The Big Picture

Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler discuss the imaginary friend’s ‘bible’ and Jizz Jams in the buddy comedy Ricky Stanicky.
Santino discusses the ending of the hit series Dave and why it’s not continuing.
The stars also reveal director Peter Farrelly’s comedy gold secret and the importance of heart in comedy.

From the writer-director of Dumb and Dumber, buddy comedy Ricky Stanicky stars Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler as 2/3 of a childhood trio, alongside Zac Efron, who have lied their way through life ever since a prank-gone-wrong two decades ago. Together, the three of them devised a fail-proof plan, complete with what Santino and Fowler reveal is an actual bible full of lies, and an imaginary friend, Ricky Stanicky (played by John Cena), to take the heat for their schemes.

In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, the duo explain how their art department created an actual book full of intricate details and lies the three friends told throughout their years as friends. They compare their characters to “psychopaths” you’d meet in David Fincher’s Se7en, share their favorite scenes, director Peter Farrelly’s secret to comedy gold in Hollywood, and talk about which Jizz Jams were their favorites. They also talk John Cena fantasies, Fowler’s upcoming horror movie Faces of Death, and why we won’t be getting another season of FX’s Dave. You can watch the full interview in the video above, or read the transcript below.

Ricky Stanicky When three childhood best friends pull a prank gone wrong, they invent the imaginary Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble. Twenty years later, they still use the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior.Release Date March 7, 2024 Director Peter Farrelly Main Genre Comedy Writers Jeffrey Bushell , Brian Jarvis , Jim Freeman

FX’s ‘Dave’ “Is Not Gonna Come Back” for Season 4
Image via FXX

COLLIDER: Before we get into the film, I like throwing some curveballs. I’ve got to start with you. I’m a little bit angry, and I’m angry at you and Dave [Burd] for not doing another season.

ANDREW SANTINO: Yes, that you’ll have to take up with FX networks. I have nothing to do with that.

I’m putting it on you, though.

SANTINO: Okay, I’ll take all the heat. Now that I think about it, it’s my fault. Yeah, Dave is not gonna come back, and I think three was a magic number a little bit. I think they mutually agreed that that was the time to say goodbye and put it to bed. People move on to other things, but that’s nice of you to be angry about it, and I’m sorry I can’t change it.

I’ll just say for people that haven’t seen Dave Season 3, it’s spectacular.

SANTINO: I’m very grateful.

JERMAINE FOWLER: He was getting recognized all over Australia when we were hanging out about Dave, and his special, too. He’s a celebrity out there.

SANTINO: Thank you for saying that, but sadly, what’s more important right now is Ricky Stanicky.

Image via Prime Video

100%. So for people that have never seen anything either of you have done, I like throwing this question to everyone, what’s the first thing you’d like them watching and why?

FOWLER: I guess the video of my birth.

SANTINO: This movie. I would say this movie, because your birth was crazy.

FOWLER: Yeah, it was violent.

SANTINO: He made us watch that when we first met. He goes, “You have to see this before you get to know me.”

FOWLER: And did it work or not?

SANTINO: It did. I love you.

FOWLER: I love you, too, man.

SANTINO: I care for you in a way that I can’t imagine would happen any other way. [Laughs] I say watch this. If you’ve never seen anything I’ve done, watch this. This is probably my proudest work, in my personal opinion.

FOWLER: No joke. I told you, the way he kills in this movie. I like watching him.

SANTINO: Ditto.

FOWLER: In the scenes, watching him, it’s such a departure from what he’s done before, and wonderful to see him delve into his character.

SANTINO: What would you want people to watch if they didn’t watch this?

FOWLER: I don’t know, man. Homo Thugs. It’s a sketch I did on YouTube. It encompasses where I was at this particular time in my life and how it basically helped me get to where I am today, honestly. It’s my first viral sketch, and my friend Kevin [Barnett] wrote it, and I miss him very much.

The Stars of ‘Ricky Stanicky’ Compare Their Characters to ‘Se7en’

One of the reasons I think this film works is that the conceit of blaming someone else for doing things, great, but also the way the characters have a bible, an extra phone. The people who wrote this layered it in a way that it’s smart. Can you sort of talk about that aspect, that the writers really thought this through?

FOWLER: I almost compare that revelation to, like, a scene in Se7en. Like, these psychopaths, sociopaths…

SANTINO: Yeah, they went deep.

FOWLER: Exactly! Like, really went through the nooks and crannies of building this imaginary character from the ground up.

SANTINO: Well, that bible that you’re talking about is real. I don’t know if you know that. That’s real. The art department, they literally made that bible with stories within it.

FOWLER: No empty pages.

