Joel McHale, familiar to audiences for his comedic roles on “Community” and “The Soup,” was cast as the lecherous Rex, Lori’s boss at Plymouth PR in the upcoming comedy ‘Ted’. “Joel was an obvious choice for me,” says director Seth MacFarlane. “I had tested him for a pilot for FOX. With Joel it was about an old-fashioned swagger. There’s almost nobody in Hollywood who can do that now because it seems that everyone has a much more informal style. Joel was the only guy that I could think of who could pull that off.”

Not used to being turned down, Rex mounts a merciless pursuit of his unresponsive employee. It’s one that proves futile until she and John separate after a final Ted-precipitated disaster. Producer Jason Clark explains: “Joel, as Lori’s boss, works a destructive wedge in her relationship with John, yet he is such an incredible comedic actor who brings so much humor and charm to the role that you just love to hate him.”

McHale is the first to admit: “Rex is not the greatest guy in the world. Almost every time you see him, he is Olympic in his success; consider the amount of purple he wears. He is incredibly rich, drives a Bugatti, runs a PR firm and is living the good life, or he believes he’s living the good life. He’s nailed everything in the office, and Rex gets what he wants.”

The actor appreciated the style of his director. “Seth is a rare combination in that he has talent and creativity pouring out of his ears,” commends McHale. “He can do anything. I have seen him heal people, and he can lift large objects by just thinking about it. He has all that talent, and yet he’s the most humble, self-deprecating person you’ve ever met. He is also open to messing around. After we did the lines, he would let us improvise and throw in jokes.”

Giovanni Ribisi, recently seen opposite Wahlberg in the action-thriller ‘Contraband’ and Emmy nominated for his role on “My Name Is Earl,” plays Donny, a man whose boyhood need for a friend like Ted has grown into a dangerous adult obsession. “I think Donny had a tough upbringing. He was the boy who never got a teddy bear, so there is a hole in his life,” states Ribisi. “He wants Ted. When he gets older, he becomes a stalker who takes it upon himself to get what he never had. His life has been so destitute and downtrodden; he’s looking for an opportunity to realize his dream himself.”

The actor remembers “getting a phone call about doing the table reading of the script. The material was definitely off the beaten path for me. Seth called me up a couple days after the reading and said, ‘I want you to be involved when we make the movie.’ I was over the moon because I’m a huge “Family Guy” fan.”

“Giovanni brought so much to this role that we weren’t expecting,” praises MacFarlane. “He’s a great actor, but the form that greatness takes always remains to be seen. We don’t see as much of Donny in the script. He was a little less fleshed out, and Giovanni came in and completely dimensionalized the role in ways that make the character a more memorable villain.”

Along with the film’s co-writers and Kunis, there are a number of other MacFarlane favorites in ‘Ted’. ““Family Guy” fans will be familiar with cast members Patrick Warburton, Alex Borstein [the inimitable Lois Griffin], Ralph Garman and John Viener, who play multiple characters on the show,” notes Jacobs. “They all have a shorthand with Seth; some of them have worked with him for a decade, and they are his family. It ups the comedy when they get together on the set. It’s magic to see.”

Borstein, who plays young John’s mom, reveals: “They were nice enough to say, ‘Let’s have a lot of our friends we’ve worked with for years do something,’ so this was a gift.” She dryly adds, “As far as a teddy bear coming to life? I’m a Jew, so there’s no such thing as a Christmas miracle. In my house, I’d cut the bear open and throw it out. Hanukah bears don’t talk, and they don’t come to life. They sit and complain.”

Rounding out the cast are Bill Smitrovich (‘Iron Man’) as Frank, Ted’s demented supervisor at the grocery store; Matt Walsh (‘Bad Santa’) as Thomas, John’s Tom Skerritt-loving boss at Liberty Rent-a-Car; and Laura Vandervoort (TV’s “V”) as Tanya, John’s oddly empathetic co-worker. Lori’s catty PR colleagues at Rex’s firm include Jessica Stroup (‘Prom Night’) as Tracy, Ginger Gonzaga (TV’s “The Morning After”) as Gina and Melissa Ordway (‘A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas’) as Michelle.

Image Courtesy of  Ted

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