Like him or not, Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe was the key to making NBC's new sitcom, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, work.
This is something the creators, Robert Carlock and Sam Means, were not shy about while speaking to ClutchPoints during the junket for The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.
In the sitcom, Radcliffe plays an esteemed Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker now tasked with filming a documentary about a disgraced NFL player (played by SNL alum Tracy Morgan).
Unlike other mockumentaries like The Office and Parks and Recreation, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins makes Radcliffe, the man behind the camera, a focal point. This was key in making the new NBC sitcom stand out amongst some of its past mockumentaries.
“We wanted to really own — which The Office did so well, but lightly — the fact that these people are on camera and in the process of trying to shape this narrative in different, competing ways,” Carlock explained. “It felt like a nice extra layer to our sort of family comedy that's about sports, but is also, self-consciously, a documentary. That felt, for us, [like it] breathed some new life into it.”
Means added, “And making the director, Arthur Tobin, Daniel Radcliffe's character, a character within a show and getting drawn into the documentary himself was a way for us to expand the format a little bit.”
Did anything surprise the creators of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins about Daniel Radcliffe?
Carlock and Means have had the privilege of working with Radcliffe before, having played a role in the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt movie and Mulligan, another creation of theirs.
However, they still weren't aware of how good his physical comedy would be. This especially took Means by surprise.
“Of course, [he] had stunt people on the [Harry] Potter films, but he's been doing that kind of physical acting since he was a child.”
Carlock also praised Radcliffe's stunt double, Mike Needham, who previously competed on American Ninja Warrior. This led to the creators making parkour a part of Radcliffe's character's defining personality traits.
Why making documentaries is “very difficult”
While The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins didn't necessarily teach Radcliffe much about documentary filmmaking, he has learned firsthand how “difficult” it can be. “I've made a couple of documentaries,” he pointed out, having produced Circus Kid and David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived.
“We got there, and it was great, but it can be tricky,” Radcliffe conceded. “I think this character's approach to documentary-making is a little more egocentric than mine would be in that he needs to be on-camera the whole time.”
If anything, Radcliffe learned “what not to do” when making a documentary, as his co-star and another SNL alum, Bobby Moynihan, pointed out.
Bobby Moynihan's surprising athletic background
Moynihan may not scream athlete upon first glance, but he played hockey in high school and college. Granted, he used a unique underhanded tactic to get the upper-hand on his opponents.
“I would keep McDonald's chicken nuggets in my glove so that when I went for a face-off, I would just take a quick bite of the chicken nugget, and they would be like, What is he doing?” Moynihan revealed. “I would win the face-off.”
On paper, this sounds ridiculous, and even Moynihan called it “the saddest thing in the world for sports,” though Radcliffe was encouraging, reassuring him that it was “awesome.”
Despite the unique tactic, Moynihan's coach “loved” him. He asked where his “strong” ankles came from, and Moynihan responded, “tap dancing.”
Moynihan didn't play football, but he believes his role on the field would be kicker. He also threw out the idea of being the equipment manager who “keeps it nice for everybody.”
How SNL helped Bobby Moynihan for The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is an NBC sitcom, the same network that broadcasts SNL, which Moynihan was part of from 2008 to 2017.
That means there is some crossover between the two shows. SNL alum Tina Fey is a producer of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, and Carlock — who's close to Fey — was a writer of SNL for years.
“ Tina and Robert are kind of in that SNL world, and a lot of the crew and the writers and a lot of the same people came from SNL — Tina seems to surround herself with people like that, so it feels very familiar,” Moynihan said. “I feel very lucky and very happy in this world. I've gotten to work with them a couple times, and I feel very, very comfortable.”
As for how SNL helped shape his role in the show specifically, Moynihan had a special bond with Morgan due to their ties to the sketch show. Even though they didn't know each other before Reggie Dinkins, they understood each other.
“ I didn't know Tracy that well before this, but we have this language that we both speak, and it's SNL, and there's only like 160 people in the world who have that language, if that makes sense,” he said. “So it's very cathartic to be around.”
They weren't the only SNL alums on the show. Heidi Gardner and Chloe Troast both did guest spots, and Moynihan revealed that he felt “very comfortable and lucky” around them.
Daniel Radcliffe loves SNL, too
Radcliffe — who has previously hosted SNL — was in awe watching Moynihan discuss the show. Even if he wanted to try avoiding talking about it, Moynihan said it's impossible.
“It's impossible not to talk about,” Moynihan said of SNL, “and it's the best, and hearing Tracy's version of stuff is the coolest. It's Astronaut Jones; he's Brian Fellow. I want to hear all about it.”
“I share your love of listening to people who are on SNL talk about [it],” he continued. “Sometimes, watching Bobby and Tracy go back and forth with stories is incredibly entertaining and fun.”
How did the idea for The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins come together?
While The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins seems like a hilarious original concept, the creators based it on real-life events. The likes of Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas have been the subjects of high-profile documentaries, and then the “self-funded” documentaries also inspired them.
Carlock and Means were interested in these “self-funded” docs that sometimes attempt to have the subjects “look back, sometimes apologetically, and try to right the ship and explain and excuse [the] things they've done.”
As for current athletes they'd want to see Reggie Dinkins-like documentaries about, Means named Marshawn Lynch as his pick: “I would watch a 100-hour documentary about Marshawn.”
“Oh, sure,” Carlock added. “We could just follow Marshawn Lynch around, just record everything he says, and I would watch that.”
Lynch has dipped his toe into acting, appearing in the likes of Bottoms and Freaky Tales. Perhaps he could cameo in Season 2 of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins? The creators did not seem opposed to going “Beast Mode” in a potential Season 2.
A new episode of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins will air on Feb. 23.
