Jake Johnson stars in The Dink, a spiritual heir to Dodgeball with a Ben Stiller cameo, playing Dusty Boyd, a former tennis pro turned pickleball upstart. Despite the role, Johnson had no prior pickleball experience. 'No experience of it whatsoever,' he says cheerfully. The film's climax required months of real-life training in pickleball and tennis. 'It was like WWE. They call it fake wrestling. The outcome is there, but you still have to wrestle. That was probably the most stressful part of the film to me.'
The origins of The Dink
The film came to Johnson through writer Sean Clements, who took up pickleball and befriended a group of competitive older women in Beverly Hills. Johnson was seeking a light, fun comedy with big set pieces, made before the 2024 US presidential election. 'I knew, however that goes, it’s going to get crazy for our country, and it’s going to be very divisive, and the internet is going to get all mad at each other about everything, and we’re all going to be fighting,' he says. The Dink was an escape. 'I thought, if I’m going to make something, I don’t want to throw more wood on to that fire.'
An intergenerational friendship
Dusty joins a tough-talking gang of older women led by Mary Steenburgen’s Candace. Johnson rejects the idea that men and women can't be friends. 'I don’t agree with this idea that men and women can’t be friends, and that no matter what, it’s going to be screwed up with sex. That feels so crazy old school and puritan to me.' He is a big fan of Steenburgen. 'Parenthood meant a ton to me when I first saw it. So did Step Brothers. I feel about her the way that Dusty feels about Candace. I don’t view her as my older friend. Mary’s my friend. I would hang out with Mary whenever.'
Asked if he has seen Challengers, Johnson hasn't, but notes co-star Aaron Chen's response: 'Chen refers to our movie as the sexier Challengers.'
From high school dropout to New Girl
Johnson started acting in high school in Chicago after dropping out at 15. A play changed his life. 'I got credit for the first time from stuffy adults who did not like me.' He moved to LA and spent years as a jobbing actor, taking commercials and co-star roles. 'I call it grinding.' He describes Hollywood as 'a really long dinner table with a bunch of seats... You just want to stay at the table.'
At 33, he landed New Girl, playing Nick for seven years. 'New Girl was a very scary job, because all of them were really prepared. I had to stop smoking pot, because I was like, oh, these fools know their lines! I got to make some changes and do it fast, or else I’m going to lose this job,' he laughs.
Meeting Prince
Prince, a huge fan, cameoed in a 2014 post-Super Bowl episode watched by 26.3 million people. On set, he called Johnson 'Nick'. 'I grew up loving Prince. We would take road trips from Chicago just to listen to his music in Minneapolis. So I thought, I’m going to show this man respect. I’m not going to be weird. And then I heard him say, “I’d like to meet Nick now.” And he was so great.' They talked for hours about sport and TV. 'Cheers, Roseanne and New Girl. Those were his three shows.'
Life after fame
Fame 'exploded my brain for about six months'. He quotes Bill Murray: 'When you first get fame, you’ve got about a year where you can kind of be an asshole, and then if you stay an asshole after that, that just means you’re an asshole.' Johnson has worked steadily since, from Jurassic World to Minx and Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. He reunited with director Joe Swanberg for The Sun Never Sets, with Dakota Fanning, expected later this year.
His twin daughters, born in 2014 with wife Erin Payne, keep him grounded. 'Kids changed everything. I think if I didn’t have kids, I’d have a ponytail now, and I wouldn’t be wearing a shirt in this interview, because I wouldn’t believe in shirts. Kids humble you, fast. They are not fans of the old Jakester and his work.' They weren't impressed with his Spider-Man voice role. 'They thought Hailee [Steinfeld]’s Spider-Gwen was cool. They thought my character was the most embarrassing, because he just ate pizza and was the old chubby one.'
Johnson has no problem staying humble. 'Unfortunately!' The Dink is out on Apple TV on 24 July.
