Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up brings an action movie twist to the Jumanji-inspired idea of a group of misfits being pulled into a magical world. A group of burnouts and nobodies at Dave’s Video World are sucked into the VHS tape for the greatest, most insane, action movie ever made, Never Stop Blowing Up. As they try to get their footing in this bombastic and dangerous world, they must come together like never before to not only survive but to find their way home when a larger conspiracy at the heart of Never Stop Blowing Up is revealed.
The world and characters are inspired by classic action movies, characters, and tropes, with the players taking inspiration from Die Hard, James Bond, Fast & Furious, Marvel, and more. Brennan Lee Mulligan served as Game Master and conceived of the season as a celebration of Isabella Roland’s love of the genre. The cast included returning Dimension 20 cast members Rolland, Ally Beardsley, Ify Nwadiwe, Rekha Shankar, and Alex Song-Xia, along with newcomer to the dome Jacob Wysocki.
Screen Rant interviewed Ify Nwadiwe and Jacob Wysocki about Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up. Nwadiwe broke down his Fast & Furious inspiration, jumping into the GM chair, and how he changed the game by allowing his characters to interact. Wysocki discussed playing in the dome, collaborating with Mulligan, and his dynamic with Beardsley.
Ify Nwadiwe Reveals How The Fast & Furious Franchise Crept Into His Dimension 20 Character
“It started with Vic Ethanol because I just love Fast and Furious.”
Guys, this season is insane and I love it so, so much. Can you both talk to me a little bit about the character creation process for both of your characters and finding the dichotomy between your Dave’s Video World character and your In the VHS character?
Ify Nwadiwe: Pretty much for me, it started with Vic Ethanol because I just love Fast and Furious, and once I knew the concept, I was like, “Well, that’s what I’m doing.” And I just ran with that and that’s all I really needed to know. I was like, okay, we’re doing action movie heroes. I’m going.
And so Wendell I kind of went with simply because I was like, Okay, I’ve done a lot of big boisterous characters, and Vic is kind of going to be that way anyway. So what’s a spin on this that’s going to be a little different that might mix it up that might give a new kind of take on it? So yeah, it truly is like how that went for me started with Vic and then round out.
Jacob Wysocki: For me, it was kind of like the direct little opposite where I came up with Dang first. Where I had the kernel of idea of I really want to play a guy who believes that he’s in contact with an alien. So that was first, and then we got the information of where it was taking place, which is if he and I both grew up in Southern California and I spent a lot of time in San Bernardino and was like, Who’s there?
And kind of building around I have an interest in punk music, but was never a full crusty guy and was like, it could be fun to be a full crust. Then sort of decided on having him be from outside of California living with his uncle based on a conversation with Beardsley. We had this scuzzy wuzzy punk guy, and the math was just like, who’s most fun to play? And it’s the clean cut, 007 assassin.
Ify you made such a cool choice early on where you had Vic Ethanol talk to Wendell. Was that something you’d been thinking about? Did it come out in the moment? What was the thought process behind that?
Ify Nwadiwe: I think it was just sitting in the kind of improv world of everything and just seeing the patterns that we were doing. Basically, everyone was heightening their game and going to the next level of everything. So then I was like, Okay, then my take here, what’s going to break the pattern here and allow us to heighten? And that was in fact going wild and letting Vic communicate. Then it gave everyone an opportunity to kind of play along.
Dang had some of the most emotionally poignant scenes this season, which I didn’t expect, and I loved it so much. Can you talk about that moment with Dang and the radio host and really getting into his motivation and what he wants out of life?
Jacob Wysocki: I think it was just something that was sort of in the back of my head of you need to know what this person wants and what this person doesn’t have. And so I think in just those interior decisions that I had made on my own and sort of conversations with Brennan of how do you tell a story over 20 hours in a dome and stuff like that where he had sort of guided me in having some decisions made about the character and stuff like that.
It was just an opportunity for one of those decisions that I had made in my own little head as developing this person to come out and to come forward. I didn’t want Dang to be the 1980s punk or the 1980s ne’er-do-well sort of breakfast club flannel cutoff guy. I wanted him to be a true f-ck up and to have reasons why he acted this way as opposed to just being a trope.
And so I feel like those are the moments where you can distinguish a character from being a trope to being a real person is trying to ground his wants and his desires. We’ve all had moments like that as humans where we just can’t get it together or where we feel a little distant from our body or whatever.
So it was just trying to bring a real human moment forward and just be really honest and just really playing in honesty and being like, It’s okay, you don’t have to be funny. Which is not my instinct. My instinct as a comedian is to be funny, but to be a good storyteller, you can’t always be funny.
Jacob Wysoki Explains The Pressure Of Wanting To “Honor The Institution” Of The Dimension 20 Dome
It was such great moment. Jacob, what was it like being in the dome for the first time? And can you talk about working a little bit with Beardsley to create that dynamic between your two characters going into the game?
Jacob Wysocki: I mean, it was an extremely exciting and intimidating honor to be welcomed into the dome. It has a reputation, it has a weight to it. It has some of the funniest MF’ers to exist inside of it. So you’re like, don’t f-ck it up, dude. Honor the institution and bring your voice into the institution. So I was just very honored and jazzed to get an opportunity and was like, treat it like I don’t get to do it again. Just put it all in and just go all in and be full Jacob, be full Wysocki and have a good time.
Everybody that I was working with are pros and Brennan’s a pro, and everybody at the table’s a pro and everybody who makes the show is a pro. And there were moments where I was like, “I don’t know if I want that to be on TV.” People are so good and awesome about taking care of you that I quickly was just like, “Oh, this is an amazing family that wants to make the best product and do it in the most comfortable way.”
