Frat Pack
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The Frat Pack is a 1990s-2000s era nickname given to a group of male Hollywood comedy actors who have appeared together in many of the highest grossing movies since the late 1990s, including Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Steve Carell. It was coined by USA Today in a story from June 2004.[1] Before USA Today dubbed this group the Frat Pack, Entertainment Weekly referred to them as the "Slacker Pack," but this term is rarely used. Meanwhile, EW had earlier used the term Frat Pack to describe Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Edward Norton, and Ryan Phillippe, but this usage has not been seen elsewhere. Since then, EW has dropped the "Slacker Pack" term, and also began referring to the group as the Frat Pack (Susman 2005). The name is a take-off of the Rat Pack, a nickname given to a group of entertainers in the 1950s and 1960s combined with the shorthand term for a college fraternity, a reference to the group's popular film, Old School. In December 2007, Italian cinema magazine Nocturno published the first 70 pages dossier completely dedicated to the Frat Pack phenomenon.
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[edit] The Pack
The USA Today article which coined the Frat Pack term listed Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and brothers Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson as members of the group. By 2006, Steve Carell was also included in the Pack when USA Today published another article. Carell claimed membership when hosting Saturday Night Live. Though he did not use the term "Frat Pack," he did say he was "one of those guys now" and specifically referenced Stiller, Vaughn, Ferrell, Owen Wilson, and Black.
A year before citing Carell as a member, USA Today tagged him, in addition to Judd Apatow, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Mindy Kaling, Nancy Walls and Leslie Mann as the Frat Pack's "Junior Varsity." [2] Kaling and Walls haven't been as associated with the group elsewhere, but Details Magazine has cited Apatow (in addition to directors McKay and Phillips) as "The Frat Packagers",[3] while Paul Rudd was cited as a Frat Pack member in the New York Post, among other publications.[4] In an interview with The Advocate, when questioned if Knocked Up will officially welcome him into the Frat Pack, Rudd speculated that he is a "pledge" that hasn't "been initiated yet into the brotherhood." [5]
The members of the Frat Pack often work with certain directors multiple times. Wes Anderson is a college friend of the Wilsons and directed them in both Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tenenbaums (which also starred Stiller) while Todd Phillips directed both Old School and Starsky & Hutch. Adam McKay directed Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Judd Apatow is the writer/producer of several Frat Pack comedies including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. He made his directorial debut with The 40-Year-Old Virgin starring Steve Carell, and followed up with Knocked Up starring Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd, with a cameo by Carell. Apatow was also a cocreator of The Ben Stiller Show. Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin worked again with Vince Vaughn for the Christmas comedy Fred Claus (2007). Subsequently, John C. Reilly who co-starred with Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), will reunite for the comedy Step Brothers and is the star of Walk Hard which has several appearances by actors either in the Frat Pack or have worked with them repeatedly. Reilly also sang at the 2007 Academy Awards with Will Ferrell and Jack Black.
[edit] Filmography
Although all Frat Pack members have never appeared in a single movie together, they have come closest in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which featured all but Owen Wilson (chiefly in minor roles and cameos).
