THR reports that two more actors will be holding the anchovies this summer. Michael Pena (“Observe and Report“) and Nick Swardson (“Reno 911!“) will be taking part in the pizza-delivery-bank-heist-comedy “30 Minutes or Less,” starring Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride. The film follows a junior high history teacher (Ansari) and a pizza delivery man (uncast as of yet) as they are forced into a bank robbery by some goons, one of them being McBride. Pena will play a “tattooed assassin” and Swardson is set to play McBride’s best friend, who is a snively, white-trash dork with a proclivity for… let’s call it gadget building.
Though “Observe and Report” was entirely off, Pena played pretty well with the rest of the cast and showed the comedic chops no one knew he had after being very, very serious in “Crash” and “World Trade Center.” His character in ’30…’ sounds pretty outrageous and can either be a show-stealer or extremely irritating. Here’s hoping he’s more Ken Jeong in “The Hangover” than Mike Meyers in… anything. It will likely be a breath of fresh air for Pena, who we last saw in ‘Observe’ but has recently wrapped on dramas “The Good Doctor” and the dangerous sounding “Battle: Los Angeles.”
On the other hand, Swardson is no stranger to comedy, though he’s often been cast in terrible Adam Sandler vehicles such as “Click” and “Bedtime Stories.” Otherwise he often finds himself playing the token “gay character,” which is admittedly amusing but it would be nice to see if he can pull off another shtick. You’ll see him next in “Just Go With It” with Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, then starring in “Born to be a Star,” in which his character leaves home to become a porn star. Terrific.
Judging by the cast so far, look forward to other interesting choices to round out the roster (hopefully without the whole “It’s 30 minutes or less for…” opener every time). As stated above, the delivery man is still uncast, and because it’ll be opposite Ansari it will probably be someone with a relatively similar career. Is it too much of a stretch to hope for Joel McHale? “30 Minutes or Less” is to be directed by “Zombieland” helmer Ruben Fleischer, shoots this summer and has already been scheduled for a August 12, 2011 release.
