Best Summer Games? Steph Curry, Adam Pally & Ego Nwodim Earn the Gold for ‘Mr. Throwback’

Talk about good sports! Adam Pally has reunited with his Happy Endings creator David Caspe and writers Matthew and Daniel Libman for Peacock’s winning new hoot Mr. Throwback and they’ve recruited an unbeatable roster: SNL standout Ego Nwodim and Golden State Warrior’s phenom Stephen Curry. And yes, he’s got comedic game.

Full of sharp dialogue, heart, some Emmy-worthy outbursts by Nwodim, the six-episode mockumentary-style gem “is about forgiveness…and the undeniable power of Stephen Curry,” laughs Matthew Libman, who co-wrote Throwback with brother Daniel and series creator David Caspe. The Golden State Warriors point guard plays a fictionalized version of himself who reconnects with shifty childhood friend Danny Grossman (Pally, who also exec-produced), despite the warnings of their fellow classmate-turned-Steph’s right-hand-woman Kimberly (Nwodim). Having worked together on Happy Endings with Pally, Caspe and the Libmans know how to build a bench and have scored a new one with their central threesome. “There was instant chemistry with Ego, Adam, and Stephen,” confirms Daniel. [The show also earns bonus points for casting the underrated Ayden Mayeri as Danny’s ex-wife!]

David Moir / Peacock

“It truly felt like they’d known each other forever,” says Libman. “Which really helps when they’re playing characters that have known each other forever.” As Caspe puts it, “Stephen Curry is the Stephen Curry of being great at everything, including—but certainly not limited to—acting. He was so natural, so down, and honestly, so funny it was kind of annoying.”

Last June, we were on set in San Francisco for their final day of filming and got to play a little three-on-one with the stars and saw just how well this dream team plays together.

Stephen, can you set up your character’s arc? Because it’s you, but a fictionalized version, right?

Stephen Curry: He does not know how to take no for an answer. He’s an internal optimist and cares a lot about that guy over there [pointing to Pally], and he appreciates Kimberly and all she does…but doesn’t necessarily kind of understand the depths of what she does, so he might take her for granted.

Ego Nwodim: [Laughing] That’s a very thoughtful way to say it. That was very thoughtful. Super thoughtful.

Curry: And even when the world’s crashed, he has a smile on his face.

So he is a good guy. What’s he doing hanging out with these two?!

Curry: You can’t choose when you go to school. [Laughs]

Adam Pally: Steph has the biggest heart in real life and he takes care of his friends and his family and he’s so loyal that I think when we were coming up with it, we could see how a friend of his with wrong intentions—because Steph is so loving—could be maybe taken advantage of.

David Moir / Peacock

Steph, how did you land on your character being a good guy versus playing a totally opposite version of yourself?

Curry: There’s a middle ground. I’m not [playing] like an a**hole, I didn’t want to go down that road. But there’s definitely like the “airhead athlete” kind of vibe, I call it, but he’s also fully aware of the interpersonal relationships and his role in those. So it’s like the exaggerated version of every environment that I’ve found myself in, especially in the show. It’s kind of whimsical but fun. To get to play that was dope.

You both developed this with Caspe, so how close to the original idea has the show become?

Pally: This is the same idea. We didn’t change anything. Oh, when we first started doing the show, David and I wanted to meet all of Steph’s team and the first person we met was Tiffany [Williams, COO of Curry’s SC30], who is the real-life Kimberly.

Basically your boss?

Curry: Pretty much. [Laughs]

Pally: Yes. She runs everything and she’s on it all the time. Always with a funny remark and a sense of humor. So we were like, “Ooh, she’s not what we thought. It’s something different.”

Curry: And Ego’s so good at her job that I called her Tiffany.

Nwodim: You did! We were vibing in this one scene and he was like. “Tiffany, that scene, we were soaring!” When he said Tiffany, I was like, “I’ll going to take it!” It made me feel good, I’m really selling it. [Laughs]

David Moir / Peacock

And obviously, Stephen, you’re going to be asked about how daunting this was, taking on a scripted role. Yes it’s basically based on you, but still not exactly your wheelhouse.

Curry: Yeah, there were a lot of unknowns, for sure. I’ve done commercials and played bits, I even worked with Ego at the ESPYs years ago and obviously, comedy was the vibe. But having no clue what the true production environment would be and really developing the character and going through all of that, it was nerve-wracking. That’s why, coming out of this, I have such appreciation for these two, our producing team, our director David Wain…everybody made it really easy for me to come in and feel comfortable so I could just be a fool and enjoy myself.

Adam and Ego, you both have the improv skills that are so ingrained in your work, but Steph, did you find that, because of the way you play, you also have that mental agility to be able to roll with things, too?

Curry: For sure. You’ve got to be comfortable in that world and they’ve been giving me all the compliments on my amateur improv chops. But as long as I have the mindset of ‘I can’t say anything dumb,’ I just have fun with it and embrace whatever happens. And things have come out of it. I had a couple times where I made each one of ’em break.

Nwodim: You’ve had some good ones. I can’t remember because we’ve done so much and we have F-around so much on this set. But you had some good improv bits.

Pally: Yeah, you got us both.

Damian Holbrook

Adam and Ego, the scenes we saw today, before the finale’s big Celebrity Basketball event, it almost seemed like your characters were at a good place.