| Movie | Jack Black | Ben Stiller | Luke Wilson | Owen Wilson | Vince Vaughn | Will Ferrell | Steve Carell | Close contributors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottle Rocket (1996) | Lead role | Lead role, writer | ||||||
| The Cable Guy (1996) | Supporting cast | Minor role, director | Minor role | Andy Dick, Leslie Mann, Kyle Gass, Judd Apatow (producer) | ||||
| Bongwater (1997) | Supporting cast | Lead role | Andy Dick, Kyle Gass | |||||
| Permanent Midnight (1998) | Lead role | Supporting cast | Andy Dick | |||||
| Heat Vision and Jack (unaired pilot) (1999) | Lead role | Director, minor role | Lead role, voice | Christine Taylor | ||||
| The Suburbans (1999) | Supporting cast | Supporting cast | ||||||
| Meet the Parents (2000) | Lead role | Supporting cast | ||||||
| The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) | Lead role | Lead role | Lead role, writer | |||||
| Zoolander (2001) | Lead role, director, writer, producer | Lead role | Minor role | Lead role | Christine Taylor, Andy Dick | |||
| Orange County (2002) | Lead role | Minor role | Leslie Mann | |||||
| Run Ronnie Run (2002) | Minor role | Minor role | David Koechner | |||||
| Old School (2003) | Lead role | Lead role | Lead role | Andy Dick | ||||
| Starsky & Hutch (2004) | Lead role | Lead role | Lead role | Supporting cast | ||||
| Envy (2004) | Lead role | Lead role | Amy Poehler | |||||
| Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) | Lead role, producer | Lead role | Justin Long, Christine Taylor | |||||
| Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) | Minor role | Minor role | Minor role | Supporting role | Lead role | Lead role | Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Seth Rogen | |
| Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004) | Minor role | Supporting cast | Lead role | Lead role | Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Seth Rogen, Justin Long, Amy Poehler | |||
| Meet the Fockers (2004) | Lead role | Minor role | ||||||
| Melinda and Melinda (2004) | Lead role | Supporting cast | ||||||
| Bewitched (2005) | Lead role | Supporting cast | ||||||
| Wedding Crashers (2005) | Lead role | Lead role | Minor role | |||||
| The Wendell Baker Story (2005) | Lead role, director, writer | Supporting cast | Supporting cast | |||||
| Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006) | Lead role, writer, songs | Minor role, producer | Kyle Gass, David Koechner (deleted scene/DVD), Amy Poehler | |||||
| Night at the Museum (2006) | Lead role | Supporting cast | Paul Rudd | |||||
| Blades of Glory (2007) | Producer | Minor role | Lead role | Amy Poehler | ||||
| Knocked Up (2007) | Minor role (DVD deleted scene) | Minor role | Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Andy Dick | |||||
| Tropic Thunder (2008) | Lead role | Lead role, producer, director | Dropped out (originally minor role) | |||||
| The Year One (2009) | Lead role | Producer | ||||||
| Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian (2009) | Lead role | Supporting cast | ||||||
| Movie | Jack Black | Ben Stiller | Luke Wilson | Owen Wilson | Vince Vaughn | Will Ferrell | Steve Carell | Close contributors |
[edit] Other films
Comedy films that involve only one primary Frat Packer, among other close contributors, with at least one of these in a large role include:
- Night At the Roxbury (1998)
- Elf (2003)
- The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
- The Break-Up (2006)
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
- You, Me and Dupree (2006)
- Idiocracy (2006)
- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
- Blonde Ambition (2007)
- Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland (2008)
- Drillbit Taylor (2008)
- Semi-Pro (2008)
- Kung Fu Panda (2008)
- Get Smart (2008)
- Step Brothers (2008)
- Tenure' (2009)
[edit] Awards, nominations and other information
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Ben Stiller is the only member ever to win an Emmy.
- Owen Wilson is the only member to be nominated for an Academy Award.
- Steve Carell is the only member to ever win a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award or Writers Guild Award.
- All members have been presenters at the Academy Awards.
- Except for Owen Wilson, all members have hosted Saturday Night Live.
- Jack Black is the only member to be a musical guest on Saturday Night Live (as part of Tenacious D).
- Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller and David Koechner have all been cast members on Saturday Night Live.
- Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd have all appeared on David Koechner's Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show.
- Only Will Ferrell (Delta Tau Delta) held membership in a real college fraternity.
[edit] See also
- Rat Pack
- Brat Pack
- Splat Pack
- Typecasting
- Heat Vision and Jack - a failed Frat Pack pilot starring Jack Black and Owen Wilson, directed by Ben Stiller.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Comedy's funniest serial sidekicks from Entertainment Weekly. (The first article written about the group.)
- Wilson and Vaughn: Leaders of the 'Frat Pack' from USA Today (The second article written about the group, and the first to refer to them as the Frat Pack.)
- These guys would be great to hang out with from USA Today, featuring a circa-2004 chart detailing the movies that each Frat Packer has been involved in.
- Frat Packers just get better from MSNBC
- Unlikely heroes of the box office: The Frat Pack from the Christian Science Monitor
- Frat Pack back on track this summer from the New York Post
- Profile in The Times
- Frat Pack persona: Archetype casting from USA Today's second Frat Pack article.
- Metalanguage, Comedy, and the 'Frat Pack' as Community of Practice: What does that even mean?, a graduate-level paper detailing the use of common language in five Frat Pack films.
- The Frat Pack Tribute, a website detailing recent information and news about the Frat Pack
- Boys' Own Stories from Sight and Sound magazine, tracing the history of the Frat Pack
