Charlie Day is in limbo. It’s been a few weeks since the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star’s directorial debut, Fool’s Paradise, was released in American cinemas, and the 47-year-old has the vague look of shell shock about him. Reviews have been bad – scathingly so. Speaking to me now, a month before the actors’ strike, Day is unsure whether his eccentric Hollywood satire was a misunderstood gem or an abject mistake. “Every time I think about the movie, on a day-to-day basis – or even hour to hour – I have a different relationship with [it],” he begins, soberly. “It’s absolute madness. Highs and lows... One moment it’s joy and pride, thinking ideally it can become a cult classic. Then it’s ‘I never want to think about this again.’”
Right now, though, it seems to be all he can think about. I sense that the film, along with the critical trouncing it received, hangs over our conversation like a black cloud. Fool’s Paradise was always going to be a tricky sell, of course. It’s an off-beat throwback, following a man who is accidentally propelled to Hollywood stardom overnight. Day, as the film’s ostensible lead, is entirely silent throughout – a bold gambit for a performer whose high-pitched, sandpapery voice is his most distinctive quality. In Sunny, it regularly explodes into a shout or a full-blown shriek. Today, this livewire energy has been taken down a few volts.
