Totally High Star Dexter Darden on Honoring Legacy, Humor

Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: Dexter Darden, exclusive, Half Baked, Half Baked: Totally High, interview, Saved by the Bell, universal

Dexter Darden (Saved by the Bell) spoke to Bleeding Cool about his latest comedy Half Baked: Totally High, honoring the original & more.

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Dexter Darden is well aware of the legacy of the 1998 stoner comedy cult classic Half Baked. At the same time, rather than recreate its success, he wanted to honor the legacy set by its original stars as he leads a new generation of talent to lead the sequel Half Baked: Totally High with director Michael Tiddes and writer Justin Hires penning the screenplay. The film follows JR (Darden), the son of Thurgood (played by Dave Chappelle in the original), and his friends as they search for money to bury one of his best friends who died from smoking the most powerful joint in the world. Darden spoke with Bleeding Cool about what drew him to the project, how he approached leading the film while honoring the original’s legacy, friendships he’s built with co-stars Romona Young and Moses Storm, and how 90s humor is updated to 2024 sensibilities and culture.

Dexter Darden on Building on the Legacy of ‘Half Baked’ with ‘Totally High’

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about ‘Half Baked: Totally High?’
I got the offer from my agent about two years ago and was extremely interested. I’m a big fan of Dave Chappelle and extremely familiar with the first one. Once I got on the phone and talked with Michael Tiddes, the director, and found out who else he was thinking about casting and bringing to the group, I was absolutely a fan to jump on.

What was your approach to JR concerning Chappelle’s original character, Thurgood?
I’m such a big Dave Chappelle fan, and I am a fan of everything that Dave has already done, from ‘Robin Hood Men in Tights’ (1993) to his TV show to the stuff he’s doing now. When I saw his role in what he did with Thurgood in the original, I wanted to pay some homage to him, picking bits and pieces from him because I [play] his son. Just as I’m my own person and my own child after my mom and dad, I still have my own identity. I still have the things that I’m interested in. I still have my way of going about it, even though certain traits might have been passed down, which might be genetics. I’m still my own human, so I wanted to make sure that Thurgood was himself, that everybody knew exactly what he was interested in, and if it was just cannabis, it was just cannabis. If there was more to it, then I wanted to find ways for a man who had a great mom to search for a girl or what his relationship with his mom was like. There are aspects of Dexter that I wanted to input into the role, but I was pulling from David’s inspiration to try to ground Thurgood Jenkins in the world of ‘Half Baked’ for sure.

What’s it like working with Michael on set and working with Justin [Hires] script?
Justin Hires is such a funny actor and stand-up comedian that I have already become a fan of his pen and how he writes. When Michael Tiddes came around, and that opportunity presented itself, I was talking with him and loved it from our initial meeting. I knew that what we were going to do together would be fun. It would be great. He has a great sense of comedy and a great sense of story.

Can you break down your rapport with your cast mates and how you guys meshed?
I love all my cast mates. My best friends started with Joel Courtney as Bruce. Even though he was only there for a little bit, I got the chance to love him, and we grew a solid friendship and have kept up since. Ramona Young and Moses Storm are two of my favorite actors but also two of the funniest people I know. When you get the chance to play with such brilliant comedic minds but also brilliant talent in understanding structure and scene work, it makes it so much fun to improv and see what’s funny along the lines and what adds up on the page. Working with Ramona, who’s still one of my closest female friends right now, and talking with Moses, who I’m going to see on Netflix Is a Joke soon, all these guys are so talented. Having the chance to work with those two has been great.

With ‘Half Baked’ being the second 90s franchise you’re in after ‘Saved by the Bell,’ could you compare the humor of the era to how it compares to now? Do you feel it has evolved?
Humor is a little bit more the word. I would say it’s a bit racier and raunchier back then for ‘Half Baked,’ but I also think the relationship surrounding marijuana was different back then. It was the 90s, and we’re in 2024, where there’s cannabis. You could buy it on the corner, and it’s not as illegal as before. There is a knowledge of weed alone that has become more modernized. The conversation, jokes, and the topics surrounding the material can’t be stuck in the 90s because it would be a bit dated, given people’s relationship with the drug.
What we did was found a way to modernize it and look, I learned that from [showrunner] Tracey Wigfield on ‘Saved by the Bell’, right? Tracy was able to take these six iconic characters, or seven if you count Bayside, because Bayside is iconic alone, right? Just the school, the Max, people wanted to go there, eat burgers, and do the thing. Tracy found a way to humanize all the adults, to make sure the world they lived in in the 90s doesn’t exist anymore. Right. And showcase that in the best way. So I think that’s what Michael Tiddes tried to do with the page, and Justin Hires is on the pen trying to modernize and make the relationships with the jokes very new.

Half Baked: Totally High, which also stars Harland Williams, David Koechner, Frankie Muniz, Rachel True, and Ash Santos, is available on streaming, digital, and Blu-ray.

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