As media baron (and Koala Airlines) owner Kench Allenby, Aussie Josh Lawson has gotten the chance to not only step into the revered hilarity of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues as Ron Burgundy’s new boss but also take the mickey out of the many Australian media bosses who have come before him. OK, mostly Rupert Murdoch. We spoke with Lawson ahead of the film’s opening.
How did you come to be involved in the film?
JOSH LAWSON: Well I worked with Will [Ferrell] and Adam [McKay], who produced The Campaign with Will of course, in The Campaign. I had a small role in that so I got to know them a little bit during that. When this movie came up and they put an Aussie role in it, they wanted me to come in and read it, just to hear the accent really, just to hear how the role sounded with an Aussie accent. I did that and then eventually they went… “Well, he’ll do”.
Awesome! From a viewer’s point of view it’s a very different film to The Campaign. Was it something that you had to approach differently as a performer?
Yeah I think so. It’s a little different. Anchorman in a weird way has its own tone. It’s such a unique film. It’s absurd and it’s kind of outrageous but at the same time there’s a lot of heart in it as well. So yeah, I did approach it a little differently. My role was slightly different because Kench is a real ball buster and he has to provide the threat to the news team – the threat of being fired, the threat of being ruined professionally and so yeah, he’s a bit of a bad guy in that way. I loved playing him.
The previous Anchorman and many of McKay’s films in general are renowned for the amount of ad-libbing that’s involved. Was that your experience on set as well?
Yeah, there definitely was a bit of ad-libbing. The script was so tight out of the gate; it was so good that it was a good structure to fall back on but there was definitely a lot of improv. Adam would be making stuff up on the spot and giving us one-liners to play around with but then there would be takes when he would say, “you know what? Do something completely different. Now just go crazy’. It’s a hybrid of scripted stuff and improv.
Does that mean it was an experience for you where you’re not too sure once you left the set what was going to make the cut?
Oh yeah, 100%. We would never know. I think they had enough footage to cut two different movies, that’s how much they had gotten. There was every chance a lot of this stuff would be cut but it’s really lucky none of our scenes got cut out of the movie. Occasionally a joke wouldn’t make it but most of my stuff was in it, which was really great. You’re always afraid that you’re going to hit the cutting room floor.
I guess that’s something that can happen in any film.
Absolutely, the more you shoot, the more likely there’s gonna be stuff cut out.
In some ways it’s really fortunate you had this rich history of media assholes to draw on for your character.
[Laughs] Yeah, I knew these assholes would come in handy one day. For me, I based my character on an amalgam of all these news tycoons.
They’re such wonderful people. I’m sure they’ll be happy about being satirised in that fashion.
Yeah their hearts are in the right place. It was a lot of fun to be able to lampoon the moguls of the world.
What was your favourite day on set?
I loved it when Kench loses his temper. I don’t want to spoil too much, but when Kench and Ron have a misunderstanding, or let’s say a battle, towards the end of the film and I get to totally lose my… you know what. I really enjoyed doing that. That was a lot of fun.
How many times did you have to dig deep into your shit-losing on that day?
It actually does take it out of you. You do 20 takes of losing your shit; it’s almost like going to the gym. I had to get patted down and de-sweated quite a bit that day.
How do you feel being the ambassador of the terrible Australian stereotype in this film?
[Laughs] Well I feel very proud. I’m very proud to have flown that flag. My hope is that the Aussies don’t feel too badly about it. There’s definitely a lot of stereotypes in the film. Hopefully there’s a lot of fun to be had there too. I was aware of it as well, believe me. As an Aussie I was like, look. I know Aussies are probably gonna be pissed off with this but I also knew that Aussie audiences would have a lot of fun with it too. I hope I didn’t offend too many Aussies with it.
I’m a Kiwi so I don’t really mind either way. That stereotyping and that very slender narrative that exists in the film is just great because it creates all this space for gags.
Yeah, well that’s right. It’s that kind of film but it also has a really good message about the way news is heading these days and how off the rails we’ve become. But it is a comedy and you’re belly laughing the whole time. But they’ve done well putting in the little digs at the current news system.
When you switch on the 6 o’clock news, what’s the sort of story that gets you to keep watching after the ad break?
These days it’s all the national disasters that seem to be saturating the news at the moment, in a really tragic way. If it’s not one thing it’s another. In the film at one point, Brick is like, “I like wind!” and Ron says, “Yeah, people love natural disasters.” I remember thinking, ‘God he’s not wrong’. They do like to cover natural disasters and it’s pretty depressing but it’s pretty watchable.
That’s for sure. The first line of yours that got a laugh out of me was, I think, “Bugger me with a didgeridoo.”
“Bugger me with a didgeridoo.” Yeah.
Did you turn up to find that waiting for you or was that yours?
You know what, someone else asked me that and I can’t remember! I’m going to have to ask Adam that. I can’t remember if that was scripted or not. I’ve honestly forgotten. My gut says, “I think that was improv”.
So you’re prepared to take full responsibility.
I’ll take on Adam McKay if he comes at me with that. But I’ll ask him that tonight because I’m curious to know where that came from.
It’s quite a repertory bunch of players that appear in these films. Are you part of the family; is that what it feels like on set?
God I hope so! I’d love to be part of this family. It was so fun to play with them for a couple of months making this movie; I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Any opportunity; if they wanna ask me back they’ll get a yes from me. Unequivocally.
What else have you got on at the moment? Will we see you in the near future?
Well, I’m currently shooting season three of House of Lies on Showtime in the States, with Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell.
That’s a great show.
Oh thanks, I’m glad you like it. We love shooting it and we have a great time. Season three is, I think, the best one yet. So yeah, that’ll be great. And then Crave is a little film I did a couple of years ago, that’s coming out December 6 in the States and then getting released internationally on VOD. And then I directed a film here in Australia called The Little Death and that’ll come out next year. Knock on wood.
Has it been fun having everyone come down for the Australian premiere?
Oh it was absolutely amazing. The beautiful bit of poetry is that we premiered at Fox Studios last night. I used to work at the cinema where the premiere was. I used to rip tickets and hand out popcorn at that cinema so it was nice to come back to that place and be in the movie that’s premiering. That was pretty fun.
Click here for more info and session times
