WEBVTT - “30 Rock” Star Jack McBrayer Says “Yes, And...” 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:05.200 This is Alec Baldwin and you were listening to Here's 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:10.799 the Thing from iHeart Radio. He was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.200 His mind is a blank slate. He is the son 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:17.360 of a pig farmer and one of the most iconic 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:21.439 characters in sitcom history. He could only have been played 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:26.560 by my guest today, Jack macbriar. He inhabited the role 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:31.280 of wide eyed, television obsessed Kenneth the Page on NBC's 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:35.800 Thirty Rock for seven seasons. Hailing from Macon, Georgia himself, 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:40.960 macbrair discovered his improv skills at Second City in Chicago. 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:44.800 He continued to hone his craft with recurring roles on 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:48.960 Late Night with Conan O'Brien and arrested development before landing 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:52.880 the part that would change his life. The Emmy nominated 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:57.760 actor has also voiced countless animated characters, and in twenty 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:01.720 twenty one, he created Produce Uston starred in the Apple 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:05.920 TV series Hello Jack, The Kind Of Show. His latest venture, 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:10.080 a travel series called Zillow Gone Wild, premiered on HGTV 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:15.399 just this past May. Playing Jack Donneghey alongside McBriar. Was 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:18.640 one of the most momentous parts of my career. I 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:21.440 was curious if thirty Rock had as big of an 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.280 impact on mcbrear's life as it did mine. 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:27.560 It changed everything for me, would you say so it did? 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.800 Oh for damn sure, yes, sir. That was kind of 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.959 my first break and the fact that it was with you. 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:36.680 I was just so excited to have a job. But 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:40.119 then when I realized what the job was, I was like, Oh, 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:41.880 this is amazing. 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:44.360 What were you doing just prior to the show, because 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.800 your resume is like the menu at whoa Hop. It's 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:48.960 like the longest thing I've ever seen in my life. 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:53.240 With pictures to boot. But I was temping. I was 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:57.800 in California and I was temping at a place called Teleflora. 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:02.640 I was rearranging their storage facility. And when you have 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.880 some OCD tendencies like I do, that's a breeze. So 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.400 I was just a hustling boy. Yeah, thirty Rock by far, 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.440 which is crazy. And so this would have started in 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.880 two thousand and six, right, and you are fifteen years 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:18.640 older than me. Katrina Bowden is fifteen years younger than me, 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:20.840 and it would have been a few years ago. I 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:23.359 was reading an article that when we started thirty Rock, 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.480 you were forty eight years old, And when I was 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:28.680 reading that article, I was forty eight years old. I 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.400 was like, how is this possible? 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:31.840 Right? 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:33.880 Because I mean, like you've always been a grown up 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.240 to me and I still eat cereal for dinner. But 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.799 it is amazing to me just to see how much 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:43.200 time has passed and how my life has changed, and 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.840 it's great, like I'm really having a good time. 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.280 When you weren't a telefloor right before we did thirty Rock. 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:53.240 Yes, sir, because I booked. I told y'all, how was 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:56.000 that possible? I don't know, but I mean I've never 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.799 been scared to, you know, hustle and pay the bills 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.120 and everything. I knew that I was gonna get something, 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.320 and I'd had little bites. I was able to do 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.799 Talladega Nights just before thirty Rock. I was doing a 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.239 couple of episodes of Arrested Development just before thirty Rock, 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.840 so I knew I was on the right track. And 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.400 of course, I mean Tina Fey giving me this lifeline 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:17.600 that really it changed everything. 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.760 Had you known her, because she quite often is accessing 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.079 people that she's known and worked with her she knows 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:23.920 something about them. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:28.320 Yes, sir, Absolutely, I started doing the comedy scene in 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:33.240 Chicago in the nineties nineteen nineties, and Tina Fey's husband, 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.520 Jeff Richmond, was my director at Second City. 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:38.720 So he was Yes, that was a connection with Jeff 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:39.640 as absolutely. 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.360 Absolutely, Tina was on the main stage when I was 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.040 taking the classes and all that kind of stuff, but 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.520 she very quickly moved on to New York and Saturday 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:50.400 Night Live. Jeff stayed around for a couple more years, 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.880 and he was my director at Second City, and she 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.000 would come back to visit. I know, I know, and 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.200 it was just it was so fun to and then 0:03:58.240 --> 0:03:59.920 I did move to New York just to give that 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:02.640 a shot as a poor person. So for three years 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:04.839 between two thousand and two and two thousand and five, 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.040 I was just just a hustling in New York and 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.640 exploring the UCB scene there, doing bits for Late Night 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.240 with Conan O'Brien, and that paid my bills, and then 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:16.000 I was able to hang out with all the people 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:19.120 from SNL that I really knew from Chicago. And so, 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.560 you know, I've always been in Tina and Jeff's life 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:24.960 for a very long time. And so when the time 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.359 came for her to create thirty right. I'm sure it 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.000 was Jeff, just like nudge and or say, hey, throw 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.719 mcbrear in there, so I'll take that bone. 