Will Ferrell said ‘Daddy’s Home 2’ was "touch and go" to go ahead until they landed Mel Gibson and John Lithgow to star.
The 50-year-old actor is reprising his role as emotional stepdad Brad Whittaker alongside Mark Wahlberg – who is also back as tough man Dusty Mayron – and Ferrell revealed the sequel wasn’t "worth doing" until they had the right actors to play their dads.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2 on Tuesday (21.11.17), Ferrell said: "The first one was very successful and the studio begged us to sort of think about a second and we said sure we will put our heads together to find a premise that works.
"Sean Anders and John Morris, who wrote script, kind of came to us with this where we pick up the storyline with Brad and Dusty working in unison as they parent these kids together and then they bring their fathers into the fold as they celebrate Christmas under one roof and all those dynamics create for a crazy situation. We thought it was worth doing but we had to land the right kind of iconic actors to play our dads otherwise it’s not worth doing the movie so it was fairly touch and go until we landed Mel Gibson and John Lithgow and they are perfect to play our fathers. John is the perfect Don Whittaker to my Brad Whittaker. We’re a very emotional and progressive father and son and not scared to share public displays of affection.
"Mel is perfect as Mark’s dad with his old-school tough love attitude."
The new film follows father and stepfather Dusty (Wahlberg, 46) and Brad (Ferrell) who join forces to make Christmastime perfect for the children their jointly raise.
However, when Dusty’s macho man dad Kurt Mayron (Gibson, 61) and Brad’s gentle father Don Whittaker (Lithgow, 72) arrive they turn the holidays upside down.
After a sudden change of plans, the four men decide to take the kids to a luxury resort for a getaway which turns into a chaotic adventure.
Throughout the film, the two father/son pairs come head-to-head after each of them are harbouring some resentment towards each other.
Will Ferrell says Daddy’s Home 2 nearly didn’t happen
