By Michaela Gordoni
Nate Bargatze has had handfuls of dad oopses.
One in particular — when he forgot where his daughter’s school was — inspired his new movie, THE BREADWINNER.
“A lot of it is with my standup, and so we have a running thing about me not knowing the school my daughters go to and all that,” he said of his inspiration for the movie, which is about a dad left on his own to care for his three daughters.
He told PEOPLE, “I mean, that was a real example that I’ve talked [about in] my standup where I got a call asking what bus my daughter was supposed to be on when she was in elementary school,” he continued. “I didn’t even know what to do.”
The dad of one asked the person why they called him instead of his wife.
Related: These Three Comedians to Join Nate Bargatze’s Upcoming Movie
“They said they tried. And I go, ‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you. She’s on a yellow one, so just throw her on one, and I’ll go find her,’” he recalled.
Bargatze’s co-star, Mandy Moore, said she loved that the movie celebrates moms’ everyday efforts.
“In its own way, it’s like Dad kind of switching roles and recognizing how much Mom really does contribute to the house and keeping the ship righted,” the mom of three explained.
“So I loved all of that. I don’t have that exact same experience in my life,” Moore continued. “I feel like my husband’s like a…He’s a really good partner and a great dad and could pivot and figure things out in a way that I don’t worry about the kids or anything like that.”
At the red-carpet premiere last week, Bargatze told Movieguide® all about why he wanted to make a movie for the whole family.
“That’s why I think a big part of it was I wanted to…I have one daughter. We have three daughters [in the movie]. It’s like even thought I don’t want to go too far out of my realm, it’s like you want to just make it where it’s clearly not my exact family,” he explained.
While the comedian primarily does stand-up, the movie allows him to create a whole different kind of comedy routine.
“I’ve been so tied to every story I tell; it’s like there’s truth into it and I exaggerate it. So in this movie, we have that and inspirations from that, but then being able to kind of start some new problems that I don’t currently do and I don’t have to deal with in real life,” he said.
Bargatze pulled on his Christian background as he developed his idea for the movie. When he approaches comedy, he always tells jokes that he knows his parents wouldn’t frown at and that are appropriate for the whole family.
“I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of stuff, and so that was a big inspiration for even making this movie,” he said.
You can watch THE BREADWINNER in theaters on Friday, May 29.
Read Next: Nate Bargatze Can’t Shake This Stand-Up Habit While Filming THE BREADWINNER
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