Because sheep are funnier than cattle
MacFarlane: "They're fun animals to have around. You can't really get them to do anything. They just do what they do, then one of them does something and they all do it ... they're like Fox News commentators. You point the camera at them and hope you get lucky."
Because he needed to play, well, himself
"I wasn't much of a cowboy before and now even less so. The whole point of the character is somebody who's not comfortable in that environment, and I am not comfortable in that environment. The weather was vicious. It was either icy-cold winds, hail, torrential rain, lightning storms, crippling dryness or heat that would knock you on your ass. I like rooms like this, where you're protected from the elements."
Because no one's done a cowboy comedy right since Blazing Saddles
"Our style is very different to Blazing Saddles, but what Mel Brooks did right - that everyone following seems to have done wrong - is this idea that you're entitled to one weird, out-there thing in a comedy.
"Period comedy is hard because you're already putting the audience in a world they're not familiar with, so everything else has to feel accessible. With Ted, we have a talking teddy bear, so everything else has to be real and grounded. With this movie, the fact that it's set in the Old West forces us to make everything else grounded and contemporary."
Because, MacFarlane once made a joke on Family Guy that if Liam Neeson ever played a cowboy, he'd do it with an Irish accent.
"Liam reminded me of that joke on-set. He thought it was funny and he's a very modest guy and capable of having a laugh at his own expense. But I'm shocked he agreed to do the movie because he's such an accomplished dramatic actor and is very much in demand.
"He makes the movie work in a lot of ways. For his character to be genuinely threatening and amidst all the craziness be a real source of jeopardy is something that's essential to the story."
Because it's about time someone put Charlize Theron in a comedy - and she wasn't offended when MacFarlane put her in his Oscar show song We Saw Your Boobs.
Theron: "Comedy is objective, more so than drama. There's more of a consensus when it comes to what is thought of as dramatic.
"The thing that I will say for people who get so easily offended by Seth is that while there are some comedians who enjoy working from a place of offending and being mean, that's not who he is.
"He's well-read, well-informed, cares about what happens in the world, is dangerously-smart and has amazing talent with timing and wit. He respects that you can't just do fart jokes."
Who: Seth MacFarlane
What: A Million Ways to Die in the West also starring Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried and Neil Patrick Harris
When: Opens at cinemas today
- TimeOut
