Mermaid Interview: Fallout's Johnny Pemberton on His Debut Leading Role in This Oddball Fairy Tale
12Florida has become somewhat of a mythical fever dream of a place where the "Florida Man" is a Sasquatchian entity, and the lore keeps writing itself. For writer-director Tyler Cornack (Butt Boy), it's home — or at least, it was.
Inspired by the tales from his family's hotel tiki bar growing up, Cornack penned and directed Mermaid, a heartfelt horror comedy about Percocet-addicted Doug, played by Fallout and Superstore standout Johnny Pemberton in his first-ever leading role. Doug is divorced, sharing custody of his daughter (Devyn McDowell), and has just lost his job tending to a local strip club's aquarium. At the end of his rope, Doug takes his boat out into the Gulf of Mexico, intending to end things, where he discovers an injured mermaid (Avery Potemri). This Florida Man takes it upon himself to nurse the mermaid back to health, and as a much-needed companionship forms between the two unlikely souls, their secret is found out, and Doug must fight to protect his new friend.
While celebrating the World Premiere of Mermaid at SXSW 2025, Cornack, Pemberton and Potemri, as well as co-stars Kevin Dunn and Kirk Fox, stopped by the Collider Media Studio at the Cinema Center to chat with Perri Nemiroff about their film. They share "horror stories" from set about the last-minute hurdles they had to overcome throughout production and how those challenges became blessings in disguise. You can check out the full conversation in this video for more on the movie and Pemberton's Fallout Season 2 tease.
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