Ray Romano’s latest role is no laughing matter.
The actor known for “Everybody Loves Raymond” and decades of stand-up performances takes on a more serious project with the drama-comedy “Paddleton,” in which he plays a man whose best friend is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Romano, who stars in the film alongside Mark Duplass, relished the opportunity to evoke an audience response beyond laughter.
“There’s a sadness part of everybody,” Romano told the Daily News. “I like to use that in my craft, instead of just using comedy. And also to challenge myself. Do I have this? Can I do it? I know I can tell a joke. Let’s see if I can get somebody to feel something else.”
The movie, which premieres Friday on Netflix, centers on the bond between a pair of misfits, Andy (played by Romano) and Michael (Duplass), whose worlds are rocked when they learn Michael only has a few months to live.
Rather than spend his final days in a hospital bed, Michael decides he wants to turn to physician-assisted suicide through a lethal dose of prescription pills when he’s ready to go, and asks an uneasy Andy to help him through the process when the time comes.
Before then, though, Michael wants to spend what time he has left eating frozen pizzas, watching kung fu movies and playing a made-up sport called paddleton with his best friend.
“For me, the core of this movie was trying to show a platonic male love story without making it jokey or bromance-y,” Duplass told The News. “One thing I’ve discovered as I’ve sort of put male relationships on screen is that people aren’t used to North American males being very open and intimate with each other. It makes people kind of uncomfortable in a way.”
Still, Romano and Duplass infuse some levity into “Paddleton” through their characters’ conversations. The key to that approach is making their interactions seem as natural as possible, Romano says.
“The comedy comes from who these guys are,” Romano, 61, explains. “You’re not really doing punchlines. These guys, they don’t express their emotions well, so they would push down any of the sadness and just try to continue living their life. So as far as what you would think would just be this morose and depressed state, they’re trying to fight that off because they don’t like to show emotion anyway.”
The film’s stars had never met before they teamed up for “Paddleton,” but Duplass — who co-wrote the movie with director Alex Lehmann — made it his mission to enlist Romano after seeing his ability to use humor during serious scenes in the 2017 movie “The Big Sick.”
Duplass, 42, approached Romano about the project at a party following that film’s premiere, and sent him an outline for “Paddleton” shortly after.
Instead of using a standard script, the duo improvised dialogue and bounced ideas off each other.
“Just speaking candidly, a guy like Ray has no need to work for the rest of his life,” Duplass said. “There’s no reason for him to come do a small, improvised movie with me other than he’s passionate about it and wants to explore a new side of himself, and I can’t give him enough credit for that.”
Romano was intrigued by the idea of playing an underdog type of character who struggles to relate to other people.
The Queens-born star recalls watching an interview in which Denzel Washington advised actors to create a backstory for every character they play — and he’s followed that recommendation.
“I did one for this guy, and I don’t want to get into it, but I just tried to write a scenario of his life that got him to where he was,” Romano said. “I got this guy who really doesn’t want to connect. He doesn’t connect with anybody and really feels like there’s nobody out there for him. … Then the universe sends him this gift, this one person who is a soulmate to him.”
Although “Paddleton” involves the polarizing topic of physician-assisted suicide, Duplass says it was never their mission to make a statement or push an agenda.
Instead, they wanted to come up with a story about companionship where Andy is asked to help his best friend — even though doing so would ultimately mean losing him.
