Mandy Moore Couldn’t Keep a Straight Face in The Breadwinner with Nate Bargatze
Nate Bargatze and Mandy Moore talk about their hilarious cast, pitching on Shark Tank, and advice for stay-at-home parents.
Comedian Nate Bargatze has been doing stand-up since 2002, doing the kind of “clean comedy” that made Bob Newhart and Steve Martin a household name. In 2024, he became the highest-grossing stand-up comic, and he continues to play to sold out crowds all across the country. Considering his massive success, you might be wondering why he wanted to do The Breadwinner, his feature film debut, which has him playing a stay-at-home dad.
“Me and the writer, Dan Lagana, talked about writing a movie together, [and] this kind of fit with my stand-up, so we figured let’s just dive into this world.” Bargatze later explains that he wanted to make this a film for the whole family: “I think a lot of [movies] are getting harder to go to as a family […] This is a movie that’s [like] Home Alone or Mr. Mom, that you could see as a family, and that’s not being shown to the kids today.”
Someone who isn’t new to starring in films is Bargatze’s co-star Mandy Moore. She talks about her somewhat return to her comedy roots. “I’m not necessarily yucking it up in this film. I get to be the mom, who keeps things organized […] We’re surrounded by a hilarious group of people [in this film], and my real job was trying to keep it together and not break.”
In the film, Moore plays Katie Wilcox, the wife of Bargatze’s Nate Wilcox, who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she lands a deal on Shark Tank, the long-running business reality series that features entrepreneurs pitching to potential investors. Moore talks about what it was like pitching on the show.
“I’ve never been so nervous. They slotted us in at the very end of the day, so we had an hour and a half. We were on the clock, and we filmed it like a regular Shark Tank episode.” Moore was so anxious, she needed a pep talk from the stage manager. “My heart was beating out of my chest… [But] I wanted it to feel real. This is a woman who’s never been on camera before. The stakes are so unbelievably high.”
Watch the full Big Ticket interview with Nate Bargatze and Mandy Moore above, and check out The Breadwinner on the big screen when it opens on May 29. — Bryce Marrero
The Breadwinner opens in theaters on May 29, 2026. Get your tickets here.
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Thumbnail image by Sony Pictures
