Danny McBride has become one of the most interesting comedians in film and television, bringing his signature ill-informed yet completely confident brand of mansplaining to audiences for a few decades now. As former baseball superstar Kenny Powers in the HBO series Eastbound & Down, McBride’s foul and insult-based humor flourished.
McBride has gone on to star in multiple big-screen hits, from Pineapple Express to This is the End to Alien: Covenant. He’s also continued to collaborate with HBO, releasing the acclaimed comedies Vice Principles and The Righteous Gemstones. McBride has even gotten into producing. Alongside David Gordon Greene, he’s behind the recent revamp of the Halloween franchise. In honor of his prolific career, here are 10 quotes from characters Danny McBride has played that support his status as a comedy genius.
“Once Upon A Time, I Believed In Destiny, But Now I Say, F That B.” - Kenny Powers (Eastbound & Bound)
Eastbound & Down aired on HBO from 2009 to 2013, and McBride plays former major league baseball player Kenny Powers, who returns to hometown, Shelby, North Carolina, to plot his comeback. Burnt out and in poor shape, Powers crashes with his older brother and becomes a substitute gym teacher at his old middle school.
Throughout its four-season run, the show highlighted Powers’s ups and downs, exposing him as one of the most deluded, self-obsessed television characters of all time. The one-liner quoted above is the type of hilarious philosophical mumbo jumbo Kenny espouses in order to justify how his life evolves.
“I Owe It All To The Man Upstairs.” - Jesse Gemstone (The Righteous Gemstones)
In his latest HBO venture, The Righteous Gemstones, McBride plays the eldest son of Eli Gemstone, a famous evangelical preacher who has amassed great wealth for his family. Jesse Gemstone and his three best friends are blackmailed in the show’s first episode, but Jesse justifies his choices through his self-righteous take on Christianity.
Jesse believes his fortune is bestowed upon him due to his devoutness, and he qualifies his major sins as small mistakes he shouldn’t have to pay for. Things don’t ultimately work out how Jesse wants them to.
“I’m Freakin’ Pumped! I’ve Been Drinking Green Tea All GD Day.” - Rico Brown (Hot Rod)
McBride had a supporting role in this 2007 ensemble comedy about an aspiring stuntman played by Andy Samberg. McBride is Rico, one of Hot Rod’s childhood friends, who helps his buddy plan an elaborate stunt. Hot Rod wants to honor his late father, stuntman Rod Kimble.
While Hot Rod received mixed reviews, McBride gave a memorable performance as a doltish yet self-assured member of Hot Rod’s crew. The movie would be much less amusing without McBride’s scenes.
“I’m Damaged Goods, Baby. You Can Have My Body, But You Can’t Have My Heart.” - Kenny Powers (Eastbound & Down)
In Eastbound & Down, Kenny Powers has different lovers, but he never quite gets over his high school sweetheart, April. Despite being single-handedly responsible for sabotaging their chance to be together at the end of the first season, Kenny calls himself damaged goods, an indication of just how misguided he is about his life’s trajectory.
Kenny’s absurd romanticism is a highlight of the show, and he doesn’t hold back on expressing his physical and emotional desires. While there is something naively playful about his approach to love, Kenny always avoids responsibility for his choices, which isn’t funny at all.
“Don’t Be Braggadocious. It’s Not Becoming.” - Neal Gamby (Vice Principals)
McBride’s second series with HBO was this two-season venture, which stars McBride and Walton Goggins as a pair of power-hungry vice principals vying for the top seat at their place of employment, North Jackson High School. Both men are completely corrupted and borderline sociopathic, and as they attempt to take out their new boss, Dr. Belinda Brown, they inevitably just sabotage each other.
The show became known for its crude, scorn-driven dialogue, and putting McBride and Goggins in a high school setting has comical consequences.
“Check Out My Pits, Dog. There’s No Hair Under There. It Makes Me Aerodynamic When I Fight.” - Red (Pineapple Express)
Pineapple Express is a bloody stoner comedy about a trio of low-level druggies who get wrapped up in a big scheme after watching a corrupt police officer take out a mobster. McBride plays a drug dealer named Red, who dons a curly mullet and shaves his armpits.
Red is a classic McBride character. Idiosyncratic, nerdy, and completely removed from reality, Red lives in a world full of marijuana sales, silk robes, and wannabe gangsters.
“I Guess If Michael Cera’s Gone It’s Not A Total Loss, Huh? - Himself (This Is The End)
This is the End is the bro comedy to end all bro comedies. In it, a bunch of well-known Hollywood comedians play themselves as the Rapture unfolds around them, causing the good to be lifted up into Heaven while the rest remain on the secular, post-apocalyptic earth.
McBride plays an exaggerated version of himself: selfish, greedy, and intent upon survival. He eventually becomes the leader of a cannibal gang, taking Channing Tatum as his servant.
“I Love My Bi Son.” - Jesse Gemstone (The Righteous Gemstones)
Jesse Gemstone may be McBride’s most dynamic character yet. Even though he’s a self-absorbed preacher attached to his lavish lifestyle, he comes a long way by the end of the show’s first season, choosing the future health of his family until over his own egotistical need to always be right.
He has a contentious relationship with his oldest son, Gideon, who is actually behind the blackmailing that sets the tone for the series. Jesse and Gideon’s bond evolves throughout the season, though, and in a hilarious scene, Jesse tries to stress his love for his son, letting him know he’s there for him even if he’s gay or bisexual or anything else.
“You Think There’s Popcorn And Beanbags In The Real World? There’s Not.” - Neal Gamby (Vice Principals)
In Vice Principals, McBride’s character Neal is a divorced single man with a tween daughter. Instead of coping with it, he allows his failed marriage to fuel his sense of entitlement, especially as it relates to his quest to become principal.
McBride portrays the middle-aged teacher with a chip on his shoulder perfectly, proving that being an adult isn’t always as awesome as it seems.
“Dollar Dollar Bills, Y’all.” - Kenny Powers (Eastbound & Down)
As Kenny Powers, McBride toys with fame and ambition. While Powers thinks he’s the coolest cat in town, he’s really a burn-out who relies on drugs and booze to keep the delusion going. Kenny Powers wants money, prioritizing material wealth over all else.
Eastbound & Down tows the line between satirizing the pathetic life of someone like Kenny Powers and making him the most likable idiot in television history. McBride is able to bring endearing moments into the lives of characters like Kenny, who do despicable things.
