LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - From playing the screeching, illiterate, cat food-eating Charlie Kelly on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" to the hapless, tortured, dim-witted Dale on "Horrible Bosses", Charlie Day has found his niche with oddball characters.
Day, 38, is one of the founding members, actors, writers and executive producers of FX Networks' hit comedy "Always Sunny", a show about four selfish, narcissistic friends who own a bar.
As Day reprises his role as Dale in raunchy workplace revenge comedy "Horrible Bosses 2", he spoke to Reuters about his challenges and life post-"Sunny".
Q: What characters are you drawn to?
A: Charlie Kelly is something that we created in 2005, and I've continued playing him through 2015. When this movie came along, it was a very similar kind of character, and it didn't really make sense to do it any different. Except (Dale) can probably read and write.
The movie is actually really similar to our TV show, in terms of the three guys and the trouble they get into, so it didn't feel like I needed to change it too much, and it was also a way to get that humor to a larger audience.
Q: How do you avoid being a horrible boss on "Sunny"?
A: We like to think we're good bosses, but there are people who we've let go along the way who I'm sure probably resent us making those decisions, so it is what it is, you do your best and try to be a good human being about it.
Q: What challenges have you faced since "Sunny"?
A: You're nobody until you're somebody, and once you're somebody, it's easier to get the job, but pre-"Sunny" it was just hard to get on a TV show. Post-"Sunny", it was hard to get on the radar for studios making movies, it was hard to crack into the movies because I don't think there was an awareness of how popular "Sunny" is amongst some of the industry.
Every step of the way, it's just hard to prove to people that you have value to what they're trying to make, less so the creative people and more so the business people. The audience is there for you, and then I would have directors say they wanted me, but I would have studio hoops to jump through. Now of course, I'm in a very lucky spot.
(Editing by Eric Kelsey and Chris Reese)