The large majority ofThe Greatest Beer Run Everrests onZac Efron’s shoulders, but fortunately, he’s got an A+ ensemble at his back for every leg of this unbelievable journey.
Based on a true story, Efron leads asChickie Donohue, a guy living in New York in 1967 who decides to bring his buddies fighting in the war in Vietnam a beer. While it might sound outrageous, Chickie commits to his promise. He fills a duffel bag with beers, uses his status as a Merchant Marine to board a shipping vessel bound for Saigon, and then proceeds to see friends includingKyle Allen’s Bobby Pappas,Archie Renaux’s Tom Collins,Jake Picking’s Rick Duggan, andWill Ropp’s Kevin McLoone so he can hand them a beer from home sweet home.
WithThe Greatest Beer Run Evercelebrating its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, Allen, Renaux, Picking, and Ropp took some time to swing by the Collider Supper Suite and Media Studio at Marbl to discuss their experience bringing this true story to screen with directorPeter Farrelly.
One by one, Allen, Renaux, Picking, and Ropp’s characters all have encounters with Chickie in the movie, so I opted to ask the group about their experience collaborating with Efron. Ropp jumped in to share a personal connection to Efron’s work.
“One of the first roles I ever played in middle school on stage was Troy Bolton in High School Musical 2 and some say I might have done it even better than Zac. No, but I told Zac that when I got on set and he got a little emotional because it was like some full circle weird thing. I was literally in middle school playing a character that he originated and now we’re doing a film together. It was just wild, so it’s a really cool experience for me.”
Yes,The Greatest Beer Run Everis a wild ride, but it’s also a story that demands a balance between the fun and sincere respect for the fact that it is a life-or-death situation. Renaux spoke a bit about the value ofFarrelly’s ability to juggle both:
“I was speaking to Tom today, the real Tom Collins, and he was saying, ‘Well, you know, it’s in such a serious situation, a dangerous situation and a dangerous environment, [but] there is still that camaraderie of all the guys being in this together and there’s still a fair amount of jokes and pranks going on.’ And that’s what Peter does. He kind of laces this whole story, which is set in this very serious world, but laces it with a lot of light-hearted and funny, funny moments.”
One especially charming moment? Ropp’s character catching a beer thrown from a hovering helicopter, something he was tasked with nailing in a single take. He explained:
“I did catch a beer. I did. I only got one take and I caught it, I caught it … I don’t know who said it, [but] they were like, ‘This is a really expensive shot,’ having a helicopter and so they’re like, ‘Yeah, you get one take. You better be good.’ And I was like, ‘I’m gonna try my best,’ and I did it. I caught it.”
Allen jumped in to share a similar one-take experience on set:
“We had a similar moment with, I think, a Thai royal aircraft, which is the plane that Zac gets on in the end of the movie, and I think we had one time because they were only gonna fire the engines on this thing once. [Laughs] It was a long shot, a silhouette shot, but there was a certain point where they were yelling instructions to us and then we could no longer hear the instructions [and I] was like, ‘I’m just gonna hug you and probably you should get on the plane,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’m gonna do that.’”
Given the fact that Chickie’s journey is inspired by a desire to support his friends in dire times, I opted to ask the group for a time when they went above and beyond for a friend or for a time when a friend did that for them when they really needed it. Here’s what Ropp went with:
“My buddy [Will] Branner, one of my best buddies, he was making his Broadway debut in New York City and I was flying in to see it with our other best friend and my flight got diverted because of the weather, so I ended up in Chicago and not New York, and I had like 12 hours until he was taking the stage so I rented a car and just drove through the morning/afternoon, and I got there before he got on stage. It was pretty epic.”
Allen also shared a story about an invaluable person in his life when he was first trying to get his acting career off the ground:
“Before I had ever really been able to do this as a living I had an acting teacher, Lauren Patrice Nadler. I think I owed her like upwards of $1,000 bucks before I booked anything. I would always come in and be like, ‘Hey, I’m fresh out. I’m gonna have to stop coming to class,’ and she’d be like, ‘No, you’re good.’”
Before wrapping up the conversation, we did take some time to highlight some upcoming projects, and Allen’s got a pretty big one on the horizon. He’s playing He-Man in theMasters of the Universemovie going to Netflix. Here’s what Allen teased when asked how the film will meet fans’ expectations while also bringing something new to the table:
“You have some of the most talented individuals on the planet, excluding myself, working around the clock to verify that that’s exactly what happens, so I think people can put their trust in that.”
As for Renaux, he’s got Season 2 ofShadow and Boneup next. While he was hesitant to give too much away, he was able to highlight how the series will grow via its new Season 2 additions:
“I think what’s gonna make Season 2 so great is we’re building on the characters, but also introducing some great new characters. We’ve got Lewis Tan who’s in Mortal Kombat … so, yeah, he’s good. And then [Patrick] Gibson who’s in The OA, and he’s brilliant as Prince Nikolai. It’s just gonna continue to grow and develop. I don’t want to give too much away. I’m gonna get myself in trouble. But I’ll just say, it’s gonna be good.”
Eager to hear more from Allen, Renaux, Ropp, and Picking? Be sure to check out our full 22-minute conversation in the video interview at the top of this article!The Greatest Beer Run Everhits select theaters and Apple TV+ on September 30th.
Special thanks to our TIFF 2022 partners A-list Communications, Belvedere Vodka, Marbl Toronto, COVERGIRL Canada, Tres Amici Wines, Toronto Star, and Blue Moon Belgian White beer.
