How did comedian Jason Mantzoukas get cast in John Wick: Chapter 3?
John Wick: Chapter 3 (2019 Movie)
Jason Mantzoukas is an undeniably talented individual but the actor, writer, and How Did This Get Made? podcast host tends to get cast in comedy projects like FX’s The League or big screen comedy The House which require him to exhibit a manic, motormouthed energy. So, how exactly did Mantzoukas wind up playing the tight-lipped Tick Tock Man, a henchman of Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum?
“Didn’t know him,” says director Chad Stahelski. “[I’m a] fan of his, from just all the weird stuff he’s done. We had all these [roles], bits and bobs, just nothing things. We try to sprinkle that kind of cast throughout the movie, so it’s interesting and fun. We were big on just going down the list of New York actors going, ‘Do you want to be in it?’ And you usually get about [fifty] percent, you know, ‘F— you, what are you crazy? You’re insulting me,’ to the other fifty percent [saying] ‘That’s f—ing cool, when do you need me?'”
It turns out, Mantzoukas was in the latter camp.
“He was one of those, ‘Ah, I love it! What do you need?'” continues Stahelski. “You’ve got to be the director guy saying, ‘I love your work, this is a nothing gig, come play. You’re going to do a couple of scenes with Laurence Fishburne, and Keanu, and Asia Dillon, and all this stuff.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t care if I [just] sit there. Whatever. I just want to be in it!’ We shot the whole movie in the rain. All his scenes are in the f—ing rain! And he’s sitting there with pigeon s— and rain, being in the background, just doing his little looks. Like, he adds a lot to the film, and the world expansion, and he’s a f—king great guy.”
Watch the trailer for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, above.
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