Robert McElhenney III (born April 14, 1977) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for playing Mac on the FX/FXX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He is also one of the developers, executive producers, and the co-creator of the show, which has provided him with writing and directing credits for various episodes.

Early life[edit]

Apr 15, 2019 The 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' star received a pretty brutal arrow to the eye after standing on screen for about the duration of, oh, one second. He co-stars as one of Euron Greyjoy's.

McElhenney was born in Philadelphia, the eldest of three children.^[1] Both of his parents are of Irish descent.^[2] He was raised Roman Catholic.^[1] When he was eight years old, his parents divorced after his mother came out as a lesbian.^[1] McElhenney was primarily raised by his father, but has said that his parents remained close after their divorce.^[1] McElhenney also has two brothers that are gay, and has 'always been part of the gay community'.^[3] Through his father's subsequent marriage, he also has a half-sister and stepsister. One of his closest friends, Joseph Dougherty Jr. of Delaware County, suggested the idea for what later would become It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.^[1]

He attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia.^[4][5] After graduating, he attended Temple University. McElhenney moved to New York City, temporarily lived on the Fordham University's campus with friends, but chose not to enroll.^[1]

Career[edit]

McElhenney scored his first major role with a small part in The Devil's Own, followed by small parts in A Civil Action, Wonder Boys, and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, though his role in The Devil's Own was cut out of the final edit. He later had more substantial parts in Latter Days and The Tollbooth, and a small role in the Law & Order episode 'Thrill'. At the age of 21, a debut script by McElhenney was optioned with writer-director Paul Schrader attached to direct, before the project fell through after one year of edits and rewrites.^[6]

Initially based in New York City after his graduation from high school, McElhenney moved to Los Angeles at the age of 25.^[6] In 2004, McElhenney was waiting tables between acting jobs, and had met Glenn Howerton through his agent, and Charlie Day in New York while shooting a horror film.^[6] His idea for a sitcom, starring himself, Howerton and Day, was filmed on a budget of $200 and pitched to many cable networks.^[7] After receiving offers from many of the stations, McElhenney chose to sign with FX as they allowed him more creative freedom. McElhenney was contracted as It's Always Sunny's showrunner, and both Howerton and Day were listed as executive producers.^[6]

McElhenney claims that 50 weeks of each year are consumed by acting, producing, and writing for the show, but he did find time to appear in the third season of Lost in the episode 'Not in Portland'. This was a result of McElhenney meeting Lost co-creator and executive producer Damon Lindelof, who is a fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. McElhenney continued the role in Lost, featured again in the sixth season for a single episode. McElhenney is a fan of Game of Thrones and was thrilled that the series' writers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, asked to write an episode of It's Always Sunny. He and his co-producers accepted the offer,^[8] resulting in the Season 9 episode 'Flowers for Charlie' in 2013. In 2019, McElhenney made a cameo appearance as an extra in the Season 8 premiere episode 'Winterfell'.

On July 21, 2015, McElhenney was confirmed by Mojang as the director of the upcoming animated Minecraft movie.^[9] He has since left the project.^[10]

In 2017, he appeared as a guest in the acclaimed Fargo episode 'The Law of Non-Contradiction'. He received praise for his performance from critics, who saw his character as a reference to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.^[11][12]

Personal life[edit]

Before the first season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia went into production, McElhenney hired actress Kaitlin Olson to play the role of Dee Reynolds. He became romantically interested in Olson 'around season 2' of the series, believing her to be the funniest woman in show business.^[6] They were married in California on September 27, 2008.^[13]

In 2009, McElhenney and Olson announced their purchase of Skinner's Bar at 226 Market Street in Philadelphia (39°57′00″N75°08′41″W / 39.949895°N 75.144795°W). It was renamed Mac's Tavern.^[14] They had their first child, Axel Lee McElhenney, on September 1, 2010. Olson went into labor at a Philadelphia Phillies game.^[15] The couple's second son, Leo Grey McElhenney, was born on April 5, 2012.^[16]

In preparation for the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, McElhenney put on 60 lbs of extra weight and let his beard grow out to give extra humor to his character and add a new comedic direction for the season. His co-star Charlie Day described the weight gain as 'disgusting' and said that the rest of the cast were 'a little on the fence about it for his own personal health and safety'. McElhenney subsequently lost 23 lbs in a month after the season was finished filming.^[17][18] He lost more later in the year to film the next season.