Pally: Well we shoot out of order, so a lot of days you’ll shoot bits from all the episodes and so our relationship is kind of up and down as two former best friends from grade school. There’s a lot of stuff between us there and now I’m back in a life that she’s kind of solidified, it’s a lot going on.

Nothing romantic though?

Pally: Damian, are you asking about Adam and Ego?

Nwodim: Do you mean on camera? As characters? Or personally? [Laughs]

No, as Danny and Kimberly. Is there anything romantic with your characters?

Pally: Not yet. But there is, with any friendship…

Nwodim: In real life, Adam struggles to be friends…

Pally: Here we go.

Nwodim: …with women. And I hope you’re recording this. [Laughs]

Pally: That’s not true! That is absolutely false. This is how Ego flirts.

Nwodim: Adam can’t wrap his head around being friends with a woman and because he’s a producer on the project, I’m not going to have much say in how my character develops. [Laughs]

Pally: What f*** are you doing?! [Laughs]

Nwodim: I’m just saying, it’s time for change in the industry. [Laughs]

Pally: And by the way, this is from the costar who always tells me “It’s your time to listen.” [Laughs]

How has this been for you, Steph? How do you hold it together when they act up like this?

Curry: That’s my favorite part about this whole thing. They’ll do that and then I’ll hear [director] David Wain go, “Cameras rolling!” and then “Action!” and they’ll just snap right into it.

Nwodim: Wait, you snap right into it, too!

Curry: This has been the best time. So much fun. The hours fly by.

But you have 40 other things going on, it’s not just basketball.

Curry: When I’m here, I’m here. I am all-in. So it has been a crazy fun experience.

David Moir / Peacock

Have you helped Adam with his game at all?

Pally: Damian, I know this is going to be hard for you to believe…

Nwodim: Oh god, he loves to tell everyone this story…

Pally: But I can play.

Curry: He wants to tell the story. [Laughs]

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'Mr. Throwback' EP Dishes on NBA Star Steph Curry's Comedy Acting Debut

Nwodim: Okay, so yesterday they were playing in a scene. Steph and Adam were playing…

Pally: You’re not telling it right. I don’t want you to tell it. [Laughs]

Nwodim: It’s your time to listen. [Laughs] So they were playing each other for a while and then apparently, I don’t know the lingo, but Adam scored on Stephen. I did ask him, like, “Adam, but do you think Steph was taking it easy on you?” And he walked away from me. [Laughs] So then I asked somebody else and they were like, “I did think he was taking it easy on him.” So were you? Tell the truth.

Curry: I was not.

Pally: I’m gonna cry.

Curry: He hadn’t heard that yet, right? At first, it was like, “Oh play defense, play defense.” And I saw his eyes go close. I actually tried to steal it and…

Pally: I got by and threw a layup.

Curry: And I tried to block it. Then I just walked away. [Laughs]

Pally: But I will say, after that happened. I saw a change in Stephan. [Laughs] Like, Terminator-style, he kicked the ball away jokingly, like ‘ha-ha.” He kicked it, then he grabbed it back and he goes, “Let’s go again.” We’d already called “Cut,” so I was like, all right. And he threw it so hard at me to catch it that I missed it. It went through my hands! I was like, “Oh sh**, Steph’s mad.” And then every other take, I did not get a shot up. He was like, “No, we’re not playing anymore. I’m not going to let this be on camera again.” [Laughs]

Kim White / Peacock

For the three of you, what will you take away from this? Because it’s a tight production, you’re playing old friends and this is the last day.

Pally: I’m going to cry if I really get into it. For me, this team of the Libmans and Caspe, they’re my family and this is our third show together. And so that’s all I care about, doing this. I don’t care what happens to it or where it goes or whatever. To be with them, they’re my team, and get thrown out into the world together to make something. That’s the best part. I mean, it’s obviously cool to hang out with Stephan and become friends and with, um….

Nwodim: I’m Ego. [Laughs]

Pally: Thank you. But yeah, no, really the time with David Caspe and the Libmans is the best.

Nwodim: Yeah, I would say getting to come into a space where I feel like play is the top of the priority list. Even though we’re going to get this show made, it’s going to be great, it’s gonna be fun, we got to really play. And that was not lost on me, how valuable that was to just making everything sing the way it will. Being on this set was a reminder that sometimes work can get intense and it can be a grind, but you could also have fun. And this was a reminder of that fun for me. So it’s really special.

Damian Holbrook

What about you, Steph?

Curry: Just the whole collaboration. I know everybody plays a significant role. The thing I take from basketball is like, from the ownership down to the coaching staff, down to our support staff, player development, down to players, to the equipment manager, all the way through, everyone plays a role. And at the end of [filming] this, that’s why everybody hugs and there’s this family-type atmosphere. I know y’all been on way more sets than I have, but that feels very genuine and authentic here. So it makes it easy and fun to shoot the scenes…everybody is just vibing. I didn’t know what that was going to feel like coming in. I knew the chemistry between us three was going to be great, but to see everybody enjoying what we’re doing, like Ego mentioned, we’re having fun. That doesn’t mean everybody’s going to love what we do, but we hope they do and I really enjoyed this.

Mr. Throwback, Available Now, Peacock