SANTINO: No, that’s really a rich bible thick of, like, lies.

FOWLER: With real words.

SANTINO: Truthfully, it is.

FOWLER: Real words.

SANTINO: And it says, like…

FOWLER: “First time going to the movie theater…”

SANTINO: It’ll say, like, in ‘96 they went to the Super Bowl, or whatever. They had layers of lies.

FOWLER: Tickets. Receipts.

SANTINO: It was incredible.

FOWLER: It was insane. It was actually very impressive.

SANTINO: Which, unfortunately, the audience only sees a snippet of on the airplane.

FOWLER: Sorry, art department.

SANTINO: Yeah, the art department worked pretty hard on that.

Image via Prime Video

I don’t know if you were there to watch John film his masturbation songs…

FOWLER: No. [Laughs] I knew exactly what you were going to say.

SANTINO: No, sadly. He filmed that before we were in Australia.

I thought all of them were great, but did you have one that was your favorite?

SANTINO: What’s your favorite Jizz Jam?

FOWLER: Devo. I love Devo, so him doing Devo.

SANTINO: Was it “Jerk It?”

FOWLER: “You must jerk it!” Or jack it, or something like that, right?

SANTINO: I think it was “Jerk It.” All the Jizz Jams are hits, in my opinion, but I do think, just because watching him in a Britney Spears outfit is kind of… Okay, I’ll say it, my fantasy, okay? So, fine. That was probably my favorite, because that’s what I’ve always dreamed of.

FOWLER: A lot of dudes questioned themselves when those pictures got released.

SANTINO: Big time.

FOWLER: And we were on set for it.

SANTINO: What was your favorite Jizz Jam?

I think my favorite is the fact that I’m doing an interview where I can talk about Jizz Jams.

SANTINO: That’s right.

FOWLER: That’s fair.

And I’m not getting thrown out of the room.

SANTINO: We’ve copyrighted that, so don’t use it too many times.

Image via Prime Video

I will attempt not to. This movie has a lot of funny bits in it, but is there one that you are really looking forward to audiences seeing?

SANTINO: I think the circumcision. I think the bris is probably… You know? You know how Italians do this? [Gestures] I think it’s this. It’s got the zhuzh. I think it’s so funny. It encompasses all of our lies at once and all of our characters have to come together to, like, kind of come to a head.

FOWLER: Extremely good point. For me, it’s when you think the movie is over When Rod is going back to Atlantic City and you think it’s over, and then the movie one-ups itself, and you see him at your job and now he’s basically an executive. That, to me, that twist, I think it levels up at that moment. That’s one of my favorite scenes.

One of the things about Peter Farrelly that is so good as a director is that he has these really dirty, R-rated jokes, but he always has characters with heart who redeem themselves. I think that’s the secret sauce.

FOWLER: It’s genuine.

SANTINO: Big time.

FOWLER: His sets are full of friends of his, family, and people he’s known for years. So, it’s all genuine and it’s actually extremely refreshing to see that. Very heartwarming, warm set.

SANTINO: The best comedy has to have heart. I think the best comedies of all time have to have something there that makes you want to be a part of it and relate to it instead of just funny is funny.

FOWLER: What are you fighting for? What are you laughing for?

SANTINO: He grounds it really well.

Definitely. I have to ask an individual question. I’m very curious about this Faces of Death.

FOWLER: [Laughs] Yeah, dude. I can’t wait for you to see it. The director is such a visionary, and I remember when I was a kid coming across the original. Do you remember that?

Oh, I know. That’s why I’m asking you.

FOWLER: It freaked me out. I don’t wanna give too much away, but I think it’s gonna be a good one.

Related Dacre Montgomery & Barbie Ferreira-Led ‘Faces of Death’ Remake Begins Filming ‘Cam’ filmmakers Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber are behind the project.

What are you doing in 2024? Do you know?

SANTINO: I’m gonna be touring, doing stand-up, working on my new hour. I’m gonna be putting out another hour special, and hopefully filming something. I don’t know what. I don’t want to divulge too much, but hopefully we’ll be shooting something that we’ve got brewing up right now.

FOWLER: The sequel to this.

It’s one of those things where contracts are not signed.

SANTINO: That’s right.

I know the spin.

FOWLER: We were just on strike, so we can’t talk too much.

John Cena Had His Britney Spears Jizz Jam Cut From ‘Ricky Stanicky’

For even more from the raunchy, R-rated comedy, check out our interview with co-star Lex Scott Davis (The First Purge) above. Davis shares her own favorite “horrific” scene, why the trio are so good at lying, and talks about the extended Jizz Jams Cena performs in the movie.

Ricky Stanicky is available to stream on Prime Video now.

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