Andy Samberg Reveals Nicolas Cage’s Influence on His Newest Comedy Series After Their Legendary ‘SNL’ Collab [Exclusive]

Summary

• Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Andy Samberg and showrunner Neil Campbell for Digman! Season 2 at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.
• Digman! Season 2 is back with action-packed adventures and a star-studded cast, including Mark Hamill, Kate Winslet, and John Waters.
• In this interview, Samberg reflects on working with Nicolas Cage on SNL, and discusses the inspiration for Rip Digman’s voice, adult animation, and the potential for a Brooklyn Nine-Nine reunion.

Actor, writer, and comedian Andy Sambergis one of the most creative minds in the entertainment industry, and anything he puts his name on will certainly be inventive, daring, but most of all, laugh-out-loud funny. In film, television, music, and even animation, Samberg delivers, and his fans will always recognize his distinct brand of comedy. Digman!, the Comedy Central adult animated series created by Samberg and showrunner Neil Campbell, is back for a second season after a two-year break, and Samberg’s titular character is on for more audacious and action-packed adventures.

The series follows the (mis)adventures of archaeologist Rip Digman (Samberg) and his team of experts, voiced by an all-star cast, including Tim Robinson, Melissa Fumero, Mitra Jouhari, and Tim Meadows. Season 2 is set to introduce Jeffrey Wright, Amy Sedaris, John Waters, Flula Borg, and more to the ensemble.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Collider’s Steve Weintraub sat down with Samberg and Campbell to discuss Digman Season 2, reflect on Saturday Night Live and working with Nicolas Cage, pushing the envelope with their humor, and the potential for a Brooklyn Nine-Ninereunion.

Check Out Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell’s Favorite Movie Theaters

They also share why they’d want to hit the Comic-Con floor.

COLLIDER:I really want to start with, and I mean this so sincerely, thank you for making me laugh for so many years. I specifically want to shout out that Brooklyn Nine-Nine is amazing, and I’m still a little bit in shock that it lasted eight years. It was one of those shows that I think every year was like, “Are we going to get to come back?”

ANDY SAMBERG: Yeah, we got saved after Season 5, which was pretty incredible. Then we were up against COVID, which was harrowing for all, and then it was a good ride.

I love the show. There’s no bad season. Every episode makes me laugh.

SAMBERG: Thank you. That’s awesome.

We’re going to get to the show, which is very funny, but I am obsessed with getting more people to see movies in movie theaters. Do you have a favorite movie theater?

SAMBERG: There’s a theater in the Bay Area called the Grand Lake in Oakland. That’s the theater I grew up going to. It’s where I saw Dumb and Dumber five times in one week. It’s a beautiful old theater, and it’s still there. That’s the first one that popped into my mind.

NEIL CAMPBELL: I live right by the Vista movie theater in Los Angeles. That one’s pretty great. Although I really love the Aero over in Santa Monica as well.

Except for the drive.

CAMPBELL: Except for the drive. Those are the top tier for me.

SAMBERG: Probably my least favorite theater is the very, very tiny one that was in the Beverly Center.

Oh, you’re going old-school with that.

SAMBERG: That was a bad theater. You could hear four other movies playing at the same time. There were, like, 20 seats. They had a little Sonos speaker in the front there. [Laughs]

CAMPBELL: Yeah, a pet store next door.

That was a terrible place, yeah.

SAMBERG: Ill-conceived.

Built with $5 and a roll of duct tape.

We’re at Comic-Con. A lot of people here collect things. I don’t know if you’re going on the convention floor, but if you were, what would you be looking for to take home?

CAMPBELL: I just found out Jack Kirby made an adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey in comic book form that I’d never heard of, and I think is out of print because the rights are all mixed up or whatever. I’d love to find that somewhere, but I don’t know if it’s super expensive.

I don’t know the price, but there is a good chance you could find it on the convention floor.

CAMPBELL: Well, that’s what I’m off to next.

SAMBERG: For me, probably just an original cel from Fritz the Cat.

Nothing cheap.

CAMPBELL: One of the dirty ones, too!

SAMBERG: Something just rank.

Andy Samberg Reflects on Working With Nicolas Cage on ‘Saturday Night Live’

Samberg calls “Cage on Cage” a “dream come true.”

This leads into the Digman![Saturday Night Live] has made me laugh so many times, but for me, one of the all-timers, because I’m such a Nicolas Cage fan, was “Cage on Cage.” We need to at least talk about, briefly, doing “Cage on Cage” with Nic Cage.