Through his father, McElhenney is the first cousin of Olympic Medalist, attorney, and activist Marcus N. McElhenney.

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Television[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdefghMcElhenney, Rob (July 9, 2016). 'Interview with Rob McElhenney'. WTF Podcast (Interview). Interviewed by Marc Maron.
2. ^''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's' Rob McElhenney talks about upcoming 'gay marriage' episode'. Greg in Holywood magazine. August 7, 2010.
3. ^''It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' Season Finale: Rob McElhenney On Keeping The Gang Together For A Shining Season'. deadline.com. November 7, 2018.
4. ^''It's Always Sunny' star Rob McElhenney returns to St. Joe's Prep'. Philly.com. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
5. ^''It's Always Sunny's' Rob McElhenney spoke at St. Joe's Prep today'. Philly.com. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
6. ^ ^abcde'WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 582 – Rob McElhenney'.
7. ^'McElhenney interview'. Archived from the original on 2007-12-26. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
8. ^Huffington Post, Retrieved January 2, 2015
9. ^'We've chosen a director for the Minecraft movie!'.
10. ^'Minecraft Movie Delayed After Rob McElhenney Leaves Project'. Destructoid.
11. ^'Gloria heads to Hollywood for a Fargo highpoint'. The A.V. Club. May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
12. ^''Fargo' Review: Carrie Coon Heads to La La Land in Bananas Episode That Upends Expectations For Year 3'. IndieWire. May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
13. ^'OK! Exclusive: Kaitlin Olson & Rob McElhenney Wed'. OK!. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
14. ^'Mac and Dee from 'Always Sunny' getting into bar business for real | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/17/2009'. Philly.com. 2009-12-17. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
15. ^'Kaitlin Olson, Rob McElhenney Welcome Son Axel Lee'. People.com. 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
16. ^Johnson, Zach. 'Meet Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney's Son Leo Grey!'. US Weekly. US Magazine. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
17. ^'Fat Mac: Rob McElhenney Goes Into Graphic Detail About 'Sunny' Weight Gain'. Reuters. 2011-08-10.
18. ^Maerz, Melissa (2011-09-16). 'Rob McElhenney: How To Get Fat for TV'. TV Article. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
19. ^ ^ab'Mindy's Hot and Sleazy New Man'.
20. ^Mindy Kaling [@mindykaling] (3 July 2014). 'Get ready. #themindyproject' (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links[edit]

• Rob McElhenney on IMDb

Ronald 'Mac' McDonald is a fictional character on the FX series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Mac is Charlie Kelly's childhood friend and Dennis Reynolds's high school friend and later roommate.

Character overview[edit]

Mac is a co-owner of Paddy's, the self-proclaimed 'Sheriff of Paddy's,' and is generally the pub's most active manager. Mac is played by Rob McElhenney.

Mac frequently uses his signature line, 'What's up, bitches?' throughout the series. In many episodes, Mac will enter the bar announcing 'I've got news' or a variation of the phrase, to set the episode's plot in motion. The others rarely share his enthusiasm, but he usually convinces one of them to follow him, though often reluctantly. Throughout the series, Mac uses a 'puppy-dog look' when he is ashamed or when he proposes something reprehensibly shameful.

Name[edit]

For the first six seasons, Mac's full name was kept anonymous as a running joke, though in the season four episode 'Mac & Charlie Die,' Mac's father's name is listed as 'Luther Mac' on his parole papers and his mother is referred to as Mrs. Mac. In the episode 'Who Got Dee Pregnant?,' one of the McPoyle brothers refers to Mac as 'Macwell.' In the episode 'The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell' Mac, or at least Mac's 18th Century counterpart, is called 'McDonald,' suggesting that this is his surname. Mac's full real name, Ronald McDonald, is revealed in the season seven episode 'The High School Reunion'. Mac hates the name due to its connection with the spokesman of the popular fast food chain McDonald's as well as his old nickname, 'Ronnie the Rat,' which he obtained from ratting on fellow drug dealers in high school. Mac 'ratted' on drug dealers so he could become the main drug dealer of the school. He prefers to be simply called 'Mac'.

