Going back to school…

LOS ANGELES – When asked about some of his crazy college experiences, Will Ferrell said, “I… LOS ANGELES – When asked about some of his crazy college experiences, Will Ferrell said, “I would dress as a janitor and show up to class.”

He would do this often, causing an acting teacher at Ferrell’s college to invite him to his class, not as Ferrell the student but as Ferrell the janitor. The “Saturday Night Live” alum was also a member of a fraternity; he would occasionally go streaking and, of course, he also “killed one person.”

These experiences – save the bit about the murder that we hope didn’t happen – helped Ferrell add to his character Frank the Tank in the new film “Old School.” The film, about three guys, Frank (Ferrell), Mitch (Luke Wilson) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn), who start a fraternity to escape from their jobs and – they think – stale relationships, is the latest entry in the college comedy genre.

But unlike most recent films in the genre, such as “Sorority Boys” and “Slackers,” “Old School” is genuinely funny and entertaining. Mostly because of Ferrell, Wilson and Vaughn who work well together as the three hapless guys who start a frat and end up battling for their lives with the nerdy dean of students of the local college.

Despite how well the three actors work together, they didn’t exchange college war stories, from a frat or anywhere else; Ferrell was the only one who really went to college.

“I bounced from college to college because I couldn’t get much out of it,” Wilson said. But, he goes on to say, his role didn’t require much research, so his lack of college experience wasn’t a factor in his performance.

Vaughn also didn’t take too well to college, opting to go to an audition for a role on a television show rather than taking a test during his days at a Minnesota community college. But he did put effort into constructing his character, Beanie. He did some research for the character, a guy married with children and a successful speaker business, but more than that, he built a back-story for his character. “Research is important despite the kind of material it is,” Vaughn said.

Despite these varying styles in preparing for the film, all three actors found common ground in the use of improvisation to accentuate their performances.

Wilson says that with, “a good script and a good director, actors can come up with good stuff,” during the filming. “Improvisationals” is what Ferrell calls the extra on-camera work he, Wilson and Vaughn did during the production of “Old School.”

With the success Wilson, Vaughn and Ferrell have with their performances, both individually and as a group, in “Old School,” it’s interesting to discover what drew them to the film in the first place.

Ferrell is obviously associated with comedy, as a former cast member on “SNL” and having starred in “A Night at the Roxbury” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” so his appearance in this type of film is no surprise. Wilson is also known for comedy, through what one might call more “intellectual” comedies such as “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

But what drew him to the role of the straight man in this lowbrow comedy was “the low office [worker] appeal” of the role, the role of the guy stuck in an office playing the yes man to a boss with obviously less experience. This alludes to the “Fight Club” spoof generally running through the film and his character being a parody on the Edward Norton role in that film specifically.

Vaughn is recognized generally for his Trent and Ricky characters in “Swingers” and “Made,” respectively, but most of his post-“Swingers” work is in darker and more dramatic material, such as the “Psycho” remake and “Domestic Disturbance.”

Despite his foray into darker films, though, Vaughn says, “I prefer character-driven comedies,” such as “Old School,” “Made” and “Swingers,” “and the over-commitment to very real things” in those films. He also said that, after “Swingers,” he was offered primarily comedies, but didn’t want to become a one-trick pony, leading him to his darker, more dramatic roles.

Wilson, Ferrell and Vaughn are fine actors and exceptional comedic talents, which comes out in “Old School.” But it’s interesting to discover that, despite their differences in approach to their roles, all three find humor in the same thing.

“I laugh hardest at day-to-day life,” Wilson says. And he might as well be speaking for the group because both Vaughn and Ferrell echo this sentiment. But, Ferrell adds, “anything with Paul Lynde” makes for good comedy.

Most of the time, actors who get along well in films, sharing a seemingly tight camaraderie, aren’t that way in real life. The actors in the original “Star Trek” series jump to mind as a perfect example of this. But Wilson, Vaughn and Ferrell get along well together, playing off each other as well in real life as they do in front of the cameras. They don’t share similar acting styles or ways of preparing for their roles, but that’s probably what allows them to get along so well.

By each bringing a different attitude to the set, they’re able to develop relationships with one another by drawing on the styles and attitudes of the others and incorporating those things into their performances. This creates more complete individual characters and more believable relationships within the group.