The It's Always Sunny Character You May Not Realize Is Based On A Real Person

The creators of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" have drawn quite a bit of inspiration from their own lives for the hit FXX comedy series, but perhaps it's Green Man who has become the biggest sensation to crossover. Green Man is Charlie Kelly's (Charlie Day) alter-ego, a mascot who wears a green morphsuit and sneakers. Charlie has worn the Green Man suit a few times over the course of the series after it made its debut in "The Gang Gets Invincible," when Frank (Danny DeVito) laced Charlie's beer with LSD, and he started dancing with the entire McPoyle clan. While the idea of someone throwing on a bunch of spandex and acting like a total lunatic seems a little far-fetched, it turns out that it has the basis in one of the guy's real-life experiences. 

In an interview with Vice back in 2010, Day revealed that Green Man was inspired by a friend of series creator Rob McElhenney, who plays Mac. Apparently, McElhenney's friend did the Green Man thing in real life:

"I think it was one of Rob's buddies who did Green Man in real life first. Apparently he wore that suit to all the Eagles games. That was another one where we thought, 'Yeah, it's kind of funny...' But you never really know what's going to resonate with people. It turned out that everyone really got a kick out of it and now you see that Green Man everywhere."

Day and McElhenney created the series along with fellow co-creator Glenn Howerton, who plays Dennis. On "The Always Sunny Podcast," the guys have revealed that quite a few characters are named after friends of theirs, and certain situations come straight from their lives. The McPoyles were named after a friend of Day's, though he didn't think they were going to get quite that weird or stick around as long, for example. Nikki Potnik, whom the gang went to high school with, is named after a friend of McElhenney's. Sweet Dee's nickname even comes from the guys hearing Tom Morello call his wife that at a party, which McElhenney admitted to feeling kind of weird about later on. 

Outside of supporting characters, the main cast of "It's Always Sunny" draws plenty from their personal lives as well. Dennis fasting in season 2 was based on Howerton doing a fasting cleanse at the time, and "Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense" has its own basis in a story from Howerton's life. Day and McElhenney both play characters that share their own names, so this makes perfect sense. 

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" just finished its record-breaking 15th season, which is now streaming on Hulu.