Although ""She's Out of My League,"" in theaters now, may seem like your typical raunchy bro-comedy, it is unique in that it was written, directed and performed almost entirely by relative newcomers. ""She's Out of My League"" is the first major feature film directed by British sketch-comedy veteran Jim Field, the third from usual indie writer Sean Anders (""Fan Boys,"" ""Never Been Thawed""), and features a cast of the kind of actors you've seen around, but whose names you can't quite match to the face. If successful, this film could be a big break for the up-and-comers involved, like two of the movie's leads, Jay Baruchel and Nate Torrence.
""It's been a long time coming,"" Torrence, who's previously appeared in various commercials and was a member of improv groups like The Second City and The Groundlings, said of getting a major part in a big-budget comedy. ""I have been out here for about 10 years total, and it took about three years to even be able to get an agent that would take me on for TV and film. Commercials opened doors, but I didn't move to L.A. to do a thousand commercials. That's not really living the dream.""
Baruchel, whose previous credits include supporting roles in ""Knocked Up,"" ""Tropic Thunder"" and the lead role in the sadly short-lived Judd Apatow television series ""Undeclared,"" also welcomed the opportunity to headline a big-budget Hollywood film. Although he is known mainly for his supporting work in the states, Baruchel, who grew up in Montreal, said his experience in the Canadian film industry prepared him for the challenge.
""Mercifully the whole time that I have had a career in the states doing supporting stuff, I have been doing some pretty cool independent films back in Canada, and I have been the lead of most of those,"" Baruchel said. ""It's like I have kind of had two careers. For every big-budgety comedy I have made in the states, I have done a weirdo independent film.""
‘She's Out of My League"" is definitely not a weirdo independent film. In its opening weekend, it opened third at the box office, just behind CGI and action behemoths ""Alice in Wonderland"" and ""Green Zone."" Box-office numbers aside, Torrence and Baruchel said the film was very much rooted in sketch comedy, making it dynamic not only for the audience, but for the cast and crew as well.
""It was a lot of laughter and wasted time permeated by moments of productivity,"" Baruchel said of the filming process. ""We all just kind of found each other really funny, and poor Jim, our director, was basically camp counselor.""
Torrence said Anders created an environment where the actors were given free reign to ad-lib and experiment with scenes.
""There are also a couple of scenes where they flat out just weren't in the script, and they just made it in the movie somehow,"" he said. ""That's always kind of cool when you get to see that.""
It is this kind of refreshing spontaneity that Baruchel and Torrence think sets ""She's Out of My League"" apart from every other raunch-comedy on the block. That and ""the heart of the movie,"" Baruchel said. ""It has a chutzpah to it, and it kind of elevates it. We have four sympathetic characters, and there is not a douchebag amongst us.""
