Wrexham landlord lifts lid on It’s Always Sunny spoof filmed in his pub

The landlord of The Turf in Wrexham, Wayne Jones, has revealed what it was like when two Hollywood stars and a Danny DeVito lookalike descended on his pub.

When Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds hosted a press conference in the stands at Wrexham last week, Wayne and his pub got a mention.

Hours later the two stars, more than 60 production staff and a cast of lookalikes crammed into his hostelry to film a spoof It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia trailer to promote the forthcoming docuseries Welcome To Wrexham, to be screened on Disney+ in the UK.

The evening had seen social media alight when a video of what many believed was the actual Danny DeVito appeared showing him walking into the pub.

Danny DeVito’s just turned up in Wrexham now! What an amazing story this week is turning into 😍 pic.twitter.com/xmFuGYDal4

— Ben Sheppard (@BenSheppard) October 28, 2021

It turned out to be an Irish lookalike called Mark, who had been filming with the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia cast in Ireland.

However, it didn’t stop every news outlet in the UK and many internationally reporting the story.

Unsurprisingly, Wayne says it’s been a hugely positive and enjoyable, but very tiring few days.

Giving the inside track on his crazy week to Wrexham FC podcast, Fearless In Devotion, he said: “I’m absolutely shattered if I’m honest, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind week. A very, very nice week but also a very tiring and exhausting week. But the pros certainly outweigh the cons.

“The publicity that the football club, first and foremost, has received is obviously very important and on the back of that, you know, a local little businessman and his pub has also received a lot of attention. So as a whole, it’s been very positive.”

Loved it

When Wayne got the call that the production team behind the docuseries wanted to film a trailer in the pub advertising Welcome To Wrexham, he admitted he possibly wasn’t ready for what came next.

“First and foremost, you know, I’m just a normal local lad who runs a pub,” he said. “But on Thursday we had 60 crew turning up to film, which was insane.

“Then I’m told I have to go into hair and make up, which was hilarious, and then appear in a scene with Rob McElhenney.

“Then people see images of Danny DeVito coming into the pub, putting two and two together, thinking that he was here. It was a lot to take in, but I loved it. I’ll be honest, I’ve absolutely loved it.

“The film crew, every single one was absolutely lovely, and the actors and the extras. It was a sight to behold to see what goes into such a production, even just a small two, three minute, what is a commercial effectively.

“So you try to think what goes on in these multi billion pound movies but I’ve really enjoyed it and really tried to make everyone feel as welcome as they can.”

As for meeting Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, Wayne said he was hugely impressed by the Hollywood stars, even if his wife almost fainted on hearing they were coming to the pub.

The pair visited The Turf on the Wednesday evening for a few drinks to meet Wayne, his family and a number of fans, before the production team moved in on the Thursday.

“We got the call a couple of days before they arrived and were told they wanted to come and say hello, introduce themselves, have two or three hours and have some drinks,” he said. “Yeah, that was a bit of a surreal moment. I shouted up to my wife, ‘you need to get your head on because you’re meeting Ryan Reynolds in a few days’ time’. She nearly fell down the stairs, fainting.”

‘When they walked in Rob came over and said ‘nice to finally meet you Wayne, which blew me away that they knew my name. They spent 20 minutes talking to my son about university and it was just as natural as it could be meeting Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

“I was so impressed by what they had to say and their commitment to the football club. They’re everything you read about them. Just really nice down to earth guys.”

Listen to the full story of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ visit to Wrexham on the Fearless In Devotion podcast