As far as Beardsley goes, I think truly it was just like we were in an improv show in the green room, kind of lightly talking about this. I was like, “Well, what if they were related?” And then Beards was like, “Yeah, you could live in my extra room.” I was like, “What about a shack in the back?” We both laughed and then probably never talked about it ever again. I think just we made that decision, we vocalized that decision and it was truth. And then the rest is just us riffing being buds.
I hope we see you in the dome again. I really hope this is not the only time. Ify, you got to jump behind the DM screen a couple times. What was going through your head when you had a minute to just break the game and do whatever you wanted?
Ify Nwadiwe: I think the balancing for letting a player just jump in the GM chair is putting a timer behind it. Because the moment you put a timer to someone’s thinking, all thoughts go out the window. You can no longer think well. If someone is like, “Hey,” I think a lot about that Billy Eichner meme where it’s like, name a woman, name a woman, and it’s the and speed that she’s like, “Ah!”
I think it’s the same thing where it’s like to GM something is such a vast realm of thinking that having 60 seconds on you forces you to think in the moment. It almost prevents you from thinking of ways to break the game because you see the timer, you hear it counting down, and you’re just trying to make something happen. So you’re like, “What’s the best story beat to add right now?”
Ify Nwadiwe Wanted To Make Sure The Relationship Between Wendell & Live “Felt Genuine”
“It felt like a situation where two people would start considering it, and it doesn’t end in the big kiss.”
Can you talk to me a little bit about that fun dynamic that you had with Alex with Wendell and Liv and that crush aspect, but also the deeper connection built beyond just a crush, but friendship that leads to romance this season?
Ify Nwadiwe: I think that what was fun about that was the moment Alex, when they were talking about their character and Liv Skyler, I was like, “Oh, no matter what, this guy has a crush on this person based on the description you gave.” This is the pure crush character. You locked that in the moment you made that, gave that character description.
But I think also we always see the, because they did a cool thing together, then they fall in love. I wanted to do something that felt genuine. It felt like a situation where two people would start considering it, and it doesn’t end in the big kiss. It ends in like, Oh, maybe we should hang out and seeing what happens from there. Their stories ended up being intertwined in an interesting way that allowed them to push each other to step outside of their comfort zone in the real world, not just in the game.
The visual of Vic Ethanol and Kingston slowly falling in love was one of the funniest things.
Ify Nwadiwe: Oh yeah. You’re given two visuals.
Jacob Wysocki: It’s pretty hot.
Ify Nwadiwe: Yeah. Yeah. Pretty hot. You’re giving something for everyone, some sweet teen love or a big daddy bear with a ripped gearhead.
What, for each of you is kind of the most surprising part of your character arcs from when you first conceived these characters to where they ended up by the end of the season?
Jacob Wysocki: I was really surprised that something so small at the beginning of this sort of failed pirate radio show of Dang’s which was one of those things that we talked about in a session zero very lightly. Of maybe these are his interests and this is a punk person interest or whatever.
I was so surprised that that turned into the radio tower with this incredible character who was in the world, but also out of the world, which I think was really compelling and a different flavor as well. That really just surprised me. And was one of those things where you go like, “Oh yeah, Brennan really is number one.”
Ify Nwadiwe: I guess what really kind surprised me was seeing just the way that Wendell goes on that journey becauseI knew where the destination. I knew where I wanted to go, but seeing the way that it’s shown itself and the opportunities through gameplay that were given to try and get closer with people and connect with others.
I think the thing that surprised me most is less about Wendell, but just that moment where as Wendell, I’m trying to get this hero moment where I get everyone to try and use their juice to resurrect someone and Liv just running away and not wanting to do it, not wanting to give into that. I think that was a big moment, a surprising moment for me. I was like, Oh, okay.
After we kind of wrapped on that cliffhanger, Alex was apologizing. We were like, “No, that was a great, that was true to the character. That made a good moment.” We don’t have to play the thing that seems like the best thing to do. I think the thing we have to play is what seems the most our characters.
Jacob Wysocki Describes Watching Brennan Lee Mulligan Go Off The Rails In Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up
“I was constantly mystified and amazed and surprised at how crazy this could be.”
You guys got to see Brennan really go off the rails this season, which was so much fun. What was that like at the table when you realized he was not only going to yes and you, but do it at such a level that you might start questioning the choices you made?
Ify Nwadiwe: Oh, I was hyped. Yeah, I feel like you almost watch it in the season, how it starts very kind of chill and just ramps up.
Jacob Wysocki: I feel like half the shots of this show are me with my mouth open being like, Whoa. I think that just speaks for itself as I was constantly mystified and amazed and surprised at how crazy this could be. Grenades at the end of whips and everybody had some version of jewels in their teeth. It was just constantly building and building and building and it was just so exciting.
It’s one of those things where it’s like people make you rise to an occasion and you’re in this place that’s becoming chaotically creative, and so you’re like, “Well, let’s match the energy.” Let’s see what happens when we’re truly in the maelstrom of creativity. It was fun as hell. It was like free-falling.
I love it so much. Never Stop Blowing Up is such a great season. I somehow want more. I don’t know how that would work. It’s so good. You know it’s crazy because Jacob literally until you said grenades at the end of whips, I forgot about that. I forgot that happened.
Jacob Wysocki: You’re like, how is that a low note?
About Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up
Dimension 20’s Never Stop Blowing Up features six players, each playing a dual role in the story. In “real life,” they are employees of a strip mall, until they’re sucked into a magic VHS tape that transforms them into high-octane action heroes. The characters must figure out how to navigate the movie to get home.
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Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up
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Source: Screen Rant Plus