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.680 Well for me and I wonder to get curious about 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.479 you as well. You know, we did season one. It 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.240 was kind of like introducing ourselves. And we get through 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.920 that first season. Seasons two, three, and four, we win 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.359 every prize in the world. We win everything. We have 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.760 a great time. Then season five comes and I'm thinking, 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.120 I don't think I want to do this anymore. Season five, 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.080 everybody acknowledged was like kind of more neemic, still good, 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:58.080 but not up to her standards of what she normally achieved. 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.600 Her and Carl Lock and everybody, and this says. The 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.240 season six comes and I'm like, sign me up for 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:04.359 five more seasons. This is funny again. We have a 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.559 great six season and we stop, and when it was over, 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.880 I was so sad. Oh yeah, what was your last 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:13.559 scene that you recorded on the show. 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:16.240 It was the last scene of the series. It was 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.360 me as the president of NBC behind your old desk. 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:24.400 I know, I know, and I'm being pitched a show 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:28.200 by Liz Lemon's great granddaughter. 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:30.320 I know, I know. 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:31.800 This show was so weird. 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:33.640 But my gosh, I loved it. 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.880 I loved it. I loved it, And I will say 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.719 to your point, I've never been a person who can 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.800 like watch a series and be like, oh, that season 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.040 was lacking or whatever. Like when people talk about The Simpsons, 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.520 for example, they're like, oh, they should have thrown in 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:52.039 the towel at season seventeen. I'm like, these are just 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.880 as funny as ones I remember from seven years ago. 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.800 But I understand that some people are, you know, they 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.520 compare them differently, But as far as I can tell, 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:04.560 it was just all a blast. I was very you know, 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:06.880 you're catching me at an interesting time because I'm starting 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.680 to realize as a grown ass man, I need to 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:15.360 reevaluate how I. 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:15.040 Move in the world. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.880 Meaning I was tempting at Teleflora before thirty Rocks started, 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:20.839 and so what I kind of had to do was 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.479 just hold on to money like this, just not let 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.440 go during the course of thirty Rock. And then because 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.839 I was on thirty right, You're able to get other jobs. 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.640 I think once people saw what we were doing and 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:37.800 what kind of character I could play on thirty Rock, 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:42.320 you do start getting more opportunities. You were very instrumental 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.440 in guiding me towards voiceover work, and now that is 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:47.200 my bread and butter. I mean, I know I sound 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:51.320 like a banjo, but I tell you what I like it. 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:54.279 I like it a lot. You're great, You're the best 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:58.920 banjo human best. But because of the opportunities that thirty 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.960 Rock afforded me, I really was just hoping that it 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:06.400 went on forever. I absolutely understand why Tina and the 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.520 writing crew were just like, well, the story has been 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.600 told after seven seasons, but it was again. It was 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:17.240 incredibly emotional. I remember I remember walking into your dressing 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.200 room on our last scene together, and I just burst 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:25.080 into tears. I burst into tears because I just realized 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:29.360 how special it was and how important the whole job was. 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.920 And not to blow smoke, sir, but I am so 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:38.280 grateful to you saying yes, because there's a you know, 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.280 we read stories about who all else audition for mister Donneghe, 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:45.760 and you know, all these other possible casting choices, and 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.600 if you had not said yes to this crazy live 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.560 action cartoon that we did, then like who's to say, 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.080 it might have gone like thirteen episodes and. 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:56.280 You know the end. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.080 But no, seven years we got to do that. 0:07:59.080 --> 0:07:59.760 That crazy. 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:01.720 It was nuts. 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:03.880 I did the last scene with Tina. We're in this 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:07.200 little marina, this really cute little marina down in Battery Park. 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.360 It's nighttime. We're shooting at night and it was cold, 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.119 remember it was really cold, and the whole crew was there. 