Wet Hot American Summer's Real Camp Set Sparked A Lot Of Comedy Camaraderie
David Wain's "Wet Hot American Summer" is the proper definition of a cult classic. When the film was released in 2001, it was both a critical and commercial flop, failing to make back a majority of its relatively cheap production budget. Despite the film's financial woes, the stars were aligned on this set for the film to become an eventual raunchy sleep-over classic.
One reason the film has endured through the years is that the casting director, Susie Farris, struck gold with this ensemble cast, which is mostly made up of some of comedy's then-up-and-comers who would become major stars down the line. Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Molly Shannon, and Elizabeth Banks, the list goes on. Then there was a young version of everyone's favorite goofball, Paul Rudd, fresh off of "Clueless," he turned in a delightfully sardonic performance as camp counselor Andy.
This week, in honor of the release of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Vanity Fair interviewed Paul Rudd for a career retrospective. When reflecting on filming "Wet Hot American Summer," he described the set experience as one of his favorites — a perfect storm of friendly fellow actors showing comedic camaraderie in a true summer camp experience. Rudd explained:
"The making of 'Wet Hot American Summer' was a blast. It was the first thing that I think a lot of the people that were working on it — it really spoke to our collective sensibilities and senses of humor. Everyone kind of knew each other a little bit. It was all these kind of New York actors and improv comedy and B alt comedy sea. And we filmed it at a summer camp."
An authentic summer camp experience
"Wet Hot American Summer" is set on the last day of summer camp in 1981, and despite its raunchy name, it's actually an absurdist take on the teen sex-comedies that were abundant in this era of Hollywood. The film is centered around a group of young camp counselors trying to tie their relationship loose ends before they all part their separate ways. Sexual tensions bubble over, couples split apart, and everything culminates with the Camp Firewood annual talent show.
Filmed in just about 28 days in May 2000 at real-life Camp Towanda, Pennsylvania, the cast and crew of "Wet Hot American Summer" would stay on set and even sleep there for the entirety of the shoot. In a sense, the low budget of the shoot and the casual environment replicated the feeling of an actual summer camp. "You know, we all slept at the camp, it rained every day. So whoever wasn't filming had to go into town, which was about 30 minutes away, and buy beer so that when the days filming was done, everyone, we all hung out" Rudd explained, "We didn't have computers, like, when no one had cell phones, really [...] everyone was just there. And also, if you weren't working, you went and watched other people filming their scenes. So, there was a real kind of camaraderie and a feeling, like a collective."
The amount of fun the cast had is visible in the final film, which is full of little improvisational moments and wonderful chemistry between the cast. Sometimes, the line between character and actor often blurs in "Wet Hot American Summer," creating a "you had to be there" sort of feeling that can alienate some viewers, but is a great example of anti-humor.
A comedy that was ahead of its time
A behind-the-scenes documentary by Amy Rice, "Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot American Summer" is a great distillation of the production of the film and an interesting time capsule of all these actors who would move onto more high-profile projects down the line. It might be a bit corny, but in a digital age, it would be very hard to replicate the kind of authentic experience that was achieved on the set of David Wain's film. Rudd told Vanity Fair:
"And it was like being at summer camp. And so to do that, and to work on material that we all found funny [...] we kind of couldn't believe it was actually getting made. We all kind of knew people are not gonna get this, but I think that people who do get it or will find it funny, will find it really funny."
Critics and audiences wouldn't latch onto the humor of "Wet Hot American Summer" soon enough for the film to be a success. However, its cult status eventually landed it a second life, and eventually, a Netflix revival back in 2015 in the form of the miniseries, "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp." Despite the whole series being a prequel to the original show, most of the initial cast returned and embodied their younger selves (a great commitment to the bit).
"Wet Hot American Summer" proved to be just ahead of its time, but thanks to the dedication between its cast and its fans, it eventually got its due.