Spotlight on Adam Devine

A sunny Monday afternoon in Boulder found Adam Devine tucked away in a corner at The Sink. The Workaholics and Pitch Perfect star whirled through town in support of his upcoming film Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, and we were there for an intimate, 1-on-1 chat. And though Devine confided he was running on Red Bull fumes, his anecdotes weren’t wanting for energy.

YS: I always like to start at the start …

Adam Devine: Well… Penny and Dennis Devine, they had a wild night in November! Wait, I guess the start of my career?

BW: I’d love to hear the whole story, but for today, perhaps how you got involved with Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates?

AD: This was one of those scripts that was flat-out, super funny from page one. The character Mike, I was like, “Oh this is so in my wheelhouse! I can see myself playing this,” and hopefully making him — even though he’s a wild party maniac — a little likable and having those softer moments where he’s not a total maniac. … Which is refreshing to do, since … especially on Workaholics I’m kind of the lunatic of our crew. So this is kind of a perfect storm for me.

YS: I wondered if Mike’s part was written with you in mind.

AD: No, it wasn’t. In fact, I had to fight pretty hard to get the role because the Fox Studio heads were like, “Oh we don’t know…” They were worried that I couldn’t be that sweet and tender in those sweet-and-tender moments. And I’m like, “I can! Let me do it,” and I just bawled on the phone to them. “See how tender I am?”

BW: Did you and Zac (Efron) spend any time together ahead of shooting to get your brotherly bond going on?

AD: We knew each other a little bit … But, no. We got two weeks prior to the start of the movie where it was rehearsals and we just hung out every day. We clicked right away. He’s the nicest, coolest guy; he’s so sweet. He’s also very smart, and you’re like, “Jesus! Leave something for me, man! Like, come on! I can’t have anything? You can’t have abs like that and be like the nicest guy ever!”

BW: You shot on-location in Hawaii, did you get much time to enjoy the locale?

AD: Everyone was so cool with us. … We went cliff jumping, and I almost murdered myself. There were all these … 13-year-old Hawaiian kids doing flips off the rocks, falling 30 feet, and landing perfectly. Then Zac’s like, “I’m going to do it!” He jumps off the rock and lands; and I’m like, “Hey, I’m next; I’m cool, too!” And I slip on the rock and I fall face first. There’s a rock that you have to clear in order to not smash your skull, and I cleared it by literally four inches. Anna (Kendrick) screamed and started shaking; she thought I died! (laughing) I was underneath the water, because I dove head-first so I went down deep, and it took a second for me to get back up. I got back up and I’m like, “I’m alive!” … [Everyone] was just celebrating me not dying before we actually started shooting the movie.