Bobby Farrelly Talks Road Trip Movie Driver’s Ed, Working With Kumail Nanjiani | Interview

(Photo Credit: Vertical)

Legendary comedy movie director Bobby Farrelly returns with Driver’s Ed this week. To learn more about the film, which pays homage to classic John Hughes teen comedies, ComingSoon editor-in-chief spoke with Farrelly about his young cast, working with Kumail Nanjiani, and more. Vertical will release the film in theaters on May 15, 2026.

“The film follows a group of teens who hit the road in a stolen driver’s ed car, racing against the clock to help a lovesick high school senior track down his college freshman girlfriend and win her back. Over the course of one chaotic 24-hour journey, they’re chased by school security and the cops, targeted by small-time crooks, and somehow end up adopting a three-legged cat,” says the official description.

Tyler Treese: Bobby, all four of your leads are really well cast. You really got a bright young ensemble, but Sam Nivola is really the center of the story. Obviously, he comes from a really talented family, but what stood out about him that made you want to cast him? Because after watching this, I just think he has such a bright future.

Bobby Farrelly: He does. Thanks for noticing that. We have four high school kids in a driver’s ed car, and Sam makes a really dumb decision, steals the car to go to the local college to stop his girlfriend from breaking up with him. That’s the story. It’s a dumb high school decision. He makes the other three kids go along reluctantly, and a big adventure ensues. They have a lot of fun, and it’s funny, and a lot happens. So it was a really fun story, but Sam is the centerpiece.

Look, I had seen him in different things, including The White Lotus. I knew who he was as an actor, and I just think he’s got the chops. He’s got something compelling. The camera loves him. He’s really charismatic, and he’s a good actor, and he can hit a lot of different notes, including comedy and drama. That’s easier said than done. So he is around for the long haul. He’s going to be a bigger star than he is now.

The other three, we just did a big, wide sweeping casting call, and we found these three other actors, and they all nailed it for me. I was so happy with their performances. Aidan, Sophie, and Mohana. They’re all three wonderful actors, and it was really fun working with the four of them.

They play off each other so well. What I thought was interesting about this film, it’s very grounded. It’s about early love, kids breaking rules, and going on an adventure. What interested you in this movie, which is kind of like a back-to-basics approach for you?

Yeah, it was the script. Usually, we make a movie based on one of our own scripts, but this one was a script someone else had written, Thomas Moffett, and someone sent it to me. When I read it, I just thought, “This is a really cool story” because it’s about high school. It reminded me of the old John Hughes movies, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Those kinds of movies where you could tell a high school story, and there was fun in it, and heart, and anxiety, and all that kind of stuff. They had all the emotions.

Right now, it feels like the high school type stories are all kind of dreary and dark. It doesn’t have the fun that those things had. And so when I saw this, I thought, this is different than what I’ve seen lately. So I really responded to it. It has a hopefulness to it where you can make dumb mistakes and all that, but life goes on after high school. It’s not all seriousness. There’s a lot of fun involved.

A lot of this is filmed in a car. What was the biggest challenge of filming in a cramped space like that, where you have your four leads?

Yeah, that’s a good question because there is a claustrophobia that you have to watch out for if you’re just in the car filming. There’s only so many places you can put the camera. So you worry that it becomes redundant, like, didn’t we already see this scene? It’s always a challenge for the filmmakers to try to mix it up a little and tell whatever that particular scene is in the car before you cut out of it. You have to tell it as quickly as you can so you don’t feel like you’re in there for a long time.

I think we did it here. It is always a challenge. But our first movie we ever made was Dumb and Dumber, and they’re in a Mutt Cutts car, they’re in a big van. So I cut my teeth on road trips.

Tyler Treese: Comedy movies have always had a weird relationship with critic reviews because a lot of my favorite comedies got absolutely skewered and have negative reviews. But so far, Driver’s Ed is the best-reviewed movie of yours since There’s Something About Mary. It’s getting really positive feedback early on. Why do you think that is the case, that people, especially critics, are really having a really good time with this movie when comedies are usually so divisive with them?

Bobby Farrelly: I don’t really pay too much attention to whatever the reviews are because the ultimate review that we care about is the audience. The audience and the critics sometimes give you different ratings. It’s the audience that really matters to us. But I’m glad to hear that the critics are responding to this, and it probably does have to do with the fact that it does harken back to a different day and age with John Hughes comedies and that sort of thing.

Again, I use the word hopefulness because it’s not all dark and dreary and nihilistic. It’s more about just a slice of life of kids, people that you don’t know, but you do kind of know because you knew those kids when you were in high school. It’s just kind of a fun, interesting story.

You’ve been very active lately, Champions in 2023, Dear Santa in 2024, now Driver’s Ed. This is a pace that you and your brother had in the late ’90s and early 2000s. What has led to this real increase in output for you?

First of all, we love to work. We both enjoy making movies, and honestly, anytime you’re out there making a movie, you have to sort of pinch yourself and say, I’m lucky. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to do this.

We make comedies, and they don’t make as many comedies as they used to. Before, it felt like there was always room for one more, but now it’s like you better come up with something fresh or original because they’re not really making comedies. And that’s why I really did respond to this script. I just hadn’t seen it in a long time, and I hadn’t seen this particular story. It felt very fresh to me and very refreshing as a filmmaker.

Kumail Nanjiani is in the film. I felt like he stole every scene he was in. He is hysterical and played off everybody so well, especially Molly Shannon. I’d love to see you two work more together in the future.

Agreed.

What kind of stood out about just working with him? Because he’s great in this film.

Yeah, we know Molly. We’ve worked with her before. Molly’s great. She’s Molly Shannon. She’s always funny and terrific. So working with her was a no-brainer.

I had not worked with Kumail, and I didn’t really know what to expect. I think I knew him best from The Big Sick, where it’s more drama than anything. So I didn’t quite realize how funny he is and how strong his comedy chops are. He really is prepared, and he is prepared to do things like go in different directions and all that. So he was great to work with, and I would work with him again in a minute.

In 2024, you were announced to be directing a comedy called Sporkinfeesten. Is there any update on that? Do you think that’s gonna happen?

Sporkinfeesten is still in development. We have not gotten it greenlit yet for just a variety of reasons. We haven’t gotten the right casting yet, but we’re still trying. It’s a very, very funny script written by the Eisenberg Brothers. It’s really creative and sets up this fictional world that’s very funny and very creative, and I think we will make it. It just hasn’t been made quite yet.

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Thanks to Bobby Farrelly for taking the time to talk about Driver’s Ed.

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