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:16.560 And it's my last scene in the show. And I'm 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:18.760 going on and on with this monologue about the German 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:24.120 Luba for whatever, really funny speech. And as I'm groping 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.160 for what I want to say, she of course interests 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.160 me and says, I love you too, Jack, And I 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.760 couldn't get through it. I couldn't get through I was crying, 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:34.120 and I thought, this has been such an important part 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:35.400 of my life. But this was six and a half 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:37.880 years of my life, and it was such a great group, 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.400 as we all know. You know, I breeze out there. 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.200 I'm doing the reverse commute over the fifty ninth Street bridge, 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:46.040 hit Silver Cup. We're out there. The only complaint I 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:47.760 had was there was no restaurants nearby for us to 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.439 order decent food. None. None. We were like the Siberia 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.800 of Queen's there. Really important and economically a piston in 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.679 the engine of Manhattan. Economics, but no good restaurants was 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.200 to order or coffee truck, mud truck, taco truck, ice 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.920 cream truck, a lot of trucks. We ate more fucking 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:11.040 food off of a truck than I ever thought was possible. Construction, yeah, 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:13.400 like we're bridge builders or something. But yeah, when that 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.160 was over, I was so sad, and I was so 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.120 blessed by everybody there. Like I really believe, like any 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:21.640 group it could be sex in the city, the Beatles, 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.439 you name, you remove one person, it's not gonna work. 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.920 It had to be those five people that those five 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.800 people just meshed and the writing more importantly meshed for them. 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:32.400 And I was so so sad when it was over, 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.439 and it put a curse on me because everywhere I'd 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:37.280 go people would send me scripts and say, well, here's 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.040 a comedy, here's this, here's this. When I sit there 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.240 and I go, this is more cute than funny. Sure, sure, 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.559 I mean they taught these people taught me what funny, Carlos, 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:48.320 they taught me what was funny surgical? 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:50.840 And you are right, I mean, like the choices made 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:53.320 with the casting and everything, I can't even imagine what 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:55.800 it was. Another thing that I was so impressed with 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.600 and I learned a great deal from was how strong 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:03.520 the were at mixing up the dynamics of the characters. 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:06.640 The fact that Ken at the page could have all 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.560 these scenes with Jack Donneghe, the fact that you know, 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:12.960 they could pare me with Jane, they could spare me 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:16.199 with Tracy like and it worked and it was fun 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:18.600 and it didn't seem weird. Well, I mean it seemed 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.240 weird because the man that show was weird. I mean, 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:25.479 do you remember you were dressed like Thomas Jefferson's misters? 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:26.480 I mean there were. 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:30.720 What was the one I said to you before? First 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.480 of there's too many to count, and not even the 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.080 ones I'm in. I mean the Sandwich Day and all 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.040 you're drinking with Dennihee. I mean that Sandwich Day thing 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.480 is the funniest episode of all. But I mean, I 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.920 I'll never when you sit there and go remember your 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.160 live television when we do these are the live shows. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:47.440 I want to ask you about that and the live 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.400 show you go. He was like you, mister Jordan. He 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.719 didn't like to rehearse at all. And then because to 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.400 Joey Montero and I'm doing my bad Dean Martin. You 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:56.280 know when I come out there and I thought to myself, 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:57.880 this is the most fun I've ever had in my life. 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.559 Almost fun I ever end of my life. Stupid as 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:01.760 hell funny. 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.360 It was ridiculous. Oh, in the fact that Kenneth the 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.199 Page is immortal. I was like, Okay, here we go. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.440 Well, Kenneth the Page was a joke, Like when we 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.600 said when people would say about Tracy, they say this 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.320 about you personally. They were like, when Tracy was on 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:18.319 the show, and I think it was Tina, it was 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.800 either Tina or Jane turns the other one and says, 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.199 you know, well, he's black. He could be thirty, he 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.840 could be seventy. Like we're trying to guess his age. 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:28.600 And people say that about you, They're like, Jack mcbaar, 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.319 he could be thirty, you could be ninety. You know, 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:32.600 you're so youthful. 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:34.439 Look in my brain, I'm seventeen. 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:36.160 But god, that show. 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.040 It was ridiculous. You know what's interesting too for me, 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.080 and maybe it's the same for you. I just kind 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.760 of it didn't click for me that. Oh, once we're 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.760 done with the show, it will stream, it will live 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.960 on beyond, you know. Twenty thirteen when we wrapped or whatever. 