Comedy troupe Broken Lizard gets medieval in their raunchy and hilarious take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Quasi takes place in a 13th century French castle. The titular protagonist, played by Steve Lemme, hunches over, has a “giant fatty deposit on his back,” and speaks out of the side of his mouth. Quasi’s ridiculed on a daily basis and can’t walk through the castle without being pelted by poo. He gets less respect working in the torture chamber, but has a gift for designing superb stretching racks.

Quasi’s miserable life gets infinitely more complicated during a visit by the Pope (Paul Soter) to celebrate the marriage of King Guy (Jay Chandrasekhar) to Queen Catherine (Adrianne Palicki). The pampered monarch disposes of wives once they serve their purpose. He wants an alliance with England and break from the Vatican’s meddling. The Pope and King Guy despise each other. Quasi gets stuck in the middle of the feud when both conspire to have him publicly assassinate the other. Queen Catherine becomes an unlikely ally and smoldering love interest once she learns of the dastardly plans.
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Kevin Heffernan takes over the directing duties from Jay Chandrasekhar. Broken Lizard’s seventh feature film was first conceived 20 years ago based on a character from Steve Lemme. The success of Super Troopers 2 allowed them to “get this thing going.” The comedians play multiple characters in a smarter than expected narrative that skewers religion, classism, and sexism. They praise co-star Adrianne Palicki as a “nimble comedic actress” that looks “regal.”

Fun with Torture

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MW: I can’t remember ever laughing so hard at torture. How does Broken Lizard come up with the idea of Quasi?

Kevin Heffernan: We worked on the script for many years, like 20 years ago. Steve would do this character of a lonely guy that always talked out of the side of his mouth. We always thought it was really funny, so we spun it out into this film. It’s been sitting on our shelf for a long time. No one wanted to make a period film where we play all of the parts. After Super Troopers 2, we got a little momentum and were able to get this thing going. We finally dusted this off and did it.

MW: Steve, you’re hunched over, have this giant prosthetic on your back, and are talking out of the side of your mouth. How uncomfortable was it playing Quasi?

Steve Lemme: It’s nice to play a lonely loser. He’s such a sympathetic guy. People are throwing things at him. He’s up against all of these obstacles and villains. But at the end of the day, he’s a heroic figure. As an actor, it’s cool to do something like that. He’s kind of the most complex character I’ve ever played (laughs). Really, all I had to do was bend over, put my mouth to the side, and act like a dog. I do that anyway. It’s just another Saturday night for me (laughs).

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MW: Talk about casting Adrianne Palicki? She’s hilarious as the Queen.

Jay Chandrasekhar: We need someone who looked like a queen. She’s just so regal but also so nimble as a comedic actor. We already knew she could do great drama from Friday Night Lights. What we’re really doing is fake drama. We need people who can really sell while really getting the jokes. She was delightful to have in the movie.

The Full Pope Garb

MW: What’s the best and worst day filming Quasi?

Erik Stolhanske: The worst day was acting against Paul as the Pope (laughs). He was always drilling down on me.

Paul Soter: Look, having a fart catcher is a fantastic thing. The day when I was in the full Pope garb and regalia, being led in by a carriage with a team of horses, I thought it’s ridiculous that I get to do this. I could have lived that day over and over.

Erik Stolhanske: Character-wise your best day was my worst day. That’s a lot like our life (laughs).

Quasi premieres April 20th exclusively on Hulu from Searchlight Pictures.