SMOSH's Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox talk about their fav 'Ghostmates' co-star: T-Pain
"He's willing to get weird."
That's what T-Pain's publicist told SMOSH co-founders Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox earlier this year in an email discussing potential projects between the YouTubers and the rapper.
Padilla and Hecox, who have built a YouTube empire under their SMOSH brand, didn't know what they wanted to do with T. Pain just yet.
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But when working on their new movie Ghostmates, which debuted on YouTube Red on Wednesday, they decided why not write T. Pain in as one of the characters?
The film follows socially awkward Charlie (Padilla), who moves into a furnished apartment where Eddie (Hecox) also lives. Eddie is obnoxious, self-involved and a ghost, one that only Charlie can see. To get rid of Eddie, Charlie agrees to help him get to heaven.
Turns out, T-Pain was game for the cameo.
"He blew us out of the water," Hecox said. "He knew the script and he came with all his own stuff. He showed us up."
"Most of the things he says in the movie he just improvised on the spot," Padilla said. "He made me feel like I need to up my acting gig a bit."
This is the second movie for Hecox and Padilla, who debuted SMOSH: The Movie last year. The first film's premise was a little more YouTube-centric. In it, the two teleport into different YouTubers’ channels in order to delete an embarrassing video of Padilla.
This time around, Hecox and Padilla wanted to be a little more out of the box, and said YouTube gave them the creative freedom to do so.
Their initial idea for the film involved mocking paranormal investigators.
"We loved the idea of making something about ghosts funny," Padilla said.
But after various brainstorm sessions -- the two said they keep a notebook full of ideas -- they eventually decided the movie should have a ghost-as-a-roommate storyline.
It helped that Hecox and Padilla, who grew up in Sacramento, had been roommates for four years in real life from 2008 to 2012.
So far, fans have reacted positively to the second feature film. The movie is already trending on Twitter.
Watch the full Facebook Live interview below.
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
