LOS ANGELES – What happens when a 20-year-old lie catches up with you?

The movie Ricky Stanicky, available on Prime Video, takes that premise to madcap heights.

The raunchy comedy is about buddies Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino) and Wes (Jermaine Fowler), who invoke the name of a friend they invented as children – “Ricky Stanicky” – whenever they need an excuse to duck out of responsibilities.

But their loved ones finally grow suspicious, so the trio decide to hire a washed-up actor, Rod (John Cena), to pretend to be Ricky. And things spiral out of control.

“It’s about what happens when your lies come alive,” says Peter Farrelly, the movie’s director and co-writer, to reporters over Zoom.

“People lie all the time and people lie for a reason – we kind of analyse that too,” adds the 67-year-old American film-maker. He directed and co-wrote the comedy drama Green Book (2018), which won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of with the script: There’s a reason they’re behaving this way,” says Farrelly, who is also known for the quirky comedies he directed with his 65-year-old brother Bobby, including Dumb And Dumber (1994) and There’s Something About Mary (1998).

Efron, 36, says his character Dean and his friends decide to fully commit to an elaborate lie.

“They’ve been together since they were young and get in trouble just like all young men,” says the American actor, whose breakout role was in the High School Musical comedy trilogy (2006 to 2008).

It was essential to find the right actor to play Ricky, and Farrelly knew it was Cena when he saw the American professional wrestler-turned-actor on the superhero series Peacemaker (2022 to present).

“I could not believe how hilarious he was. The way he committed to that character, I knew that he had to be Ricky,” the director says.

Cena, 46, has starred in comedies such as Blockers (2018) and Daddy’s Home 2 (2017). But this felt like “something I haven’t been able to do before”, says the star, who has been one of the biggest names on the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) circuit since the early 2000s.

“For me, it was the concept. How do you make an imaginary friend real?

“Originally, I just wanted to know how they pull it off, but the script is so beautifully written, I think you discover something new every time.

“And there’s so much you can take away from everybody’s journey,” Cena says.

The cast also praised Farrelly for his comedic instincts, even though his feedback after a take could be brutally unvarnished at times.

“He’s very honest and blunt with his notes, which I appreciate,” says Efron.

“He’s always very direct. He’ll tell it to you straight, like, ‘No. What happened there?’ Which is great, because that’s what you want. You don’t need it sugar-coated. You want it to be good.”

Efron has taken on more serious dramatic roles in recent years, starring in films such as Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile (2019), where he played the late serial killer Ted Bundy, as well as the biographical sports drama The Iron Claw (2023).

But he does not do anything special to prepare for a comedic role such as this.

“I just listen to Pete,” says the star, who was also directed by Farrelly in the war comedy drama The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022).

“It’s not that much different from doing a drama. And this is a great crew – I got to sit and listen to really great actors.

“So you’re just feeding off the energy of the tribe – that’s the way I go about it.”

• Ricky Stanicky is available on Prime Video.