By Patrick McGrane–

You might not know his name but you almost undoubtedly know his face and personality. Probably most famous for his role as Terry Bernardino, the flamboyant rollerskater in short shorts on the popular long-running Comedy Central show “Reno 911!,” Nick Swardson is a professional standup comedian, actor and writer making a name for himself in the Hollywood comedy scene today. Slowly but surely Nick Swardson has been getting progressively larger roles in his journey to be a household name, from playing sidekick Jeff in the popular comedy film “Grandma’s Boy” to playing Kevin in the Adam Sandler movie “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” Swardson has finally landed the lead part of Bucky Larson in the upcoming comedy “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star.”

In the film Nick Swardson plays Bucky Larson, a rather naïve, but well-meaning man-child who one day stumbles across a video of his parents in an X-rated movie. This convinces Bucky that he is destined to be a star in the adult industry and the movie chronicles his journey and misadventures into the seedier side of Hollywood. The film is a Happy Madison production, meaning that comedy guru Adam Sandler is behind it. The film opened Sept. 9. We here at The Louisville Cardinal recently got a chance to take part in a conference call with Nick Swardson to talk to him about his upcoming film and his life as a comedian.

“It was Adam Sandler’s idea,” Swardson said when asked about the original idea for Bucky Larson. “He called me up and said he had an idea for a movie that he can’t get out of his head.” Swardson claims he tries to portray Bucky as a naïve character while adding a Midwestern accent to try to add to his innocence.

The movie is possibly going to stir up some controversy because of its setting in the adult industry. Swardson doesn’t seem to be too worried about the backlash though.

“The movie is not so much about porn and the adult industry, we really just use it as a setting,” he said when asked if the movie showed the adult industry in a positive or negative light. “‘Bucky Larson’ is more of a fish out of water story.”

Over the phone, he was easy to talk to as well as funny, and he is very proud of his first lead role in a movie. Look for “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star” now in theaters.

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Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures