We’re stoked to have Boston area standup comic extraordinaire Nick Chambers as the put-upon Shea family in-law Todd.

You may have heard Nick‘s jokes on the radio on your morning commute or been lucky enough to partake his genius Fake Song Fridays series. I recently got the elusive Mr. Chambers to go on the record for a little chat:

Brendan: This is exciting, isn’t it? Being on the record?

Nick: Yes! I’m the Zodiac Killer! Oops…

Brendan: Wow. I did not expect this conversation to go there this quickly. I figured we’d eventually get there. But you came right out with it, huh?

Nick: Feels so good to get that off my chest, man.

Brendan: I think a lot of people know you as a stand up comic, but this role isn’t a comedy role. Is that weird?

Nick: Not for me. As much as I love comedy, it’s almost more fun to be the straight man. And I notice in my stand up, I’m starting to add more serious moments where the audience is just quiet for a while.

Brendan: When we met, we were working on a movie where there were a lot of serious elements as well as the comedy. I definitely am trying to bring both with this project because humor is the main way a lot of people deal with heaviness.

Nick: I definitely see that. I don’t know how I would handle most things if humor wasn’t involved somehow. And I worked in the mental health field for a few years and being able to joke around with people was really helpful.

Brendan: What do you think some of the challenges are going to be for you playing Todd?

Nick: I feel like I’m a really immature person. Playing a father who is trying to be supportive while his wife and her family go through this major change in their life is way more adult than I would be ready for in real life.

Brendan: What’s the most immature thing you did today?

Nick: Watched Punky Brewster.

Brendan: I had a big Soleil Moon Frye thing for a while. Remember when she reappeared as a teenager on The Wonder Years? She took her sweater off in a boat or something. And suddenly, I realized I was in full on puberty. (Editor’s note: Upon further research, she was in a boat but it was a polo shirt that she almost took off when Kevin Arnold got flustered and fell in the water.)

Nick: I don’t remember that. I remember her showing up on Sabrina the Teenage Witch though.

Brendan: That was past my time. But back to SUNDOWN – I thought of you for Todd because even though he spends a lot of time getting shit on by the family, I think there’s a quiet upstanding decency to him. He may have no idea what to do, but he’s trying, you know?

Nick: Thanks! It’s good to know I was successful in tricking you into thinking I’m upstanding in any kind of way. So how did this script come about for you?

Brendan: Ironically enough, it started out as a biopic about the Zodiac killer and somehow morphed into this.

Nick: If you ever decide to return to the original story, let me know if you need a consultant.

Help bring Nick to justice by supporting the SUNDOWN Kickstarter page.