request?
No, I didn't even have to say anything! They already knew about my passion for mustaches. Because not only am I wearing a mustache in that, it's a real fixture.
For a small role, you got a lot of laughs in your scene, running back and forth.
Oh, that's exciting to hear! I haven't gotten to see it yet.
And then Tom Cruise pulls up on a motorcycle.
It was so fun. I was only there for three days and I really don't have that much stuff with Tom Cruise. But that scene was configured at the end of each take, he would be standing around where I was. We got to do a lot of small talk. And he was really nice. My mom got to meet him, which was very exciting for the Forte family.
What does one small talk about with Tom Cruise?
I don't know! I was kind of nervous at first, but he's so nice. I forget what we talked about. I don't even remember; I was pretty star struck around Tom Cruise.
I saw "That's My Boy" on Wednesday night. You get to run around with a sock on your penis.
That's true. That's the clothing equivalent of a mustache.
Is that in your contract? One or the other?
Yes.
Or celery sticks.
Yes. And I was equally as star struck around Adam Sandler.
Really?
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
I just assumed that you knew him already.
I had met him a couple of times. The thing is, it's almost easier with non-comedy celebrities. Because Adam is one of my comedy idols, so you over analyze everything you say around somebody like that because you don't want to sound stupid. Even though he's so easy to talk to and so nice, I would just get in my head. With "That's My Boy," I had a somewhat larger role than I did in "Rock of Ages," so I got to spend a lot more time around him. And I gradually got more comfortable with him. But I've always been such a huge fan of his, I was just worried that I was saying stupid stuff.
I feel like he might be a fun guy to be around.
Well, now, it's crazy. Now if I see him it's so easy to hang around with him and he is exactly that way.
Have you seen "That's My Boy"?
I have. I've seen it three time now. I love it.
I'll admit, I laughed a lot during this movie.
We had so much fun making it. That was the thing, whenever I would watch an Adam Sandler movie before I got to be in one, it just looks like so much fun. You can tell how much fun they're all having while they're making it. And when I got a chance to be in this movie, I saw that it really is as much fun as it looks like.
It's nice that you picked the R-rated Sandler movie. There seemed to be very few limits.
Oh my God. It was already so much fun. But that added another level of dirty pleasure.
Was there anything in there that you added?
He was very good about letting us make suggestions. Pitch jokes ... Um ... I'm sorry, my brain is not working because I am on Ireland time.
And being The Weekend of Will Forte, this must all be very overwhelming, I would imagine.
[Laughs] My senses can't take it.
Your name has been mentioned for Alexander Payne's "Nebraska." Is that happening?
I don't know. I don't have means of communication out here, my phone is and Internet is off. I don't know what's going on with that ... I'll just say that I'm a huge fan of Alexander Payne. If I ever got to work with him, it would be a real dream come true.
Last week, rumors of a "MacGruber 2" had to be quelled. Even so, it was just great having MacGruber back in the news.
I mean, we will make "MacGruber 2." It might be a home movie, but we just had so much fun messing around with that. It would just be fun for us to think about and write. If anybody ever let us do anything more than a home movie, we would be appreciative and take them up on it.
If it is made as a home movie, will you send me a copy? I'd like to watch it.
You can come make it with us.
Well, that's very exciting. You were at the season finale of "SNL" last month. I realize why "Lazy Sunday 2" was the last Digital Short, but there was part of me hoping for a sequel to "Lettuce." Because people forget that was the first Digital Short. I wanted to watch you eat lettuce again.
I know that at some point I was with Akiva Schaffer [of "The Lonely Island"] in Los Angeles. And I said, "What are they doing?" Because I heard they are doing a final short. And he said, "Well, they're doing 'Lazy Sunday' because it was the first one." I said, "No!!! 'Lettuce' was the first Digital Short!!!"
Good for you. I'm glad you stood up for "Lettuce." It doesn't get enough credit.
And Akiva said, "Oh, yeah. Yeah." I think he said he was going to try to include ... oh, he did put a little clip in there.
He did. In the "100th Digital Short," there is a short clip.
They're saving it so we can do some "Lettuce" stuff in 'MacGruber 2.'
Or just a full on "Lettuce" movie. We can discuss that during the next Weekend of Will Forte.
Another movie that no one will give us any money to make.
Mike Ryan is senior entertainment writer for The Huffington Post. He hopes MacGruber 2 becomes a reality. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.
