Michael Ian Black Talks About Being Bradley Cooper’s First Wet, Hot Love Interest

Posted by Melissa Locker on August 6th

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp debuted on Netflix last week letting viewers return to Camp Firewood 15 years later—and through the magic of film, three days earlier—than the original movie.

On last night’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Michael Ian Black, who plays McKinley in Wet Hot American Summer, stopped by to talk to Seth Meyers about what it was like to play a three-month younger version of his 16-year-old character in the camp comedy from David Wain and Michael Showalter.

While there were plenty of new additions to Camp Firewood’s roster played by the likes of Jon Hamm, Chris Pine, Lake Bell, Jason Schwartzman, Josh Charles, and Michael Cera, Seth was savvy enough to ask the burning question on everyone’s mind—what’s it like to be the first person to have an on-screen love scene with Bradley Cooper? After all, according to Black, the only reason that his character exists is to get down and dirty with the drama coach played by Cooper. “I broke him in,” boasted Black. “American Sniper doesn’t happen without me.”

Black also explained the only difference from making the original film and the Netflix series: “I would say there was a lot less alcoholism than there was then,” he said. “What you do in your 20s is different than what you do in your 40s. I mean, I wouldn’t know because I’m still only 26, but I’ve heard from those guys that they slowed down a little bit.”

Want more Seth Meyers? Check out Documentary Now! which premieres on IFC on Thursday, August 20 at 10p