Green Day’s Tré Cool knows you want a biopic – but ‘Nimrods’ will do for now

It’s 10am in California and Green Day drummer Tré Cool is making his coffee and about to drill down with NME into Nimrods, the new feature film comedy inspired by the band. “One second,” he says. “Sorry, there’s a fight on the street here. You know, it’s America. They’re always fighting in the streets.” His interest is piqued by an altercation outside his window. “Oh, that guy just hit the other guy in the face. Oh, now Grandma just got involved… slamming with her purse. Oh boy, you never know what you’re gonna get.” It’s the sort of everyday roughhousing you might find in Nimrods: A Green Day Comedy, to give it its full title. Don’t expect a typical biopic here – one that might show the band forged in the late-’80s Bay Area punk scene, releasing debut album ‘Dookie’ in 1994 – or, for that matter, winning five Grammys and selling a staggering 75million records. Rather, Nimrods comes inspired by the early, scrappy adventures of Cool, bassist Mike Dirnt and lead guitarist/vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong. From an idea originally formulated by Armstrong, Nimrods is a wild coming-of-age road movie, as a trio of teenagers – Tommy (Mason Thames), Fred (Kylr Coffman) and Chad (Ryan Foust) – ...