Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Free Guy.
Second to Ryan Reynolds’ protagonist player Guy, Buddy in Free Guy is one of the film's most endearing characters. Shawn Levy’s new movie tackles the heroic story of a background Non-Playable Character (NPC) in the online video game Free City, a friendly bank teller named Guy (Reynolds). However, aside from some spectacular and hilarious set-pieces, it is Guy's relationship with characters like Buddy that really give the movie its soul.
Despite his daily routine making him naturally resistant to going against the script, Guy’s entire perspective on life changes when he sees the girl of his dreams: Molotov Girl, whose real-life counterpart, Millie, is trying to find proof that Free City’s creator stole her game algorithm. Guy becomes the hero of the story, helping Millie while saving his Free City community from deletion by the creator. Guy’s typical day-in-the-life routine functions as Free Guy’s Groundhog Day parody, following Guy waking up, getting his usual coffee order, heading to work at the bank with his best friend and colleague Buddy, and hanging out with Buddy after they experience their daily robbery. As Guy breaks out of his background character role, those trapped in a similar existence such as Buddy, the Barista, the “Bombshell,” and Officer Johnny all find their own autonomy within their reality.
As one of the only other NPCs that gets a prominent speaking role, Buddy plays an integral part in Free Guy’s climactic sequence when Guy must cross the bridge to the algorithm. By the end of Free Guy, Buddy is also living the way he wants outside of the confines of Free City’s script. The sarcastic, kind bank security guard is played by actor and comedian Lil Rel Howery, whose career was already snowballing before his heartwarming role in Free Guy.
Lil Rel Howery gained notoriety in Hollywood following his similar role in Jordan Peele’s 2017 movie Get Out. In Get Out, which happened to be his first film role, Howery portrayed Chris’s best friend, TSA agent Rod Williams who serves as the film’s comedic relief and rational mind. Since his film debut only four years prior to Free Guy in Get Out, Howery has starred in 14 films, with a few more on the way. In 2018 alone, Howery played Reggie in Tag, Dax Winslow in the basketball comedy Uncle Drew, and Charlie in Netflix’s Bird Box. Outside of his comedic roles, Howery also played Wayne in Judas and the Black Messiah and Milton Weaver, Zach’s teacher, in Disney+’s Clouds.
Howery’s gaining traction in Hollywood has also given him the chance to lend his notable voice to animated roles, like Alex in The Angry Birds 2 and Tom’s shoulder devil and angel in Warner Bros.’s Tom & Jerry. Unsurprisingly, Howery’s career began through his comedy, lending his talents to various sketch shows and television series both before and after his breakout Get Out role. His most notable television role was on The Carmichael Show, where he played Jerrod’s brother Bobby Carmichael for three seasons. Howery then played the role of Quentin on HBO’s Insecure before starring on his own sitcom Rel, a series loosely based on his own life.
Following the success of Free Guy, Lil Rel Howery will be busy as he brings in more big-budget movie roles. For starters, Reynolds already confirmed that Disney wants a Free Guy sequel, meaning Howery will likely return as the beloved Buddy. Howery’s next movie will be Vacation Friends, an upcoming comedy co-starring Howery and John Cena that is set to premiere on Hulu on August 27, 2021. The Free Guy actor’s other upcoming films include the sports drama National Champions, Ben Affleck’s psychological thriller Deep Water, and the recently announced romcom Spin Me Round.