Description[edit]

Mac comes from a broken home; his father has been incarcerated for dealing meth and his mother is extremely apathetic and unemotional. Mac and his mother also own a dog named Poppins, who despite being extremely old and prone to eating poisonous objects appears to be practically indestructible. He sees himself as a karate expert and total 'badass'. Mac constantly seeks the acceptance of others, especially his parents, but his over-earnest efforts do not endear him to others. Earlier, under the impression that his father would possibly murder him after being paroled, Mac later receives a warm letter from his father, specifically requesting that Mac stay away from him. This letter is written as Mac's father fears that Mac's destructive tendencies could harm him. Dennis notes that the only reason Mac hung out with the popular kids in high school was because he sold them all weed and even then was considered an 'asshole.' Though Dennis reigns supreme as selfish and arrogant, Mac has made his fair share of selfish, inconsiderate decisions and observations.

Mac is considered by every member of The Gang to be a 'jerk' and is nearly always the first to start betraying the others, though he does usually stick with Dennis, who is his best friend and has known him longer than anybody in The Gang other than Charlie. Like Dennis, Mac sees himself as superior to the rest of The Gang and often attempts to prove his supremacy. For instance, in an attempt to impress Charlie and Dennis, he makes a series of 'Project Badass' videotapes that consist of various idiotic stunts set to music. He had a sexual relationship with a pre-op transgender woman named Carmen, for whom he claimed he was just 'putting in time' as he waited for Carmen's surgery.

Mac sincerely believes that he is an adept martial artist with 'cat-like reflexes' and usually wears sleeveless shirts to draw attention to his physique and exhibit his tribal tattoos. Despite his apparent fitness, Mac generally focuses his workout time on developing his, as Dennis called them, 'glamor muscles' and is largely the weakest member in The Gang, behind everyone but Dennis. Despite his enthusiasm towards karate, he is shown to have no real skills in the sport.

Religion[edit]

A Catholic, Mac is the only member of The Gang to profess a religious faith. In 'The Gang Exploits a Miracle,' Mac fears that the Lord will show his wrath if they continue to exploit a water stain in the bar that appears to depict the Virgin Mary. Throughout the series, Mac refuses to wear a condom during sex because, as he explains to Charlie, he went to Catholic school. Though Mac seems to care more about issues such as abortion, community activism, and parenting than the rest of The Gang, his views on such subjects are invariably twisted, ignorant, or prejudiced and his actions regarding them are always hypocritical and selfish. For instance, after pretending to be adamantly pro-life in order to attract a female activist, Mac later demands that she get an abortion when he thinks she has become pregnant by him. In another instance, Mac discovers that Carmen has married and had the operation to remove her penis. He then belittles Carmen and her husband by quoting the Bible to them and calling them gay; however, he only reacts so because he expected Carmen to call him after the operation so they could date again. Mac constantly drinks alcohol, like the rest of The Gang, and abuses other substances, such as poppers and glue. In recent seasons, Mac has sometimes expressed Anti-Semitism, from his rant about Mark Zuckerberg and 'his Jews' using Facebook and other social media to take over the world in 'The Anti-Social Network' and, in 'The Gang Group Dates,' telling a disgusted Frank and Charlie that he wants to make sure any women he might date are not Jewish.

Sexuality[edit]

While Mac has sexual exploits with various women, including two models in immediate succession ('America's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Model Contest'), a long-running theme on the show is the ambiguity surrounding Mac's sexuality which culminates in him coming out as gay in season 12. In earlier seasons, this is manifested by his obsession with men's physiques and his reactionary religious views on homosexuality. In the final scene of the season 4 episode 'Mac's Banging the Waitress,' Charlie says to Dennis, 'Do you still get the feeling he wants to bang us? That's what this is all about,' after Mac tries to demonstrate how 'badass' he is by falling from the roof onto a pile of mattresses. In the season 9 episode 'Mac Day,' Charlie says, 'I know we've never said this as a group, but Mac's gay,' to which the rest of The Gang readily agrees. In Season 10, when Dennis is listing all of the delusions The Gang has about themselves, he tells Mac that 'you think that you're tough, and that you're straight.' After a pause, Mac retorts 'I AM tough!' Further, in episode 6 of season 10, 'The Gang Misses the Boat,' Mac convinces The Gang that he is sleeping with an attractive woman; however, they later discover that he merely paid her with angel dust to pretend they were together. She tells them that he 'couldn't even get it up' for her.

