The ‘A League of Their Own’ and ‘Barry’ star proved his acting abilities in Prime Video’s ‘Shotgun Wedding,’ but Carden’s career only locks and loads.
[Spoilers for “Shotgun Wedding,” now streaming on Prime Video, below.]
Well who else hasn’t seen that twist ending coming? With the explosive climax of “Shotgun Wedding,” it looks like D’Arcy Carden has just established himself as a stunt pro and bona fide action star.
The Prime Video film stars Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel as a couple whose wedding party is held hostage by Balinese pirates. It turns out it was J.Lo’s ex (played by Lenny Kravitz) who hired the criminals to ruin her big day and get a massive payout. Carden plays the girlfriend of J.Lo’s father (Cheech Marin) who doubles him with Kravitz and becomes part of the fraudulent scheme.
“It was really fun to be able to tell my friends and family that I’m playing Cheech’s girlfriend but I’m having an affair with Lenny Kravitz. They’re like, ‘WHAT?!’ Carden told IndieWire exclusively. “Oh, and I’m kind of like J.Lo’s stepmom. What is this life? How did it happen? It was really fun and these two guys are amazing.
“I would say, ‘Don’t hate me! ‘,” Carden joked. “No, I would actually say, ‘Your father is a very good kisser.’ And then she was like, ‘Cool, we’re not gonna be friends but thanks for telling me.'”
The major twist in “Shotgun Wedding” also finds Carden dangling from a helicopter (which later explodes, a la Michael Bay) and wielding a comically massive machine gun. So yes, Carden can handle hers in any scene given to her in any genre.
“I would welcome this time [of action stardom]”, Carden said. “I really like doing action stuff and I love doing stunts. I did a lot of sports growing up. I need to go to therapy because I want to impress my dad, but there’s something where I’m like, ‘I’ll be the best little stuntman I can be!’
The Emmy-nominated star added, “There was an episode of ‘The Good Place’ where I got to do a 10 minute fight scene and I worked with this incredible stuntman, a legendary stuntman named Jeff Amato, and that was my first real stunt dive where I was like, ‘I love it.’ stuntmen. The more the better. I would be very, very happy to do more. Wonder, I’m waiting!”
Jennifer Lopez and D’Arcy Carden in “Shotgun Wedding”
First video
Outside of its grand finale and that shocking twist alluded to in the title, Carden’s turn in “Shotgun Wedding” was mostly spent pretending to be a hostage victim and standing in a large pool of hotel in the Dominican Republic with co-stars Jennifer Coolidge, Sonia Braga, Callie Hernandez, Selena Tan and Steve Coulter.
“On paper you’re like, ‘OK, they’re in the pool, it’s okay.’ And then when you get there, you say, ‘Oh my god. We’re in the pool for the number of hours there was light,” Carden recalled. “The pruning is the easy part. You get weird little rashes when you’re in the water that long. I think there was a day when the water was a bit cold and everyone was turning blue and then it was like a hot tub the rest of the time. Every complaint we have about the prune fingers, it couldn’t have been easier, really.
And keeping the same continuity for hours in literal standing water proved to be a problem at times.
“The first day we walked into the pool, Jason Moore, the director, said, ‘Would your character take off his shoes? What would they do? And I was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got a lot of days in this pool. I’m definitely taking off my shoes. I’m not going to hold anything back. What would Harriet do but what would I do?’ Carden joked.
But it is clear that his rise in Hollywood is anything but treading water. As fans continue to clamor for a second season of “A League of Their Own,” also on Prime Video with the movie “Shotgun Wedding,” Carden is set to return to the Rockford Peaches.
“How can it still be so long [and no Season 2 renewal]? I don’t have any updates other than how fans are still so active on social media with hashtagging,” Carden said. “I almost feel like it’s a part-time job. It’s incredible. There is no shortage of #RenewALATO. Every day there are thousands of tweets about it and it really is beyond our wildest dreams and it really is so sweet that people would care enough to ask me that question let alone the tweet a million times. It’s really adorable and the cast and I just want to get back to that fucking ballpark and shoot season 2.”
Plus, Carden isn’t ruling out an appearance on ‘White Lotus’ Season 3 after bonding with Emmy winner Coolidge on ‘Shotgun Wedding,’ which also saw the ‘Legally Blonde’ icon continue to be. tied up in precarious situations in luxury hotels.
“I’m obsessed with Mike White and everything he does,” Carden said, pitching a potential Season 3 premise. “Maybe we could be ghosts, we could be angels or something. We could haunt a hotel and then Jennifer Coolidge could still be there.
Mike White… Marvel… do you have Carden’s number?
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