Thrilling Tales Of Modern Men: Danny McBride On Ego, Grievance & The Stories Men Tell Themselves

Danny McBride joins Rich Roll to discuss his newly published anthology "Thrilling Tales of Modern Men," a collection of short stories exploring modern masculinity and male disappointment. McBride explains that writing the book represented a creative departure from television, offering unlimited potential without studio interference or budget constraints. He emphasizes that his motivation was to crack a new format where he could tell stories directly to the audience without intermediaries.

McBride traces his artistic journey from childhood in rural Virginia, where he grew up near Spotsylvania Civil War battlefields and spent time at video stores and cineplexes. He attended the newly established North Carolina School of the Arts, where he met collaborators David Gordon Green and Jody Hill in his freshman dorm. This convergence of talent at a specific time and place parallels other cultural movements like grunge in Seattle or comedy in 2000s New York.

After moving to Los Angeles, McBride and Hill made "Foot Fist Way" for $75,000, which didn't initially sell at Sundance but caught the attention of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, launching McBride's career. Within a year, he appeared in multiple major films including "Tropic Thunder," "Pineapple Express," and the "Eastbound & Down" pilot.

McBride discusses the shift of comedy from feature films to television, arguing that TV allows comedians to develop specific, niche voices like Nathan Fielders and Tim Robinson that might be diluted in four-quadrant studio comedies. He attributes this partly to aging studio executives becoming risk-averse.

Regarding his creative process, McBride describes free-writing story fragments and allowing ideas to develop organically. Once committed to a project, he processes all life experiences through the lens of that story. He employs a voracious media diet combining literary fiction with trashy reality television to understand character dynamics and human behavior.

Moving to Charleston in 2017 provided distance from Hollywood oversight while allowing him to build a stable creative community and provide steady work to local crews and talent. This decision stemmed from shooting "Eastbound & Down" in North Carolina and noticing that executives rarely visited remote sets.

McBride addresses the representation of religion in "The Righteous Gemstones," emphasizing that he focused on the family's hypocrisy rather than mocking religion itself, allowing religious audiences to appreciate the show as commentary on false prophets.

On masculinity and contemporary manosphere figures, McBride notes that his characters represent men promised Rambo-like heroism while facing desk jobs and disappointment. These characters embody grievance and self-deception, blaming external forces rather than recognizing they are their own obstacles. He observes that people seeking answers from influencers reflect broader human tendencies to look outside themselves.

McBride emphasizes treating characters with depth and humanity rather than as comedic vehicles. He credits collaborators like Walton Goggins and John Goodman for bringing pathos to flawed characters, making audiences care despite their bad behavior.

On the entertainment industry's future, McBride expresses concern about ongoing challenges but maintains optimism about storytelling's enduring appeal. He cites examples like "Obsession" inspiring youth and notes that easier audience access via streaming makes it possible for new talent to break through.

He advises aspiring filmmakers to secure stable employment rather than struggling in expensive cities, allowing creative work to remain inspired rather than desperate. He also advocates for finding collaborators and maintaining loyalty to creative partnerships, having worked with the same circle of people from film school onward.

Regarding his daily writing practice, McBride adjusted from all-night sessions to waking at 5 AM to write before his family wakes, allowing him to balance creative ambition with parental presence.

The audiobook version features prominent actors including Walton Goggins, Adam Divine, Sam Rockwell, Billy Crudup, and Eric Andre reading different stories, with an original score by his longtime composer.