In episode 9 of season 11, Mac, while on a Christian cruise, discovers that two other male passengers are gay and sets out to 'convert' them. The two, however, 'convert' Mac within minutes. This supposed realization of his repressed homosexuality results in the end of his belief in God. After The Gang is informed by Mac of his new identity, they tell him they've known since the first day they met him and proceed to move on with their self-involved lives. In the season 11 finale, Mac and the rest of The Gang are trapped inside the ship's brig and Mac tries one last time to pray to God to save all of them from imminent death (as the ship has presumably capsized and the room is filling with water). They are released in the nick of time. Mac later explains to The Gang and an insurance claim agent that God does exist and he, Mac, is indeed straight, because his prayer was answered and no loving God 'would make' him gay. In episode 6 of season 12, the gang uses Mac's altered workout bike as evidence of his homosexuality during a legal arbitration. Mac is forced to admit his sexuality to win the dispute, but the gang expects him to return to the closet after the process is over. However, when given an opportunity to retract his admission, Mac finally decides to embrace his identity. In season 13 episode 10, Mac finally comes out to his father as gay. Despite his father disapproving of his sexuality, Mac is not ashamed by his own father's distaste for finding out he's gay.

It is implied throughout the show that Mac has feelings for Dennis, whom he tries to kiss on multiple occasions. Mac's potential feelings for Dennis are addressed by Dennis in season 13 during a sexual harassment seminar, in which Dennis tells Mac that 'it's not going to happen'.

Weight gain[edit]

At the start of season 7, Mac has gained at least 60 pounds (30 kilograms) of fat, which he saw as a step to developing muscle ('cultivating mass' in his words) to go from 'a tiny twink to [a] muscle-bound freak.' In the episode 'How Mac Got Fat,' he goes into greater detail about his intentions, explaining that earlier, the Gang had decided to replace themselves with avatars to run Paddy's Pub so they could slack off. Mac's avatar was a bodybuilder. When Dee points out that the avatar doesn't look like him because he has more muscle, Mac starts gaining weight in an attempt to become the same size as the bodybuilder. Eventually the Gang drops the avatar plan and everything goes back to normal, but Mac is stuck with his dangerous weight gain. The rest of The Gang agrees he looks unhealthy—Dennis is personally outraged by the sight of his gut—but Mac is indifferent to their opinions despite developing diabetes as a result of his new eating habits.

Mac It's Always Sunny Game Of Thrones 2017

The weight gain was real. Rob McElhenney has stated in interviews that he wanted to make Mac fat as his own way of fighting the trend of actors on TV shows getting more attractive as a show gains success (he specifically talked about The Big Bang Theory and how the nerdy lead characters were better-dressed and had trendier hairstyles as the show became a huge hit for CBS), and that it also made sense that Mac would be aging badly thanks to the reckless, selfish, and stupid lifestyle of which he and the rest of the characters are so proud.^[1]

To gain the weight for Season 7 in the healthiest way possible, McElhenney worked with a nutritionist recommended by professional baseball player Chase Utley (who had played himself in the Season 6 episode 'The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods').^[2] He ate an average of 5,000 calories a day during the weight gain, and lost the weight by returning to his normal eating and workout routines.

References[edit]

Mac It's Always Sunny Game Of Thrones Full

1. ^Molloy, Tim (August 10, 2011). 'Fat Mac: Rob McElhenney Goes Into Graphic Detail About 'Sunny' Weight Gain'. Reuters.
2. ^Gray, Ellen (August 8, 2011). 'Utley tip helped 'Sunny' star pack on pounds'. The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Mac From It S Always Sunny In Game Of Thrones