I’ve noticed the Wilson brothers, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Steve Carrell appear together a number of times in a number of combinations. Examples of movies that come to mind are Zoolander, Anchorman, Oldschool, Bewitched, Starsky & Hutch and others.
So what is this phenomenon? I assume they are real good friends in real life. Is there any nickname for this gang of actors?
They’re known as the Frat Pack. From Wiki:
[quoteThe USA Today article which coined the Frat Pack term listed Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, and brother Owen 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.
Frat Pack “Pledges” are actors who are on the verge of “Frat Pack membership”. These actors include David Koechner, Seth Rogen, and Paul Rudd. Justin Long is also considered to be increasingly “pledging the Frat Pack”. According to the same source, actors such as Jason Bateman, Andy Dick, Jon Favreau, actresses such as Jennifer Aniston, Christine Taylor, and crew members such as Judd Apatow, Adam McKay, Todd Phillips are also “Pledges” to the Frat Pack.[/quote]
:smack: Man, I’m bungling coding left and right. Again…
The Frat Pack?
The Cracked Pack?
I don’t know. I (usually) like them all, but there are some stinkers in that list of movies. I think all of them deserve better. They need to appear together (all of 'em!) in one, really good, movie.
Archive Guy beat me to it. Frat Pack it is. Jon Favreau and Jennifer Aniston ought to be considered more than Pledges, if not actual members.
Why Aniston? Because of Office space and Along came Polly?
Christine Taylor is Ben Stiller’s wife, so that ought to give her a bit more than pledge status.
I think John Favreau has more of an indie streak in him. Like the guy next door who just shows up for the parties.
That’s a weird collection of people. Andy Dick is probably just there so some of the others can score drugs.
I was going to ask how Bateman got on this list, but he was in Dodgeball and now I’m reading that he was in Starsky and Hutch. He and Carrell are the only ones in that whole group who are capable of making me laugh.
It’s a little base calling Adam McKay and Judd Apatow ‘crew members.’
And The Break-Up with Vince Vaughn. I haven’t seen it (or Polly) but that’s what came to mind. I’ve never seen Friends either, so she didn’t come to mind because I’m a long-time fan. I like her best in small, indie movies, like The Good Girl or Friends With Money. Come to think of it, I guess I was wrong in bringing her up. None of The Frat Pack are in Office Space.
I don’t think the “frat pack” is as tight as the press makes it out to be. Vince Vaughn said he had barely known Owen Wilson before making The Wedding Crashers - they had some mutual friends like Ben Stiller and had appeared in a few scenes together in Starsky and Hutch but had never socialized.
While I do enjoy the core of the frat pack (minus Vaughn), there is some certain charm about Carrell when he gets things right. In Anchorman, he practically steals every scene with pretty limited material.
Actually, Gary Cole (who so far has gone unmentioned here) is, and since he, like Bateman & Dick, is a frequent supporting player (Dodgeball, Talladega), I think the film counts on the periphery. Also Mike Judge wrote & directed OS, and his most recent film Idiocracy has some frat packers (Luke Wilson, Justing Long), too.
I couldn’t resist. This just looks so good in print. Especially if you title the first one Master.
The sit-com potential is endless! It’ll be better than Everyone Loves Raymond!
Anyone? Anyone?
crickets chirp
Nevermind.
And The Break-Up.
Nice to see someone mention Idiocracy, a not-so-great movie that was still funny as hell and very timely. Too bad it disappeared without a trace. I’m glad I had a chance to see it in the theater.
Wow, I really agree with you. Pretty unfunny bunch, although I did like Zoolander. I have never seen Will Ferrell in anything remotely funny.
Yeah it’s one of those things concocted by entertainment magazines and tabloids. Jim Carrey was mentioned in one of the lists, to give you an idea.