Danny DeVito's Ritual For Becoming Frank Disturbed One It's Always Sunny Co-Star
Frank Reynolds is one of the most deranged characters in the history of television, taking performer Danny DeVito's lewd, lascivious Louie DePalma character from "Taxi" and turning it up to 11. DeVito plays him as a total human disaster, complete with animal-like grunts, belches, and gurgles. It's hard not to laugh at Frank, but it might feel altogether different being in the same room with him, which is what happened to one "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" co-star early on in the series. DeVito isn't a method actor by any stretch of the imagination, but he does have a warm-up routine that helps him become Frank, and it totally freaked out one actor while filming the season 2 episode "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom."
On "The Always Sunny Podcast," where series stars, writers, and producers Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney are joined by writer and producer Megan Ganz to discuss all things "It's Always Sunny," the group discussed that uncomfortable moment with a special guest to the podcast. Thankfully the moment was brief and said co-star has become friendly with DeVito in the time since, but it's hard to blame anyone for being shocked by DeVito in full Frank mode.
One co-star was disturbed by DeVito's demeanor
On the "Always Sunny Podcast" episode "The Waitress," co-star Mary Elizabeth Ellis, who plays the unnamed waitress who Charlie (Day) pines after, revealed that she had never really met DeVito before she filmed with him in "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom." In the episode, Mac (McElhenney) sleeps with Dennis' (Howerton) mother, which leads to Dennis trying to sleep with Mac's mom to get back at him. It all leads to the Waitress having sex with Dennis' supposed father, Frank, in an attempt to upset him. I their first scene together, Frank acts pleased that he just had sex with the Waitress, while she is clearly distraught. When Ellis approached DeVito to film, however, he simply grunted at her. It was part of his warm-up, as Day explained:
"Danny has a thing where right before the camera rolls, he'll usually improv a line or two in. [...] Make like, if he's being lascivious, he like gets into that. Or if he's being angry, he might be moody about something. [...] It's not like a Method thing, but it's just like a little warm up. So you don't just go in, ice cold."
Frank is being pretty lascivious in the scene, which would be extremely unnerving to encounter if you didn't know DeVito and it was your first time on set with him. Thankfully for everyone involved, Ellis being freaked out made the scene even better, and she was totally fine afterwards once she got to know DeVito a little bit.
A scene full of discomfort
Ellis mentions that it actually worked out pretty great because she looks so unnerved in the scene, and Howerton agrees, saying, "you really genuinely look disturbed." With her hair disheveled, she drags Frank into Paddy's and explains how she just had sex with him for revenge. She degrades Frank, calling him "disgusting" and "old," making fun of his hairpiece, and more, all while the gang looks on in horror. The most horrified, of course, is Charlie, who has been obsessed with the Waitress for years and was trying to orchestrate a scheme of his own that clearly backfired. It also has to be a bit uncomfortable for Day, who is married to Ellis in real life and has had to watch all of his co-stars pretend to hook up with her on the show, with DeVito's Frank being the final one. Oh well, what's a little onscreen flirting between friends in the name of comedy?