No one can embarrass you like your parents. They often mean well, but it’s difficult not to dread every word out of their mouths, especially when they’re interacting with members of your extended circle. In Lionsgate‘s About My Father trailer, stand-up comic Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro play a father and son duo who venture outside their comfort zone to interact with extended family members they barely understand.
Laura Terruso directs from a script co-written by Maniscalco and Austen Earl. The story is about Sebastian (Maniscalco) bringing his immigrant hairdresser dad Salvo (De Niro), to a weekend-long getaway to meet his fiancée’s (Leslie Bibb) wealthy and eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, and David Rasche). The two groups quickly realize they’re from opposite sides of the track, leading to hilarity, awkward exchanges, and a dead peacock.
Speaking with People, Maniscalco says the plot was inspired by his experience meeting his now-wife Lana Gomez’s family. Maniscalco says the interactions, sight gags, and stereotypes are semi-faithful to his experience, though much of the story is heightened for comedy’s sake.
“The truth really lies in the relationship between my father and myself. It’s more relationship driven as far as the immigrant father and his old-school, old-world values and me growing up in a different generation, so those two worlds collided,” Maniscalco told People.
“I just wanted to take the two different worlds and clash them together. Basically, what you’re seeing in the movie is the world through my eyes. He’s never been to the country club but I was there, and I just mirrored my experience and gave the thoughts to my father.”
Maniscalco brought his actual father onto the set, where De Niro, a personal hero to the Maniscalco family, interacted with the father-son duo. “It was a surreal experience, not only for myself but for my father,” he says. “I had posters on my bedroom wall of Casino and Godfather. These are experiences I shared with my dad over and over again. Next thing you know, he’s sitting across from De Niro in a living room in Oklahoma and giving him pointers on how to wear his hat or how to smoke a cigar.”
Hollywood often brings people together and makes lifelong dreams come true. Seeing the Maniscalcos living the dream and creating new and lasting memories together is nice.
What do you think about the About My Father trailer? Will you meet the family when the movie arrives on May 26?
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