Oftentimes the problem with male-oriented buddy comedies is that the women in their lives are viewed as, for lack of a better word, burdens. Though they may be physically beautiful and emotionally wise, they’re usually an obstacle to the elusive good times the protagonists are after. While the premise of Prime Video’s Ricky Stanicky may suggest yet another variation on the same theme, peeling back the layers reveals a much more interesting and complex story.
Said story comes courtesy of Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary director Peter Farrelly, who mines Ricky Stanicky for both toilet humor and relationship drama for functioning adults. The R-rated comedy stars Zac Efron as Dean, who conjured up the imaginary Ricky Stanicky along with his best friends JT and Wes (played by Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler) to get out of trouble and obligations. When Dean’s girlfriend Erin (soon-to-be star of Suits L.A., Lex Scott Davis) and their other loved ones demand to see Ricky in the flesh, the boys have no choice but to hire Rod (John Cena) to impersonate the improbable bestie.
Ricky Stanicky Cast & Character Guide
Peter Farrelly’s new comedy Ricky Stanicky has a star-studded cast including such iconic actors as Zac Efron, John Cena, and Jermaine Fowler.
Screen Rant interviewed Davis about Erin’s role in Ricky Stanicky, and the actor gushed about working with Efron in more dramatic scenes as well as comedic ones. She also shared what she thinks makes Erin a well-rounded role rather than a trope, and how her own childhood mischief differed from the movie characters’ choices.
Working With Zac Efron Is A Dream Come True For Lex Scott Davis
Screen Rant: You and Zac Efron have a really nice chemistry onscreen. What was the dynamic like offscreen and building the relationship together with him as a scene partner?
Lex Scott Davis: Zac is fantastic. It’s so sad when you get to travel and build and shoot these movies, and it’s not that much time, but you fall in love with your scene partners and with your cast. We just built the best bond, all of us; all the guys and Anja [Savcic], and we had such a good time. We filmed this in Australia, so it’s like camp. All we had was each other. We didn’t know anyone else.
Zac and I hit it off from the moment we met each other, and we just had a great time and talked about life and talked about acting and things that he’s learned. I’ve learned so much about the art form through him and seeing his passion for it. Even though we’re making a comedy, he’s so passionate about the work and I respect that a lot. I come from dramatic acting, so it was nice to feel that.
Even with a comedy, he really genuinely cares about character arc and story and all of these things that you didn’t think would matter on a comedic set. But he’s fantastic, extremely encouraging, and always patted me on the back when he liked a take or felt something worked really well. I would work with Zac a million times again.
Why Erin Is So Much More Than A “Fun Sucker” In Ricky Stanicky
I had so much fun with Ricky Stanicky, and I really like Erin and Dean’s relationship. It seems so loving and open, and yet it is bewildering that he’s keeping this huge secret from her. Can you talk about the relationship at the start of the movie, from your perspective?
Lex Scott Davis: At the start of the movie, obviously, they’re deeply in love with each other, their dog, Dean points out. It’s a very supportive relationship. He wants the world for her and her journalism journey. So, we see a hint of that at the beginning when she’s talking about applying for this new position and it’s all very supportive.
On the flip side, she’s supportive of him. She knows he cares about Ricky. He just got this horrible news about his cancer returning and she wants him to be there. No matter what the sacrifice is with them or what they had planned for the day, she really wants him to be there for Ricky because he’s been there for Dean forever.
Oftentimes, Erin’s role could be relegated to “the fun sucker.” Instead, Erin really wants to be there, wants to be involved, and they are the ones not letting her. How do you walk that line as an actor and then also with help from Peter Farrelly?
Lex Scott Davis: I want to play truthful to the circumstances, and you want your partner to have their friends. You encourage that. Not everyone, but for me, I can speak personally. I encourage friendship with my partner and he encourages it with me. So, I think that’s a lot of what we see with Dean and Erin. She didn’t mind that he has boy time.
There were times when they were all together and it was a great time. They go bowling and they have all these events that they do throughout the film where it does work together, where the partners of the friends can come together. So, just leaning on that reality. Definitely never want to be a fun sucker. That is not me, that is not Erin. I think Peter allowed space for that to happen too.
When Real Friends Make Trouble, There’s No Ricky Stanicky Required
Did you in your childhood have a Ricky Stanicky equivalent? What kind of mischief did you make?
Lex Scott Davis: I’m an only child, so, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t have an imaginary friend or two. So, yes, I definitely had an imaginary friend and got into a lot of mischief as I got older. I think at my middle school in ninth grade, I started to dabble in getting into trouble. But at that point, I had real friends. They weren’t imaginary. I was getting in trouble with real friends.
About Ricky Stanicky
RICKY STANICKY is a laugh-out-loud R-rated comedy about a childhood prank gone wrong and a decades-long lie gone too far. Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler lead the cast as childhood friends Dean, JT, and Wes who create the fictional character and best friend, Ricky Stanicky. John Cena portrays celebrity impersonator “Rock Hard” Rod who is hired by the trio to impersonate their fictional friend “Ricky Stanicky”.
Check out our other interviews with:
- Andrew Santino & Jermaine Fowler
- Peter Farrelly & William H. Macy
Ricky Stanicky
Directed by Peter Farrelly, Ricky Stanicky is a comedy film that follows three friends, Dean, JT, and Wes, who create an imaginary friend as children to shield themselves from their various misdeeds. Now grown up and with their own families, the trio of friends is caught in a tricky situation when they’re forced to prove the man’s existence to their significant others – and they decide to hire a former celebrity to bring the lie to life.
- Director
- Peter Farrelly
- Release Date
- March 7, 2024
- Studio(s)
- Footloose Productions , Michael De Luca Productions , Rocket Science , Smart Entertainment
- Distributor(s)
- Amazon MGM Studios
- Writers
- Jeff Bushell , Brian Jarvis , James Lee Freeman , Peter Farrelly , Pete Jones , Mike Cerrone
- Cast
- Zac Efron , Jermaine Fowler , Andrew Santino , Lex Scott Davis , Anja Savcic , Jeff Ross , William H. Macy , John Cena
