Interview: Patrick Warburton Talks New Comedy Movie The Duel

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with The Duel star Patrick Warburton about the “anti-buddy” comedy movie. Written and directed by Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts, Lionsgate/Grindstone will release the dark dramedy in select theaters on July 31 for one night only.

“Upon discovering that his best friend, Colin (Sprouse), has been having an affair with his girlfriend, Woody (Mcauliffe) decides that no modern form of revenge could possibly satisfy him. Instead, Woody challenges his closest companion to a classic contest of honor – a gentleman’s duel to the death. When two of their friends join the act, the once inseparable group of men inch closer to the day of destiny and test the bonds of their relationship until the moment of no return,” says the synopsis.

Tyler Treese: The Duel is very offbeat, it’s quirky. So you’re just the perfect cherry on top playing a dueling emporium owner. I didn’t know that it existed. What an amazing job title. So what really appealed to you about this role in this film?

Patrick Warburton: Well, really I knew that Christof was first — just gonna talk about my character — he was curious and not so much a dueling emporium owner as Denny [Love]’s character referred to it. He is a fanatic about history antiques. There’s a subgenre, which is dueling. Obviously, it’s not really promoted out there on social media. It’s a word-of-mouth thing underground that if you want a duel, an old-school one with Flintlock guns [then you call] Christof.

I loved the script, and I loved how it played. I was intrigued, and I had a meeting with, uh, Justin and Luke and I felt I needed to do this. I’m so glad that I did. They’re amazing writers and directors with a huge future.

I love the cast. We had a blast. We had a blast doing this in the midst of COVID. We got tested every day. We did have fun. You bond on film shoots, you always do. There was probably more bonding going on this one because none of us were really allowed to venture into the outside. We wanted to keep this production COVID clean, which meant that we all had to hang.

One of the great moments of this film is really seeing your character bond with Ronald Guttman’s character, Rudolpho, the cartel leader. You guys really have great chemistry and share some really fun scenes. How was it working with him?

Ron’s such an old pro, you know? I enjoyed it. He’s very theatrical but a great character to play off. We shot all of that stuff probably over the course of that week.

I love the scenes with Rachel Matthews’ Abbie. She’s giving these really impassioned arguments against the duel and talking about how stupid it is. And you’re just like, “uh, “She won’t even let me talk. I couldn’t get a word in.” What stood out about her as an actress?

She’s amazing. What she brought to that role, and let’s not forget the fact that she started this whole thing, but what she brought to the role was this urgency, obviously, which made it more fun for me to play off in the sense of taking her seriously and essentially being disrespectful. But it’s just that in those few moments we had together, there was an interesting dynamic there.

I’m so used to seeing you clean-shaven, but in this film, you have a great mustache, just like you do today. When did you realize that was the look for you? Because I love it.

It’s been an adjustment. I grew the mustache for that. I thought Christof would have a mustache. I grew it. I’d never worked with one before. Then I shaved it off, and then I have another project coming up where I’m supposed to play somebody named Tank, and I feel like a Tank would’ve one. But this is an interesting project. The Blair Witch people are involved. It’s a horror comedy. We got pushed back from strikes, and we’re trying to reset it back up. I’ve inquired, and now I said, “Listen, I could just shave this thing and probably grow it in two months if you get a solid date.” But it’s sort of just become a part of me at this point. I’ve just been wandering around with this for a while. I’m like, I guess I’m a mustache guy.

I love the “baseball Isn’t baseball anymore” conversation at the dinner that’s in the movie. Was that all from the script or were you guys improvising?

That was entirely improvised. They just go right there on the day. They go, “We need you guys to be talking about something baseball.” Hart [Denton] brought such a weird, fun quality to his character. So there was just already sort of a built-in versatility between us, our sort of dynamics that almost anything, I think, whether it had been baseball or anything else we spoke about, [was going to be a] weird conversation between them. Just because of who they were at their core. Just anything they talk about is gonna be strange.

I spoke with Dylan Sprouse and Colin about this, but there’s a very interesting dichotomy with this film because it is definitely this look at the male ego and not wanting to admit when you’re wrong, but there’s also this inherent coolness to the film. Just the idea of dueling in the film just looks so cool. How do you feel about that?

Listen, it’s been a part of our world and culture of humanity for centuries. It’s only until recent times that dueling is not a part [of society]. But these guys wanted to go the old-school route with Callan’s character, and that’s what they pursued. So, yeah, there are better ways, I think, to settle something than with somebody dying, but this is the ultimate betrayal.

You’ve done so many iconic roles and had them spread out in different areas. A whole family might recognize you from different roles. A dad might know you from Seinfeld, a teenage boy from Family Guy, and a kid from Emperor’s New Groove. It’s pretty remarkable for you to hit every quadrant and have different relationships with people. How has that been having all these different reference points for you?

I guess as an actor, after years and years of work, that’s ultimately the result. If you’re doing animation and live-action, there’s gonna be a lot of crossover. That’s gonna be just part of that. I’ve done a lot of Disney stuff, and Disney stuff always tends to sort of live on in the Disney zeitgeist there. I love Disney. I’m a Disneyphile, so it’s been a pleasure.

Are there any smaller roles that get brought up a disproportionate amount to what you would expect?

A little film I did years ago, it’s called The Woman Chaser, which I was very proud of. This debuted at the New York Film Festival. It’s had a cult following for years in the film community, and I always appreciate it when that gets brought up, or The Civilization of Maxwell Bright. Some of these more daring turns I took.

I do believe as an actor, the biggest chance you could take is actually to not take chances, you know? So if something seems really challenging and might terrify you just a little bit, that’s probably a sign that you should do it.

Thanks to Patrick Warburton for taking the time to speak about The Duel.