Wicca comedy King knight will premiere tomorrow, August 8, 2021 at the Fantasia Film Festival. The film is directed by Richard Bates, Jr. and stars in a cast that includes Matthew Gray Gubler, Angela Sarafyan, Andy Milonakis, Kate Comer, Johnny Pemberton, Josh Fadem, and more.
RELATED: King Knight Exclusive Key Art from Richard Bates Jr.’s Comedy
“King knight is an outsider-outsider comedy starring Matthew Gray Gubler and Angela Sarafyan as Thorn and Willow, husband and wife high priest and priestess of a coven in a small California community, ”the official summary reads. “When Willow unearths a secret from Thorn’s past, her life turns into a turmoil in this insane, clever tidbit, adorned with a ferocious cast that includes Nelson Franklin, Johnny Pemberton, Barbara Crampton, Ray Wise, Andy Milonakis and the voices of Aubrey owns Plaza and AnnaLynne McCord. “
ComingSoon editor-in-chief Tyler Treese spoke with King knight Andy Milonakis star on his return to acting, love for Anthony Bourdain, meeting Kanye West and more.
Tyler Treese: King Knight is a really fun movie. It’s really interesting and has a unique setting with Wiccan culture. Did you know that before filming? Did you come into contact with witchcraft?
Andy Milonakis: No not true. I’ve seen some movies about it and stuff, but I’ve never really done a lot of digging or research other than watching some movies.
What was it that really attracted you to this film?
I’ve always just liked really absurd things. I’ve always loved it … I know it’s a bit too general, but I think a lot of independent films are more like that you can see the character and breathe a little and you can invest more in them than some of the others big hollywood things that are out there. I like dark comedies, as well as weird shit, and it just seemed to fill all of those boxes.
With your Twitch being such a huge hit and your other outside ventures, you don’t really need to act. Can you talk about the ability to be selective with your roles and only take on projects that really appeal to you?
I feel like I’d do a lot more acting if the whole process, as I know, people are working hard and their only dream is to be an actor. It was never really my dream. I kind of fell into the movie, fell into that kind of stuff by making weird videos of myself. When I was in LA doing all the audition, when I auditioned every other day, I really hated the process. I often had the feeling of reading things that I had no hope of because of the characters I was looking for. There are a lot of cattle calls and the like.
But it’s nice when people ask you every now and then to do something, or maybe audition for something that you’re really into. I didn’t audition for it, but if I got a role like this I would definitely feel safe auditioning for something I thought I would be really good at and thought it would actually suit me. You know what I mean? With Hollywood and you have to take a million shots to get a role here and there. I have a feeling you are a head of cattle reading scrolls that don’t suit you and don’t suit you at all. It’s just a kind of soul-sucking. But I really enjoyed working on this film and it kind of inspires me to want to do more.
Kate Comer plays your significant other in this movie, and this relationship is so fun and delivers some really funny moments. How was it just working with her and building this very fun relationship?
Yes. I found it very fun working with her. I really liked how gentle she was, but very strict. The way she delivered her lines and stuff. She was definitely fun to play with. I also found it to be a fun pairing.
King Knight has a surprising amount of heart, and it’s fun. The themes are presented in a fancy way, it’s “everyone has feces up their asses”. It’s just so ridiculous, but were you surprised at how much heart has gone into this script?
Yes. I feel like I found the heart of the film more by watching it. When you read something that strange, it’s kind of difficult. I mean you can see it on the side, right? But like the tone of the movie, all you have to do is see a finished product, with the music and the editing and all of that. I really like how it all came together, but it was nice because there are polarizing independent films that feel kind of sluggish and feel like a bit stagnant. I definitely feel like the movie has a heart and it’s kind of weird quirky at times, just nice.
Matthew Gray Gubler is great in the lead role. Can you talk about just working with him and then there’s this whole subplot in the movie with the sword that is hilarious.
He’s really funny. He killed it and the amount of big monologues he had to master in one shot was like I just saw him work man. The guy is definitely a genius. I know it Criminal thoughts he had to do crazy things, but I’m such an amateur compared to him. Since I get a few lines here and there, I try to make sure I deliver them seriously without screwing it up. Then I see his things and he is like a whole page full of paragraphs and he has to rehearse and learn by heart and also think about it until the time comes [done]. He is something else. I wish I could even think of doing something this difficult.