SAMBERG: Yeah, when he got in the cage. He was great. From the very beginning of doing that, we were like, “Man, I wonder if any day ever we can pull that off.” Then, it culminated, and it actually happened. He breezed through. He read it once. He was like, “Great.” We went out and did it at dress, and it played really well. Then, on air, he just kicked it up a notch, and you were like, “Oh right, you’re Nic Cage. You’re not fucking around. You’re going to come in and win.” Me and Seth [Meyers] , after “[Weekend] Update” ended, were running down the hallway, skipping, “I can’t believe this just happened! He’s the coolest! That was so fun. It was so funny!” He was lovely. It was a dream come true.

Is it one of those things where after you do something like that, you’re like, “What do I do with life? It’s not going to get better.”

SAMBERG: For me, on SNL, I wasn’t coming in as a master impressionist or something. For me to get that moment, which is such a quintessential SNL thing, to do the impression with the person and have it go well, it definitely went on my list, immediately, of high points on that show for me.

Speaking of Nic Cage, I could be very wrong, but I read that the voice you’re doing on [Digman!] is essentially Nic Cage.

SAMBERG: It started off as exactly Nic Cage, and then as we started writing it, it morphed. I think the baseline rhythm of the voice is the same, but the character has changed. But yes, it was very intentional because I loved working in that voice and in that joke rhythm so much. It was something that, when we were first putting the show together, Neil and I talked about it being a fun jump-off point.

The first season’s eight episodes. Were you thinking, “What’s our plan if we get to do two or three seasons?” And how much was it, “We get to do eight. Let’s just worry about eight?”

CAMPBELL: I think maybe on day one, we were like, “Who knows if we’ll ever get another season? Don’t hold back on anything here. Let’s put it all out there.” Anything we’re excited about, anything we want to put into the show that makes us laugh. The number one thing was, “Is it funny? Does it make us laugh?” Certainly, we were like, “Let’s max these out, and if we get lucky enough to make more, we’ll enjoy that challenge when it comes along.”

How ‘Digman!’ Pushes the Boundaries of Typical Animation

“We’re never censoring ourselves.”

The show is not PG —you push it. I think a lot of people, maybe when they see it from afar, they’re like, “It’s probably some PG show,” but they don’t realize what this actually is. Talk a little bit about where and when you’re willing to push boundaries. At this point, with the stuff being made, does the studio even bother pushing back on anything anymore?

SAMBERG: [Laughs] We haven’t really gotten any pushback.We weren’t like, “Let’s set out to make a show where we get to push buttons,” necessarily, so much as not ever having to say [to us] , “We can’t do that joke.” The mission statement was like, “Let’s make a show where if we think something we think is funny, we’ll never have to go, ‘Well, we can’t do that.’” That’s pretty much what we’ve stuck to, and it’s been really fun.

CAMPBELL: We’re never censoring ourselves. It’s just the show is a reflection of our sense of humor and what we find funny. I know there are other shows that are made by people that are more provocateurs and things like that, perhaps. We never have really pulled a punch because we were worried or anything.

The first season aired in 2023. The new season is this year. How long did it take you to make the first season, and why two years between seasons?

CAMPBELL: It took us about a year and a half to make the first season. We had begun writing the second season, and we got picked up to series the Friday before the writers’ strike. Then we did nothing for about five months, and then once we got going again, it took a little while. We had the writers’ room still going, but it just took a little while for the machinery of the animation studio to get back up again for us. That was part of the delay.

SAMBERG: Then just network logistical stuff. We had episodes ready and waited a little longer, even, because they wanted to air it at certain times and all that. It was definitely a lot longer than we would have preferred. People were like, I thought you got canceled?” We were like, “No, we’re just waiting to do it!”

I think one of the problems, and maybe you guys can explain it to me, is the show gets made and then the writers’ room shuts down, and then the network is like, “Well, are we going to continue?” I always wonder why they don’t keep the writers’ room open a little bit longer to come up with the next season? Because if it gets picked up, the heavy lifting is done.

SAMBERG: Hey, I agree! [Laughs] I wish you were in charge. That’s exactly the thing we’ve been saying the whole time.

CAMPBELL: If it weren’t for the strike, that is essentially what would have happened. We had the writers’ room for Season 1. At one point, it did end, and then we were just animating for a while. Then we got the scripts going again for Season 2, and then production began while we were still finishing up the room. We’d love to get a room going again to do another season.

I like that idea.

