In anticipation of the 17th season of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” show-creator (and star) Rob McElhenney visited the “Hot Ones” studio to put his spice tolerance to the ultimate test. McElhenney sat down with host Sean Evans to discuss Philadephia’s most-prized food and what he described as one of his “most humiliating and terrible experiences.”
When Evans asked McElhenney to share an underrated, regional food specialty in Philadephia, McElhenney was elated, saying, “I’m so glad that you asked that question.”
“Usually, people [ask], ‘What’s your favorite cheesesteak?’ ‘Where do you go to get your favorite cheesesteak or soft pretzels, possibly?’ Philadelphia is the first place in our nation and we’ve been reduced to the purveyors of diced meats on rolls as, like, our touchstone,” he continued.
McElhenney recommended a line of snack foods called Tastykake. “They’re basically like doughnuts,” he explained. “They have jelly ones — they’re, like, a grape jelly which is definitely not jelly. It is some sort of lab-made, delicious sugar…but it hits!”
Elsewhere in his interview, McElhenney shared what he said is one of the most embarrassing moments in his life. McElhenney's first major acting role was in the 1997 thriller, “The Devil's Own,” alongside actors Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt. McElhenney was slated to play a minor character named Kevin. His role, though small, was ultimately scrapped from the final edit, which McElhenney discovered during a trip to the movies with his friends and family.
“That was one of the most humiliating and terrible experiences in my life because it was my first acting job in a movie. I got to do a scene with Harrison Ford. I got to do a scene with Brad Pitt. I got to do a scene with Julia Styles, Ruben Blades, all these incredible actors, so it was like four or five different scenes,” McElhenney told Evans.
He continued: “Then the movie's coming out, and I noticed that I didn't get an invite to the premiere or the friends and family screening, but I'm still just starting out. I'm like 19 or 18, and I'm thinking, ‘It'll be fine.’”
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McElhenney recalled telling “everybody I got this movie. Nobody believed me ‘cause I hadn't worked at all or doing anything else.”
“And then we go to the movie, all my friends, everybody, my family bought tickets, and I'm just, not in it, at all. They cut me completely out of the movie, didn't give me a heads-up. They were all A players. I was a D player on the ground. I wasn't even a player, I was on the editing room's floor.”
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” returns for its 17th season in June 2025. The fourth season of McElhenney’s Apple TV+ comedy series “Mythic Quest,” which he co-created and stars in, premiered on Jan. 29, 2025.
Watch the full episode below, via YouTube:
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