23 Facts About John C. Reilly Films That Are Like a Combination of Fergie and Jesus

Walk hard down to Talladega with us
23 Facts About John C. Reilly Films That Are Like a Combination of Fergie and Jesus

Just thinking about this big, lovable chap puts a smile on our faces — even when he’s playing a far-from-lovable character in an intense drama. His hilariousness in some of our favorite comedies let us know that there’s a pretty sweet dude under that dastardly cop character of his in Gangs of New York. 

So here are a few charming little tidbits about John C. Reilly…

Days of Thunder

BEHINO-THE-SCENESSPACTS Reilly raced with Duvall and Cruise in DAYS OF THUNDER Wins TALLADEGA NIGHTS CRACKED COM THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY NASCAR One of John C. Reilly's first big jobs was on the Tom Cruise racing epic. My only advice to Adam and Will when it came to my Days of Thunder experience, says Reilly, was to tell them to ignore my entire acting performance.

Driving School

BEHINO-THE-SCENESEMOTS Ferrell, Reilly, and McKay went to DRIVING SCHOOL MALT LIQUOR Daw in BELL TALLADEGA NIGHTS MALT LA CRACKED.COM THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY How do you learn to drive a race car? For the leads of Talladega Nights, it meant working with instructors at the Richard Petty Driving Experience. You don't crash and burn race cars like Ricky Bobby without some expert training.

Talladega Nights

BEHINO-THE-SCENESSPACTS Ready for some crazy CASTING WHAT-IFS? TALLADEGA NIGHTS GRACKED.COM THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY Michael J. Fox was considered for Jean Girard, the role that went to Sacha Baron Cohen. Also in the running for John C. Reilly's Cal Naughton Jr.? Dennis Quaid, Billy Crystal, and Jack Black.

NASCAR

BEHINO-THE-SOENESPACTS Learning to drive a race car is TERRIFYING the the wonder TALLADEGA NIGHTS CRACKED.COM THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY After a single scary lap at racing speeds, Ferrell and McKay were ready to call it a day. Reilly insisted they keep going: Guys, we can't be wusses here. We can't make a NASCAR movie and not actually experience being in a race car.

Hit Hard

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS THE FILM'S FAILURE AT THE BOX OFFICE DEVASTATED THE CAST. WALK HARD The movie only ended up making $20 million at the box office on a budget of $35 million. It took me a couple years to dig out of the sadness of that, said John с. Rilley about the film's lackluster box office performance. CRACKED.COM

Playing Instruments

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS THE CAST LEARNED HOW TO PLAY THEIR RESPECTIVE INSTRUMENTS. WALK HARD Chris Parnell, Tim Meadows, and Matt Besser all learned how to play their instruments for the movie. Meadows described learning to play the drums as the hardest work I ever did on a movie. CRACKED.COM

Jenna Fischer

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS JENNA FISCHER GOT THE ROLE THANKS TO JOHN С. REILLY. WALKHARD Fischer says that while the two were working together on The Promotion, Reilly approached her about playing his wife in Walk Hard. Based on her recommendation, Judd Apatow ended up inviting her to read for the role. CRACKED.COM

Singing as Dewey Cox

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS JOHN С. REILLY SANG ALL OF HIS SONGS. WALK HARD Reilly put a huge amount of effort into becoming Dewey Cox. Не would be on set all day and then record songs during the night. I was really determined not to be treated like an actor playing a musician. CRACKED.COM

On Tour as Dewey Cox

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS JOHN С. REILLY WENT ON TOUR AS DEWEY COX. LONG PLAYING : Planet HIGH FIDELITY - Hole in my Pants WALKIHARD Because of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike, there were no talk shows around to promote the film. The filmmakers got creative and decided to promote the movie with a seven-city tour. CRACKED.COM

A Good Ol‘ Catholic Boy

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS JOHN С. REILLY FELT GUILTY FOR STARRING IN THE FILM. WALKHARD Like any good Catholic boy, I feel guilty somebody spent so much money on me, said Reilly about the studio spending money on a movie he headlined. CRACKED.COM

Champ Kind

COMEDY NERD John C. Reilly almost ended up playing Champ Kind on Anchorman. Не was Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's first choice, but they ended up going with David Koechner. CRACKED.COM

Royal Jelly

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS JOHN С. REILLY DIDN'T LIP-SYNCH ROYAL JELLY. WALK HARD Instead of lip-synching, Reilly actually performed the song live in front of 800 extras. After his first attempt, they realized they weren't filming so Reilly had to do the whole song again. CRACKED.COM

A Step Brothers Sequel?

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS ADAM MCKAY'S IDEA FOR THE SEQUEL INVOLVES QANON. STEP BROTHERS McKay revealed that if the long-awaited sequel was ever to be made, it would revolve around Dale and Brennan being deeply involved with the QAnon movement. CRACKED.COM

Lawn Fight

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS A DOG BIT RICHARD JENKINS' BUTT. STEP BROTHERS During the fight between Brennan and Dale on the lawn, one of the smaller dogs bit Jenkins' ass and the actor had to get a tetanus shot. CRACKED.COM

Step Brothers

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS THE IDEA WAS BORN ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR OF TALLADEGA NIGHTS. I NATIVE USA STEP BROTHERS While editing Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell, John С. Reilly, and Adam McKay were trying to brainstorm ideas for their next project. One of them said, You know what would be really funny? Bunk beds. That ended up being the spark that led to Step Brothers. CRACKED.COM

Boats ‘N Hoes

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS A RAP ALBUM WAS IN DEVELOPMENT. PRESHI STEP WORLDW BROTHERS According to Adam McKay, the popularity of Boats 'N Hoes was going to be expanded on with a full-fledged rap album. However, in the middle of development, everyone involved got too busy and abandoned the project. CRACKED.COM

Merle Haggard

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS GUILTY AS CHARGED WAS INSPIRED BY MERLE HAGGARD. G is - 1 WALK HARD Songwriter Charlie Wadhams says when he was asked to write the song he was told to imagine Merle Haggard in a trashed hotel room with a bottle of whiskey after he'd just been dumped by his wife. CRACKED.COM

Walk Hard

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS THE STORY WAS WRITTEN AROUND THE SONGS. DE WALK HARD Songs for the movie were recorded for about six months before the film even started shooting. Each time a new song was recorded, the filmmakers made new decisions about the characters and the plot. CRACKED.COM

Molly Shannon

BEHINO-THE-SOENESPACTS Who to thank for Ferrell and Reilly? MOLLY SHANNON TALLADEGA NIGHTS CRACKED.COM THE BALLAD OF BICKY BOBBY Maybe there's no Step Brothers without an introduction from Ferrell's old SNL castmate. They met through my friend Molly Shannon and we just hit it off right away, says Reilly. That friendship bled into the relationship in .

Anchorman

John C. Reilly almost said I'M BRICK TAMLAND - Old Sp + SE - ELCUP - with NE t SESSER NEXTEL - Hi LSE U UP TEL TALLADEGA NIGHTS GRAGKED.COM THE BALLAD OF BICKY BOBBY The original Anchorman weather guy was Reilly, who had to drop out and was replaced by Steve Carell. McKay kept Reilly in mind when it came time to cast Talladega Nights. Coincidentally, Carell had to drop out of a planned Nights cameo.

The Catalina Wine Mixer

Step Brothers showcases Will Ferrell's and John C. Reilly's musical talents. UPTOWN GiRL In the scene at the Catalina Wine Mixer where Reilly's character plays drums and Ferrell's sings, the actors are really doing that. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

Source

Tags:

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

VIRAL ON CRACKED

A WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF
JOKES + TRIVIA

Forgot Password?