Clark Duke – His Directorial Debut and How Liam Hemsworth Helped Get His Movie Made (Exclusive) Rocker Morning Show

Whether he's Marty from Kick-Ass, Jacob from Hot Tub Time Machine, or Clark from The Office, Clark Duke hasn't been much of a household name, so much as he's been a household face. That is all about to change. The 35-year-old is making his directorial debut with the new film Arkansas, a dark-comedy-/thriller which has been recently been released on Apple, Amazon, On Demand, Blu-ray, and DVD. Duke joined Mike McKelly and Stefani Bishop on the Rocker Morning Show to talk about his latest project.

It may be surprising to see Clark Duke, known for his on-screen comedy, to be behind the camera, but directing has been his true passion for a very long time. "I've been trying to be a director since I was like, twelve years old, and I went to film school and college, and I know from the outside it looks like this a weird thing I've decided to do, but really this is what I've trying  to do for twenty years," said Duke. "I've been trying to make (Arkansas) for about ten years. I bought the rights to the book when it came out about ten years ago."

Arkansas, an indie film, boasts an all-star cast including Liam Hemsworth, Vince Vaughn, and John Malkovich, which Duke is still surprised and humbled by. "I'm still in shock, honestly. The truth is Liam Hemsworth was the first person to sign on and basically made everything possible. He made other people want to be in the movie. He made other people want to finance the movie." He went on to say, "A movie like this, an indie film, no one is doing it for the money. They're doing it because they want to be there."

Described as a movie that "entertainingly balances humor, smarts, surprises, and brutal violence," Duke describes Arkansas as "kind of a redneck gangster movie. It follows these two young guys, played by Liam Hemsworth and myself, that are kind of at the bottom rung of this regional drug empire run by a guy named Frog, which is Vince Vaughan's character. And without giving too much away, we screw up so bad that Frog decides he has to kill us. So that's kind of the collision course the characters get on."

The comic actor turned director also talked about being speechless while asking Stone Cold Steve Austin for an autograph, and what happened the last time he bumped in to David Spade. Check out the full Rocker Morning Show interview with Clark Duke below.