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.960 And so for me, it's so strange when young people 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.480 recognize me from thirty Rock and are like quoting lines 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:00.600 and stories. I'm like, it kind of breaks my brain 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:01.160 a little bit. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:11.120 Actor and comedian Jack mcbraer. If you enjoy conversations with 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.640 singular comedians, check out my episode with Caroline Ray. You're 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.360 most comfortable when you're on stage, Probably you really love it. 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.000 Yeah, I feel like I always think my stand up 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:23.640 is a dinner party. I know what I'm gonna make, 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.480 you're my guests. I don't know what's gonna happen. But 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:28.640 the thing about stand up that amazes me is it's 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.679 only gonna happen in that moment in time. Even if 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:33.000 we film it, it's never gonna be what it feels 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:37.160 like live. So I think it's just an exchange of energy. 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.559 To hear more of my conversation with Caroline Ray, go 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:46.160 to Here's the Thing dot Org. After the break, Jack 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.480 McBriar shares the story of his very first night in 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.319 New York City and visiting the set of Saturday Night Live. 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.200 I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing. 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:14.160 Anyone who has caught actor Jack mcbrair in one of 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:17.560 his many roles on Phineas and Ferb big Mouth or 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:21.000 The Jack and Triumph Show, knows the depth of this talent. 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:25.640 I wanted to know when McBriar himself first discovered he 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:26.240 was funny. 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.720 I think when you get that reaction of people laughing 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.720 at you, and it does scratch an itch, you know, 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:36.400 doing live comedy especially, you get that immediate gratification if 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:40.000 people laughing. People are laughing, then yo, you're funny. And 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:43.080 if they're not laughing, you're like, oh, let me learn 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:43.600 a trade. 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:45.719 I'm got me go work at Teleflora. I think I 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:47.120 was so good at it. 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:49.280 Oh yeah, yeah, I got people who are vouched for me. 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:54.360 But when I think about that, I think about opportunities. 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.200 I didn't even start doing school plays till I was 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.440 in tenth grade. We moved to Conyer's Georgia, and so 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:05.400 for me acting showbiz that wasn't even on the radar. 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.520 When I would watch television, I would love shows like 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.600 Carol Burnett and Friends, and so I think I got 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.680 bit by the bug then of ensemble comedy making each 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:19.160 other laugh, not having to be the star of anything 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.760 that really appealed to me at a very early age. Again, 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.760 I did not know of opportunities to participate in that, 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.600 so did the plays in high school. Starting in tenth grade, 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:35.560 realized I wanted to pursue performance, and I always enjoyed 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.680 getting the comic relief roles or whatever, but again I 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:42.200 didn't know what my options were. Went to college, didn't 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:45.000 really get to perform there, but then moving to Chicago, 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:49.359 but you studied what I got a BS in theater management, 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.120 emphasis on the bs. 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.360 Es now, But were your parents encouraging you back then? 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.600 Performance writers are always very supportive, but again if this 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:05.160 is in the zeitgeist, if they if there's no understanding 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:06.960 of what it means to be a performer, and there's 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.960 some lean years in there too, but they were being supportive, 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:13.480 but because they didn't fully understand what it meant, they're 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.640 just like all right. And their three rules were make 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.560 sure you're able to pay your bills, always have insurance, 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:21.760 and do something that makes you happy. So I was 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:23.000 able to check those boxes. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.040 What did they teach? They were both teachers, right. 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.480 Yes, sir, Mom was health them pe and dad was 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:30.680 social studies. And I mean decades. 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:33.440 It's funny you say that that's the word social study. 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:37.720 My dad taught studies the term they had use. 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.600 That term right, So in a weird way, I kind 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.000 of just assumed I would be a teacher as well, 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:46.720 that I would have been a good teacher. But I 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:50.200 am so glad that I was, like, I let curiosity 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.000 get the best of me and be like, I wonder 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.560 what it would be like to try this. I wonder 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:57.680 what it would be like to move to a different city. 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.720 So I'm so glad I trusted my gut there and 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:02.920 just went for it. 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:07.240 Now, would you say that like many people who they 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.480 take a swing at an acting career, at an on 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:13.120 camera or on stage career, and then they're convinced that 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:14.800 it's going to be too much of an uphill road, 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.120 so they access some other part of the business. They 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.840 want to get into sets and wardrobe and editing or 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:23.520 camera or directing or writing anything that's not acting and 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.480 not performing. Did you feel that the theater administration was 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:30.200 you saw yourself doing something that was just your setting 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.080 your sights on something not performing. 