After making their names on YouTube and being Hot Rod, a zany comedy about a wannabe stuntman raising money to pay for his stepdad’s life-saving surgery.
Although contemporary critics weren’t too impressed with the movie and it initially bombed at the box office, Hot Rod quickly became a cult hit and is now celebrated as one of the 2000s’ funniest movies. Here are some fun facts from behind the scenes.
Will Ferrell Was Originally Slated To Play Rod
The title role in Hot Rod was originally written for Will Ferrell, and he was even cast in the role. However, he had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts with other projects.
After Ferrell dropped out, the role was offered to Andy Samberg, who was beginning his journey to becoming one of the 21st century’s most recognizable comedy stars. Ferrell has an executive producer credit on the final product.
Bill Hader Wore Hair Extensions For The Movie
Bill Hader’s character in Hot Rod has long hair, unlike the usual neat cut that Hader has for roles as, for example, a police officer in Superbad and a doctor in Trainwreck.
He didn’t achieve his look for Hot Rod by wearing a wig. Instead, he went a step further and had hair extensions put in. He kept those extensions in for the entire summer that Hot Rod was in production.
Andy Samberg’s Stunt Double Broke His Leg Shooting The Opening Scene
During the filming of Hot Rod’s opening scene, in which Rod attempts to jump over a mail van on his bike, Andy Samberg’s stunt double actually broke his leg.
It’s interesting to think that professional stunt performers had to be hired to work on a movie about a terrible amateur stunt performer.
The Original Script Was Written By South Park’s Pam Brady
The original script for Hot Rod was written by Pam Brady, who worked as a writer for South Park during its earliest seasons and also has a writing credit alongside Trey Parker and Matt Stone on the feature-length South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Team America: World Police.
However, after Hot Rod was offered to the Lonely Island, they completely rewrote the script to suit their uniquely wacky comedic style.
The Lonely Island Managed To Squeeze The Shoot Between Seasons Of SNL
Since Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer all had full-time jobs at Saturday Night Live at the time Hot Rod went into production, they had to work the shoot around their SNL schedule.
When NBC’s iconic sketch show went on hiatus, the Lonely Island guys began rewriting Pam Brady’s Hot Rod script in June 2006. The movie started shooting on July 24th, filming wrapped on September 23rd, and they were back to work at SNL on September 25th.
All Of Andy Samberg’s Stunt Doubles Had To Wear Prosthetic Noses
One of Andy Samberg’s most distinguishing physical features is his slightly-larger-than-average nose. In order to convincingly look like Samberg, the actor’s stunt doubles in Hot Rod all had to wear prosthetic noses.
Samberg’s long-time friends and Lonely Island cohorts Akiva Schaffer, who directed the movie, and Jorma Taccone, played a prank on Samberg by requesting prosthetic noses that were bigger than Samberg’s to make him feel insecure.
Bill Hader Based His Character’s Mannerisms On A Friend Of His
Bill Hader based the personality and mannerisms of his Hot Rod character Dave on a friend of his named Eric. The scene in which Dave is tripping and asks Rod to drive him to the hospital was based on a real incident involved Eric. In real life, Eric was the Dave and Hader was the Rod.
Some Of The Movie’s Funniest Lines Were Ad-Libbed
As with many modern comedies, some of the funniest lines in Hot Rod were improvised by the cast. Will Arnett yelling, “BABE, NO, BABE, WAIT, BABE!!!,” was ad-libbed as the actor was trying to crack up the crew and had no idea that the whole thing would end up in the final cut.
In the script, Rod and Kevin were just supposed to say, “Cool beans,” to each other once. Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone improvised repeating the line over and over again.
Danny McBride And Bill Hader Watched America’s Next Top Model On The Set
When actors are shooting Hollywood movies, they often find themselves with hours of downtime as the crew sets up certain shots and they wait to hear when they’re needed to appear on-camera.
In their downtime on the set of Hot Rod, Danny McBride and Bill Hader ed the time by watching episodes of America’s Next Top Model.
Andy Samberg Performed Some Of His Own Stunts
Ankle-breaking Tom Cruise notwithstanding, actors performing their own stunts can be a tricky business, as it makes insuring them for the shoot a lot more difficult.
Andy Samberg required a couple of stunt doubles for Hot Rod, but he performed as many of his own stunts as the studio would allow him to do, including the pool jump.
