Here's How Many Takes It Took To Get Danny DeVito's Always Sunny Couch Scene Perfect
If 16 seasons of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" have taught us anything, it's that there's nothing Danny DeVito won't do for a laugh. The seasoned sitcom veteran has gone to pretty unbelievable extremes on the series, performing visually striking physical comedy that both disgusts and delights. In perhaps the most memorable moment of the entire series, a sweat-drenched, naked DeVito emerges from a leather couch during an office cocktail party. So, what was it like shooting that unforgettable scene? How did an established actor like DeVito get talked into it? And how many times did he have to pop out of the couch before they got the final take?
For those who need their memory jogged, DeVito's character Frank ends up inside a couch at a Christmas party that takes place at the company he used to own. His children want to demonstrate that his former employees hate him and hope he will overhear them speaking badly about him. Their "Christmas past" scheme doesn't quite go according to plan when Frank insists on hiding inside the couch, creating a conspicuous lump. In real life, the zany idea to cram DeVito into a couch came from an article the writers read.
"Well, we had read an article about people sewing themselves into couches," explained "Sunny" co-creator and star Charlie Day on The Always Sunny Podcast. "And then we were thinking like they were doing it to sort of like smuggle themselves maybe places, I can't remember why they were doing it but it was a thing where people had been sewing themselves and were like it would be funny to sew yourself into a couch[.]"
The striking image of DeVito emerging from the leather was inspired by "nature videos where an animal is being birthed," added co-creator Rob McElhenney, who plays Mac.
The first take was ruined — but not by DeVito
Crawling out of a couch naked might seem like a crazy scene for the "Taxi" alum to agree to, but DeVito has pulled some pretty shocking stunts on "Sunny" — and he doesn't plan to tone it down any time soon. "So far, there's nothing they've come up with in their addled brains that I've refused," he told Entertainment Weekly. "I've been slimed, I've fallen out of windows, I've climbed out of couches naked, I've done all kinds of things."
The couch scene actually sounded like fun to DeVito at first. It was only once he got on set that reality began to sink in. "When I read the script I thought, wow, this is gonna be cool," the actor recalled on The Jonathan Ross Show. "Then the idea is I have to come out of the couch a certain way [...] And you read it and you go okay, you know, I'll do that, that sounds like really fun. I know the cast, I know the crew, I figure it's gonna be fine. But you don't realize you're gonna be in a room with a cocktail party with like a hundred people you've never seen before."
To make matters worse, the "Matilda" star had to embarrass himself in a room full of strangers more than just once. But it wasn't DeVito that was missing his cue — it was his co-star, Kaitlin Olson, who was rendered speechless. "I had to come out of the couch like four or five times," he continued. "So the first take, I come out of the couch [...] and there's a clip on Youtube that you can see where [Olson] is looking at me [with her mouth agape]. I was in there a while."
DeVito was oiled up like a greased halibut
Although DeVito appears to be completely naked and covered in sweat in the scene, there was a little bit of movie magic involved.
"You can't come out in front of fifty people you don't know with your wanger hanging out, right?" the actor told the story on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "So they put a little tap on it, you know what I mean? And you go back there [behind the couch] and what they do — the makeup people, you know, they spray you with all kind of oil, so now you're like back there waiting for your cue. And you're gonna slide out of this thing naked like a halibut."
Frank is an odd duck from the moment he arrives at Paddy's Pub in season 2, but things definitely take a turn for the former mogul when he decides to move in with Charlie, the resident wild card in a deck of eccentrics. DeVito's character insists that he wants to "live in squalor," which puts him on a path of escalating debauchery.
"[After that scene] I felt like that was the direction that Frank was going," DeVito said on The Always Sunny Podcast. "More and more extreme. And I always used to say to [the series creators], push the envelope. Let's do more outrageous things. Not only because I thought that's what the audience would like, and the fans would like, but that I would like."
These unforgettable brazen moments act as "milestones" in Frank's progression as DeVito's professional development, a sort of "through line for Frank's character," he continued.
Frank's extreme moments are milestones for his development
The "Twins" star was a household name before joining the cast of "Sunny," but he had only one requirement: that his character be organically written into the show. Since then, there's nothing he won't say no to. Despite being the oldest cast member by several decades, DeVito has undeniably done the most outrageous physical comedy of anyone else on the show. The actor attributes this to his lawless and childlike sensibility.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm the kid," he said of the cast dynamic, per Entertainment Weekly. "I have a little bit more of an irreverent attitude towards everything, I'm like the anarchistic child in the bunch. We have so much fun doing the show. It's been such a joy to do."
DeVito's age and celebrity make his radical moments all the more shocking, but they also likely contribute to the "irreverent attitude" that allows him to go to extremes without hesitation. Day, McElhenney, and Glenn Howerton might be the brains of the operation, but DeVito is the daredevil that brings their most twisted visions to life, and the show would not be half as bonkers without him.