SAMBERG: Fiscally responsible.

I just know that with streaming shows, long breaks end up killing the show.

SAMBERG: I mean, it’s a concern. A lot of that stuff is out of our control. You can call your reps and call your producers and be like, “What’s going on?”, and they go, “Let you know when I know.” Everyone’s apologetic and nice. They’re big machines, and sometimes you gotta wait. We tried to just focus on making it as funny and fun for us as we could, and everything else is kind of, “We’ll see how it goes.” I’m hoping that people find it, because I do think anyone who really likes comedy and likes adult animation really would enjoy it.

I really feel like the last few years of adult animation have really taken off. Fixed is coming out on Netflix, which is rated R. It just feels like animation is taking a step forward in terms of popularity.

SAMBERG: I would say in so many different genres of animation, too, because anime is all kids talk about now, and they love it. It’s massive on Netflix and everywhere. I think there was a huge surge of adult animation, comedy adult animation, particularly around the time of COVID, because a lot of actors were stuck at home. A lot of big names were getting calls like, “You want to be the voice and producer of this show?” I think there was a big surge at that moment, and that happened to be the moment we also did ours. I think a lot of really good shows came out of that, and the ones that I think people didn’t respond to have burned off. I’m really just hoping we get the opportunity to keep making ours because I really love it.

The show makes me laugh. Thank you for making me laugh.

Andy Samberg Shares What It’s Like in the Booth as Rip Digman

The Nicolas Cage cadence is totally intentional.

What did you guys learn making the first season that really helped you with the second season?

CAMPBELL: Some of it was learning the animation process, and learning, “Oh, we shouldn’t write too many scenes that have a huge crowd.” You begin, and you’re like, “You can do anything in animation,” compared to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where we know how many sets we have, what are the extents of our physical production budget and capabilities were. In the animation, you’re kind of like, “We could go so nuts here,” but you sort of learn the things that are a little trickier or won’t look quite as good, or maybe spread the animators too thin or something if you try to cram too much into one episode. I think some of it was just learning the way animation production works. Then, in Season 2, knowing that, being able to write comedy more geared toward that, and not constantly having conversations like, “Well, we could kind of make it work if it looks like this.”

I’m curious about how you do the voice, because I’ve spoken to a lot of actors who do the voices, and sometimes they’re doing it in a way where the normal delivery is a strain on the vocal cords. Other people are like, “Oh, I could do this with ease all day, and efforts, and it doesn’t even bother me.” How is it for you?

SANDBERG: It’s the same as I would say most other voices I’ve done in animation, which is I can do it with ease until we get to stuff where it’s just a ton of screaming, and then my voice gets burned out really fast. For example, it’s no more than Hotel Transylvania. There are a lot of exclamation marks on those characters. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing and in what style, if you’re screaming, your voice gets blown out pretty quick. Doing Rip is pretty easy. It’s just down here.

Thank you for demonstrating. There is a little bit of Nic Cage in that!

SANDBERG: Absolutely — by design!

I’m trying to remember you doing Nic Cage, and I’m trying to compare. You know what I mean?

SAMBERG: Well, it’s SNL, so it’s just like yelling. Everyone on SNL was just yelling everything all the time because it’s a live audience. Rip yells quite a bit.

CAMPBELL: Yeah, but we get some nice little muttered asides as well. The full range of the performance spectrum.

‘Digman!’ Season 2 Introduces a Whole New All-Star Cast of Characters

On-screen legends make special appearances this season.

What do you want to tease for people who haven’t seen any of Season 2?

CAMPBELL: I would say it’s a show that’s dedicated to making you laugh. It’s a pretty joyful show, and it’s got big, fun adventures. It’s not sitting around talking. There’s lots of fun action, it’s fun to look at, and there are lots of funny jokes.

SAMBERG: And if you watch Season 1, we definitely continue the place we left off, the cliffhanger, and continue on from there. We got a lot of fun guests, etc. It’s really good.

Season 1 had a great voice cast, friends that you must have pulled in. What was it like with Season 2? How many more friends did you call, like, “Come on, do an episode.”

SAMBERG: Everybody was really agreeable. People just wanted to do it. It was great. We got incredible people this season. We got John Waters, Kate Winslet, and Mark Hamill.

CAMPBELL: Tatiana Maslany, Geraldine Visthwanathan.

SAMBERG: [Fred] Armisen. Yeah, so many rad people. It’s really fun.

