The director of political comedy The Campaign, starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, said the Republican primaries gave the whole crew “a lot to work with,” when he joined Morning Joe Friday with Ferrell.
“We were shooting during the primaries, so sometimes we’d say, ‘Oh man, we gotta step it up,” director Jay Roach said.
But it wasn’t only this year’s primary that inspired the director and actors in this film where two southern men face off in a North Carolina Congressional race in only the ridiculous way that Ferrell and Galifianakis can together. They fight over kissing babies and compete to see who can be the very best pander-er of all as incumbent Cam Brady (Ferrell) defends his seat from newcomer Marty Huggins (Galifianakis).
(Watch the trailer here.)
Ferrell kicked it off Friday by poking fun of one of Mitt Romney's flubs in London where the Republican candidate seemed to question whether or not local officials had sufficiently prepared for the games.
“Can I start by saying the Olympics are going to run perfectly,” Ferrell said in his deadpan style. “I stand by my statements.”
The demon sheep ad, the duo of John Edwards and Rick Perry’s “strong hair,” and Herman Cain’s smoking campaign manager all helped with inspiration, Roach said.
“Comedy is a great vehicle to get into all of that,” added Ferrell. “Cam Brady, a four-time incumbent is pretty un-self-aware… It’s very fun to play that kind of character.”
True to his bumbling, political character, Ferrell ended his turn on Morning Joe by turning the conversation to what’s really on everyone’s mind.
“Have you heard about Tramp-ire?” he asked. “I don’t care about Syria. This is what’s going on in the world. Great segment everyone; we nailed it.”
The movie will be released in theaters August 10.