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:36.000 Honestly, in hindsight, I think I was straddling the fence 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:37.880 at that point. I was like, there's no way I 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:41.640 can make a career out of acting. So let me 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.280 get some business courses in here as well, so that 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.240 I can go and be a business person or you know, 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:51.640 just have a fallback essentially. And I don't regret doing that. 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.080 I mean, I'm not gonna lie. Having some of that 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:58.000 business background, and especially with like accounting and finance economics, 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:02.040 that has been immensely helpful for me as a grown up, 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.520 no matter what career or want to chose it. But 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.679 I'm very grateful that I chose it as an actor, 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:10.520 because I mean, I can balance the checkbook real good 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.560 and just have an understanding. Now, if we want to 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:16.440 dig deeper, I do have to wonder if I need 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:20.040 to look at some maybe d programming on my relationship 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.080 with money or planning for the future or anything like that. 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:25.000 But I think that's just a human thing and it 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:26.439 wouldn't matter if I was acting or not. 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.199 But I think people rarely or certainly not enough to 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:33.000 look at performers, especially ones who work a lot and 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.520 have been successful and understand them as people and say 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.960 that if you grow up with tremendous economic insecurity, once 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.440 you come into this business, if you succeed, you don't 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.760 just make a lot of money, you make it fast. Yes, 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:45.920 Like one day I'm standing there and a guy goes, 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:47.639 we're gonna make a test deal with you to do 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.159 this TV show. They're gonna get twelve five an episode 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.760 and twenty five for the pilot. And I'm like, my 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:55.840 Gomer pilot. I will do my Goomer. I'm like, god, 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.760 y'all gonna pay me two thousand, five hundred for the 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.879 and two two fifty for the show and the Like, 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.720 my agent literally on the phonecals, no, you Maron, We're 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.199 gonna pay you twenty five thousand for the pilot and 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:11.280 twelve thousand five dred an episode. I'm not going all sudden. 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:14.160 The phone booth I'm in haint hint no phones back 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:16.919 then is the early eighties. The phone booth I'm in 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.440 near Culver Studios is starts spinning. The room is spinning. 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.919 Yes, I mean it was a shift of gears and 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:25.920 I just had. You know, it took me a while 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:29.480 to find my legs. Even with that, I am very 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.439 grateful that I did not get thirty Rock until I 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.280 was thirty three years old, because at that point I 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.679 knew who I was, I knew what things I needed. 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:40.399 I am not a car guy. I still drive my 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:42.720 two thousand and four Hundai Accent, So I did not 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.560 go out and buy a Ferrari or anything like that. 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:48.879 I knew that I wanted a house and I've always always, 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:50.480 always wanted a swimming pool. 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:52.400 Do you have a house now, sir? 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:55.000 Look this is my house. It is my dream house, not. 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:57.120 The house thirty Rock built. 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.440 When I give the tour, I'm like, well, Tina Fey, 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.240 wont me this exactly? You know that they gave me 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.600 a page uniform for a rap gift, no swear to go. 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.560 Are you kidding me? They said to me, if you 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.320 could take one prop with you, pick one thing you wanted. 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:12.359 It's a memento of the show. And I still have 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:14.720 it on my desk and my office, which is there 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:18.280 was a glass a glass globe of the world mounted 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:21.320 on a stand like a glass stand. They said, you know, 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:25.600 ge innovator of nineteen you know ninety nine whatever to 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.119 Jack's period was. And then I have this award I 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:29.960 was given. It's small, it's like the size of like 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:32.160 a like I how tall. It was like a coke gift. 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:34.080 And then they gave it to me and I still 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:35.400 cherish to tell you. 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:40.159 Fe also gave me the snow globe that Kenneth holds 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:42.520 at the very very end of the series that has 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:46.000 a little tiny thirty rock inside the snow globe, and 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:46.880 I have it. 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:50.359 But I'll never forget. When we were contemplating, my ex 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.280 wife was going to come on the show and play 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.119 your stepmother. And she comes to New York to visit you, 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:00.439 and your father has died down in Stone Mountain and 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:02.639 your father is dead, and your mother comes up at 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:05.679 your stepmother and it's my ex wife, Kim Basin, and 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:07.320 she's gonna come and do the show. And we fall 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:10.120