One of the things I love is in the first episode of Season 1, which is when your character is getting ready to pull the lever with the snakes, “I love snakes! I’m not related to that other character at all!”

SAMBERG: That’s proof that he’s his own guy.

Was there any thought in your mind, like, “Oh, wait, we could get…” or was this just a total joke?

SAMBERG: We were never worried.

It’s such a great joke.

SAMBERG: For sure. I think, if anything, it proves exactly the joke that it’s doing. This is Rip.

Andy Samberg Reveals Why He’s Hesitant About a ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Reunion

“Never say never.”

We touched on a little bit of Brooklyn Nine-Nine at the beginning. Again, I loved the show. A lot of shows have sort of come back after 10 years with a reunion or special. Do you have any desire in five or 10 years to do something?

SAMBERG: I think the Andre [Braugher] factor makes it really difficult, certainly for me. I feel like he was such a huge part of what it was, like the base DNA of why the show works. Never say never. It’s a wonderful group of people. I don’t know. I love seeing them when I see them in real life, so I would love to work with everyone again in some capacity.

What’s something cool about the behind-the-scenes of making that show that fans wouldn’t know?

SAMBERG: I don’t know that people wouldn’t know this, and this is a blanket, happy answer, but it was genuinely fun. The crew, cast, writers, everybody got along. It was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime joyful sets where you’re excited to come in every day and see everyone. I think that is part of the appeal of the show is that you can feel that in the tone. I don’t know if there’s anything specifically interesting about the behind-the-scenes.

This is some BTS. One day, we were thinking about maybe doing “Hot Ones,” so Stephanie Beatrizgot a bottle of Da-bomb, and we all tried it at lunch and lost our fucking minds, except for her. [Laughs] She was like, “Yeah, it’s pretty hot.” Everyone else was running in circles.

I still don’t know how Sean [Evans] does it. I guess he’s immune now. I’ve heard from people, they’re like, “For two days after, I lived in my bathroom.”

SAMBERG: That’s what I’ve heard, as well.

You pay a strong price for doing that show.

SAMBERG: Some people go during the show. That has occurred. I definitely worry that if I do it, that I would immediately start hiccupping, shit my pants, and barf. But other than that, I have no fears!

Was There a “Tiny Little Kiss” of Andy Samberg in the New ‘Naked Gun’?

We may never know.

I laughed my ass off watching the new Naked Gun, and I think you have a small little moment in it.

SAMBERG: Do you? What do you think it is?

I thought it was you in the jail cell. I thought I saw your face through something. Am I completely wrong?

SAMBERG: I think there’s a tiny little kiss of me, and little kiss of Jorm [Taccone] , but I don’t think anyone will ever know what they are.

I swear I thought I saw you in makeup. So, it wasn’t you?

SAMBERG: No, but I do also love the movie.

There’s one specific joke that I couldn’t believe was in the movie, it involves, and I don’t want to spoil anything, animals. I couldn’t believe they got away with this. I couldn’t believe it was in the movie!

SAMBERG: I was shocked by it. It was certainly unlike anything in the previous ones.

You know I’m a fan of The Lonely Island. What is coming up with you guys? Anything you want to tease?

SAMBERG: Naked Gun and Digman! are the main ones right now. There’s nothing else that’s real yet. A bunch of stuff that we’re hoping happens, but as soon as it’s real, I’ll be thrilled to tell you all about it.

That’s the thing a lot of people don’t realize. Guillermo del Toro once told me that he was developing eight things at once because he wasn’t sure what was actually going to get made. After he won an Oscar, he told me he went in and pitched, and they rejected the movie right after winning the Oscar, and I’m like, “Oh, that’s Hollywood.”

SAMBERG: It really is, and I would say now more than ever, it’s like that. It’s very difficult to predict what will and won’t go right now. I think a lot of people are taking a lot of shots, hoping that something will connect.

Let’s go back to Digman! really fast. The first season is eight episodes, the second season is eight episodes. How did you decide on eight? Is it a studio mandate?

CAMPBELL: That’s above our pay grade in a way.

SAMBERG: I think it was from the studio.

CAMPBELL: We were basically told, “You got a series pickup, eight episodes,” and we’re like, “Great, let’s do it!”

SAMBERG: But if they came back to us today and were like, “Season 3 is 24,” we’d be like, “Great.”

CAMPBELL: It’s all in one day!

SAMBERG: It’s the show 24!

New Digman! Season 2 episodes air on Comedy Central every Wednesday. Season 1 is available to stream on Paramount+.