There was a great deal of shock in some of your early work that you looked so young and said outrageous things. In King Knight, the character work just speaks for itself. You are not referred to here as a particular type of character because of your appearance. Was that a more interesting role for you just because you were only allowed to be the character instead of being forced into such forms?
Yes. Mainly because of the things I’ve done in the past. I rap, I like hip-hop and things like that. So the reason I got thrown in Wait… was because they saw my rapping on the internet. So they cast me as that white rap kid. Then other things that I did in conversation brought me to the line where I was typed, that kind of thing. So definitely cool not to be there and just be that quirky, weird guy with a woman. That was great. I want to do more things, but of course not exactly the same thing, but something similar. Just like in the weird, quirky movies where I just think, oh, he’s that guy. It doesn’t have to be just the young people.
Kanye West released an album. I saw you had a funny Kanye story while working at Jimmy Kimmel. His security wouldn’t let you on stage. Can you talk about it?
Yes. To be fair, Kanye was about to perform. So the security only blocked the stage and he said, yes, Yeezy will continue. I didn’t even see that Kanye was right behind him. Kanye saw me and pushed the guard aside and said, “Nah, let him up,” and he let me up. He just complimented my shirt. He just liked the shirt I was wearing and I just told him I’m a fan and then he went on stage but it was only a brief interaction but it was kind of cool that I got to get to know him quickly and that he promised me to let me on stage.
Yes. That’s the only guarantee you need in life from Kanye.
It’s cool. You don’t know if he’s seen your shit before or if he’s just plain nice, but kind of it’s kind of cool, you know?
I saw on your twitter that you have traveled so much. I know Anthony Bourdain really inspired your love of travel and you have this wonderful tattoo. Can you just tell why his show was so moving for you?
Because there are a lot of tour operators and people who travel the world and they do it in these TV shows and in such an over-the-top saccharine, like the Disney way. He is the opposite of that. And he’s not just the smart ass and kind of the opposite of those Hollywood Disney guys doing travel shows, he’s really cheesy. Not only is he the cool guy you wanted to travel with, but also, I mean, the whole narrative, the way they sum up every place they go, it’s poetry man. He really nailed all of that stuff. It was just cool to see him travel and live vicariously when he went to all of these places. It definitely piqued my interest in doing it.
You had this great role on Adventure Time as NEPTR. Do you want to do more voice actors and how was your time on the show with that role?
I love voice acting. I definitely want to do more and some of my favorite things to do are going to the booth and deliver lines and see them animated. I think a lot of people probably have this dream. I’m a huge fan of a lot of people on this show. The fact that I’m in the same room with Tom Kenny to deliver lines with him and only read lines with Spongebob. What the hell? You know what I mean? The boys are voice-over legends. John DiMaggio, like dude, these are people who are like some of the best cartoons of all time. Of course, that’s just my fanboy perspective, but even if I haven’t played with people I was a huge fan of, I just like doing voice acting and seeing the finished product and cartoon. It’s a shit type dream come true.
Congratulations to the astronauts who left Earth today. Good choice
– Andy Milonakis (@andymilonakis) May 30, 2020
You have the fifth most tweet of all time with this astronaut tweet. It was very funny, but I’m sure you weren’t expecting a million likes, let alone three million. How do you deal with such a notification tab? Then how can you even watch Twitter?
Well I don’t even know how that happened, but all I know is that I wanted to make this tweet a lot longer. Then I thought you know what Shorter is always better on tweets in terms of performance, as far as people like to see it as a one-liner. I cut out a bit. I remember waking up, watching the news, seeing the astronaut thing, and then thinking about the riots and the coronavirus. I think man you escaped this rock that is really gonna s ** t now. So I just thought that as a one-liner: Good choice you got out of here. It just got through to so many people and I never thought I’d get even a tweet with 10,000 likes or 20,000 like the fact that it went like this, it was insane.
Josh Peck once called you the Andy Kaufman of this generation. Andy Kaufman was very famous for doing a lot of pro wrestling too. He wrestled with women, had some very famous nooks and crannies. Will we ever see you in the ring Andy?
Never. I have a broken leg with a metal implant in it when I broke it in two places, but I’d love to do more weird humor and performance art because I’m a Kaufman fan. I don’t remember Josh saying that. Maybe it was when I was doing his podcast, but I’m a huge Kaufman fan. Just not a huge fan of getting hurt and being in a ring.
