The brand new Comedy Central movie “Office Race” boasts an ensemble bevy of A-list talent including former “SNL” star Beck Bennett, Joel McHale, Alyson Hannigan and Kelsey Grammer.
“We were stunned on the solid we were in a position to attract,” director Jared Lapidus told The Post.
“We had a brief list of oldsters that we thought would nail the roles, and we went to the network with that list. We in a short time got here to Kelsey and Alyson. They loved it and signed on. Joel was very high on our list from the very starting, we got lucky when he loved the script.
“We had this miraculous series of ‘Yesses’ where we were in a position to attach a murder’s row of talent.”
Premiering Sept. 4 (8 p.m.), “Office Race” follows Pat (Bennett), an unambitious office employee who’s aimlessly drifting through life.
He’s got a girlfriend (also named Pat, played by Hannigan) who’s frustrated along with his lack of passion, and an obnoxious exercise-obsessed work rival, Spencer (McHale).
After Spencer gets a promotion and becomes Pat’s boss, Pat soon becomes involved with a bunch of runners, led by Rita (Erinn Hayes). Pat is just attempting to woo Rita as an investor, in an effort to one-up Spencer. But soon, his involvement with Rita and her friends turns right into a real interest in the game, as he’s goaded into competing in a marathon with Spencer. (Grammer plays Coach B, an aging running pro who owns a store, while JB Smoove plays one other member of the team who speed-walks).
“Joel’s character has an addiction to a quasi-legal sports drink which wreaks havoc on his body over the course of the film, particularly within the second half,” said Lapidus.
“Joel was delighted to play this side of his character and did so with relish. He brought such enthusiasm and physicality to the deterioration of his character. All of that stuff was really fun. It definitely took some time for everyone to calm down when Joel would walk onto the set before we were able to shoot, since the sight gag alone was hilarious.”
Lapidus, who co-wrote the film with James Kilmoon, said that the 2 met as roommates at NYU.
“James was running cross country on the time, and I used to be within the film school.”
Once they realized that there weren’t many feature-length comedies set on this planet of running, they saw a chance.
Although they’re fans of the classic 1999 comedy “Office Space,” they said that “Office Race” didn’t begin as a deliberate homage.
“So the total story there’s that the title for the last six years or so has been ‘Run for the Money’ and that was the title during production,” said Lapidus.
“The title was modified while we were in post [production] — I suppose it was the network seeing what their audience tends to love. There are plenty of workplace comedies on Comedy Central.”
Nevertheless, “Office Race” does have one essential connection to “Office Space.”
“We had an incredible director of photography, Tim Suhrstedt, a comedy legend. He’s been working within the comedy world for a really very long time,” said Lapidus. “He shot the unique ‘Teen Wolf,’ ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,’ and ‘Office Space.’ We were incredibly lucky to have his regular hand and a long time of experience.”