Nate Bargatze says his first feature film role in The Breadwinner grew directly out of the chaos and comedy of raising his 13-year-old daughter, Harper. The comedian said the film, set for release May 29, follows a stay-at-home father who has to keep three young daughters afloat after his wife lands a major work opportunity.
Bargatze plays Nate Wilcox, while Mandy Moore stars opposite him as Katie, a mother who scores a major deal after appearing on Shark Tank and then has to leave on an extended business trip. That setup pushes Wilcox into the role of first-time stay-at-home dad, a switch Bargatze said comes from the same family rhythms he has built into his standup.
“A lot of it is with my standup, and so we have a running thing about me not knowing the school my daughters go to and all that,” Bargatze said, describing how the movie reflects his life at home with Harper and his wife, Laura Bargatze. He also recalled a call from when Harper was in elementary school asking what bus she was supposed to be on, a moment that turned into one of his favorite examples of being out of the loop as a parent.
“I didn’t even know what to do. I asked them why. I go, ‘Why did you call me? I would think you would go call the wife first.’ And they said they tried. And I go, ‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you. She’s on a yellow one, so just throw her on one, and I’ll go find her,’” he said. The joke lands because it sounds absurd and because it is rooted in his own life, one of the reasons Bargatze said he wanted the movie to feel like something families could actually recognize.
Before release, Bargatze described The Breadwinner as “hilarious, heartwarming and surprising” and called it “a throwback to the classic family comedy movies that we all love.” He said he decided to make a family film because there is “a lack of entertainment that is made for entire families,” adding that the project was built to give audiences a reason to go out together. “This is a movie with characters everyone can relate to, and it gives families and friends a great reason to go to a theater for an excellent night out,” he said.
Moore said she was drawn to the film’s emphasis on mothers and on the reversal of household roles. “I loved this sort of celebration of moms and mom kind of being an entrepreneur and getting this incredibly unique opportunity. And in its own way, it’s like Dad kind of switching roles and recognizing how much Mom really does contribute to the house and keeping the ship righted,” she said. Moore also said her own family life is different. “I don’t have that exact same experience in my life,” she said, adding that her husband is “a really good partner and a great dad and could pivot and figure things out in a way that I don’t worry about the kids or anything like that.”
The film’s appeal rests on that mix of straight-faced family mishap and broader role reversal. Bargatze has built much of his comedy around being a not-always-competent dad, and now he has turned that material into a movie built for parents, kids and anyone who has ever felt behind on the family logistics. For Bargatze, 47, the payoff is simple: a story that starts with his own house and tries to play to a much larger one.
