Hitting on Mary Tyler Moore Launched Charlie Day's Career
But Day's first ever on-screen acting job was in Mary & Rhoda. The 2000 TV movie began as a pilot for a planned reboot of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but CBS ultimately passed on the 'updated' version. 'If you loved The Mary Tyler Moore Show, stay away from Mary & Rhoda,' one review read.
During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Day recalled that the role was limited to just one line. His character, named 'Mailroom Kid,' simply had to tell Moore's Mary Richards that she's 'looking fine.'
But Day clearly misunderstood the assignment. 'I thought it was supposed to be done sort of sarcastically, cause I'm 20 years old,' Day explained. 'Something like, 'Eh, looking fine, lady.'' When asked how old Moore was at the time, Day replied, 'Seventy… thousand. I don't know.'
'I get down to set, and the director's like, 'So you're really kind of hitting on her,'' Day continued. 'And so I had to do it completely differently.' Clearly pretending to come onto a TV legend in a failed pilot no one remembers worked out great. 'It launched my whole career. I took off!' Day proudly declared.
While Day has since become a famous, tuxedo-owning actor, he did entertain taking a similarly minuscule role after being asked to audition for an acclaimed filmmaker. 'It was for something David Fincher was making,' Day told Kimmel. 'But the part was one line. And I was thinking, 'I'm past this.''
But he decided to read for the part anyway, even though the whole job was just to say, 'Heads. No tails!' while someone else flipped a coin. According to Day, the casting director was surprised to see a familiar face trying out for a job that ranked only slightly above 'background extra.'
Based on Day's description, the project was likely Mank, Fincher's 2020 biopic about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. And the character was probably legendary Hollywood comedian and singer Eddie Cantor. So, even though the part was small, casting a well-known comic actor would have actually made sense.
Unfortunately, Day didn't get the gig that he thought was beneath him. Maybe he can return the favor and invite Fincher to apply to guest-direct an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
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