Nate Bargatze is known for his “clean” all-ages comedy. Now starring in “The Breadwinner,” he wants to make movies that “everybody” can see.
‘The Breadwinner’ star Nate Bargatze talks stand-up comedy plans
Nate Bargatze tells USA TODAY’s Brian Truitt all about his future stand-up comedy plans while discussing his newest film, “The Breadwinner.”
Live-action PG-rated movies are becoming a rare breed these days. It’s also where cinematic newcomer Nate Bargatze wants to spend his time.
The popular stand-up comedian co-writes, produces and stars in the new comedy “The Breadwinner” (in theaters now) as a Nashville car salesman who cares for his three children when his wife (Mandy Moore) has to go on an important – and extended – “Shark Tank” business trip.
Parents and kids are at the forefront of his mind when it comes to entertainment, whether it be his all-ages “clean” comedy act or partnering with movie theater chains for a special “Nate Rate” on affordable tickets to “The Breadwinner.”
“Even if I wasn’t in them,” Bargatze says, it’s important “just to be able to make family movies for all genres and make sure that everybody can be there to watch it.”
As he grows his entertainment company Nateland and aims to make more movies, Bargatze wants to “live in this PG and PG-13 range,” but if it’s going to be PG-13, he wants to know why.
“I don’t mind if it’s the action or stuff like that,” Bargatze says. “I just want to be able to sell it, be able to be behind it, and build a trust with an audience. I want you to turn the TV on and you just can know that your kids can watch it. Or if they have it on, you don’t have to worry about it.”
He pulls from his stand-up act and real life for various shenanigans in “The Breadwinner,” from forgetting where his kids go to school to a gag with a sleeping horse. But Bargatze thinks he can “tackle every genre” for families, even things with PG frights.
“I remember showing my daughter ‘Jurassic Park.’ It was not a scary movie, but there’s scenes that are going to make her scared,” Bargatze says. “It’s fun to see your children react to movies, and you remember being scared as a kid when that happened.”
Even though he’s in a PG headspace, does he one day see himself doing something more dramatic – a la Adam Sandler in “Punch-Drunk Love” or “Uncut Gems”?
“I would like to try,” Bargatze admits. “Everything’s kind of organically happened in my career. Even though you have these dreams and you want to go do all this stuff, I just stay where I’m at, and a door opens and then you just kind of go through it.
“We’re going to have to find out if I’m more talented than I am right now,” the comedian quips. “Right now, I’m just comedy talented. So we’re seeing where it goes.”