Charlie Day Reveals The Advice Guillermo Del Toro Gave Him For His Directorial Debut - Exclusive

Charlie Day is finally starring as the lead in a romantic comedy, and fans of the comedian will be blown away by his heartfelt and hilarious performance. 

Day appears opposite Jenny Slate in "I Want You Back," and the old-school romance will have viewers hoping that the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star is cast in even more romcoms in the future.

"I Want You Back" follows Peter (Day) and Emma (Slate) as they attempt to recover from their respective breakups. However, when their exes, Anne (Gina Rodriguez) and Noah (Scott Eastwood), quickly find new partners, Peter and Emma decide to hatch a plan to win them back.

During an exclusive interview with The List about "I Want You Back," Day opened up about his new leading role and also discussed his forthcoming directorial debut, "El Tonto." He revealed the advice that legendary director Guillermo del Toro gave him that changed the course of the movie.

Charlie Day's directorial debut, "El Tonto," has been in the works for quite some time, with the actor finally getting close to completion on the project. Per IMDb, "El Tonto" is about "a fool for love becomes an accidental celebrity only to lose it all," with Day credited as both writer and director of the movie. 

He spoke to The List about directing his first movie. "It's been a long time in the making and I'd written it and I had shot it, actually, years ago," he said. "I used the pandemic as an excuse to take my time with it and really think about what it needed to be."

Day was thrilled to have some advice from Guillermo Del Toro, the genius behind "The Shape of Water" and "Pan's Labyrinth." "If I want to make changes to [the movie], I should make the changes," he recalls the Oscar-winning director telling him.

That advice was crucial to "El Tonto," and Day threw himself into reshoots. 

"I actually went and shot an additional seven days of filming, about 20-ish pages, mostly with Ken Jeong, who has a much bigger role in the film now," Day told The List, adding that he's happy with the final result.

"Hopefully I get it to the right studio, the right buyer, maybe a good festival this year," he said. "Hopefully, finally, I [can] get it out to the world this year, but I'm excited for people to see it. I really love the movie."

We can't wait to see the finished product!

"I Want You Back" premieres exclusively on Prime Video Feb. 11, 2022.