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| Stuart (played by Kevin Sussman) is on the right |
I know most of you who follow me on twitter (or who read my blog) know that I love
The Big Bang Theory. It's currently on hiatus for the summer. The season finale last week was pretty good (not the best) but Sheldon and Aimee broke some new ground. For the record, the best season finale was Penny's "walk of shame" out of Leonard's bedroom with Raj coming out afterward and Penny saying to Sheldon, "It's not what it looks like" thereby creating a riddle for Sheldon that lasted until the next season.
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This awkward scene of Raj and Penny made for the best
season finale thus far in the CBS comedy. |
Anyway, despite the fact that I thought it would be crazy wonderful if Stuart (the comic book store owner played by Kevin Sussman) and Rajesh Koothrappali managed to become a couple, it was not meant to be. That being said, I also never thought I'd get the opportunity to post an interview with Kevin Sussman. But I guess my audience is bigger than I thought because Michael Bivona, the Media Director for www.web2Carz.com sent me this guest post on an interview they did with Kevin. And it actually made me squee!
And how could I say "no" to that? I love Kevin Sussman more than I like Wil Wheaton. So if you too are a fan of the comic book geek guy on BBT, read on:
Kevin
Sussman Speaks
"Big Bang Theory" star on writing, evil
empires, and George Clooney.
Kevin Sussman has become a ubiquitous presence in TV and
movies since he was first cast in the Barry Levinson feature film Liberty
Heights in 1999. He is perhaps most recognizable as Walter on the
one-time ABC dramedy,Ugly Betty. Kevin’s character "Stuart
Bloom" on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, is now a series regular,
and he recently guest starred on Showtime’s mini-series Weeds with
Mary Louise Parker. And, along with writing partner and collaborator (Big
Bang Theory co-star) John Ross Bowie,wrote a sci-fi comedy about two
slackers working onboard an evil space station, Dark Minions, now
an animated stop-motion TV pilot produced by Amazon Studios.
We recently talked to Kevin about his acting career and his
successful foray into screenwriting.
Before we talk about your acting career tell me about
your most recent success co-writing with your Big Bang Theory cast mate, John
Ross Bowie.
We originally wrote Dark Minions as a live action thing and
the major networks all turned it down because they all thought it was too “high-concept."
That was the first time John and I had sold a script; actually, SONY optioned
it and we were taking it around. Everybody loved it but they were afraid
of it. We learned really quickly what a broadcast network is willing to buy,
which is basically two things: shows about friends in their 20s or a quirky
family. If you go outside those areas, you have a much more challenging
road ahead.
How did the show evolve into a stop-motion
project? We pitched the show to Amazon as an animated thing, and they suggested
stop-motion. We love stop-motion. [British stop-motion film] Coraline is
one of my favorite movies and I love the hell out of it…and I see everything
that comes out in stop-motion. I was delighted. I didn’t realize it would be
possible to do something as time consuming as “stop-mo” for TV. Ross Shuman
(the director) had worked on Robot Chicken and the studio that
did Dark Minions, Shadow Machine that created Robot Chicken.
But Robot chicken was only 11 minutes, unlike Dark Minions which
is a full-length show.
But you and John had already sold a couple scripts
The following two seasons we pitched and sold shows, The Ever
After Part and The Second Coming of Rob—one to Fox and one to ABC. They
were family oriented and both were never made once we got through the
development process, and the networks had nerfed the edgy stuff. But,
when we were doing The Second Coming of Rob they were starting
to animate Dark Minions and building the sets and puppets…it was so
great. To see all of these artisans constructing the mini set and sewing tiny
clothes was amazing. Shadow machine was so into the script and everybody was so
excited. So, while we were getting frustrated with the network, John and
I would constantly say to each other, “can we just get back to playing with our
space puppets now” which is what we wanted to be doing.
What was the evolution for Dark Minions?
You know the scene in Star Wars when they’re invading the
Rebel ship…and there’s this stark white, modular hallway. And I always thought,
“What’s in all of those cabinets in the hallway? Do people use those?” and I
wrote a scene about troopers marching by and a moment later a guy who's half-dressed comes out of a door, and goes to one of those cabinets and takes out
some Cheerios and then goes back into the room. I sent that to John and he
added another scene to it with the same exact tone.
So he got the joke?
He got it immediately and we agreed to outline it and come up with a story: two
guys who get jobs onboard an evil space station that don't agree with the
politics, but one's got student loans to pay, and the other doesn't have a
college degree.
Do you do the voice work first on something like that?
We did all the voices first and videotaped us (for scenes that had some
physicality in them) so the animators have stuff to reference. But it’s
such a slow process. Normally, when you’re working on a show you get to see the
dailies….on this if they’re lucky, with several different animators working at
the same time you get five seconds a day…so, rather than dailies we had
weeklies and at the end of the week, the cast and executives come and watch on
the big screen, a minute or two of animation and it's really cool to see this
stuff come to life.
What’s your history with John?
Sometimes we get mentioned online in the context of Big Bang Theory,
that we met on Big Bang Theory. That’s not true. But, we’ve known each other
for years when we were two geeky guys winding up on the same commercial
auditions. We were those guys, working in tech settings in the corporate world.
Nerds.
What kind of job did you have?
I worked at Chase Bank and Fuji Bank in the World Trade Center actually doing
everything from admin assistance to basic programming. Excel and Word to I.T.
stuff—just real hardcore nerd shit. John was doing similar stuff down the
block. When you’re an actor in New York, you are either a waiter or you
learn Excel.
Did you guys get together on lunch breaks? Did you
hang out?
We sort of were acquaintances in NY but we’d run into each other at auditions.
We really didn’t connect until I moved out to L.A. and started working on Ugly
Betty. I became good friends with Anna Ortiz (who plays Ugly Betty’s
sister) and she’s good friends with John’s wife Jamie Denbo. Then we became
actual friends, as opposed to acquaintances. We had already written a couple of
scripts together before we coincidentally got jobs on Big Bang Theory. I'd auditioned for Chuck Lorre who had created Big Bang Theory.
He originally offered me the role of Barry Kripke which John ended up getting
because I was working on a movie at the time. The next thing Chuck had for me
was the comic book guy. Coincidentally, He had no idea that I had worked
at a comic book store for years. I worked at Jim Hanley’s Universe (comic
book store) in Manhattan. It’s weird how things turn out, because had I
been available for John’s role, John would have gotten the comic book guy part
(I tease him about it).
It sounds like it’s a pretty effortless collaboration.
It would be impossible to do if either of us had a big ego in terms of
criticism; neither of us do…we try not to be harsh…John and I work in an
almost,old-school, very respectful, deliberately diplomatic way in terms of
criticism of each other’s work. Not that there’s no ego, sometimes the writing
is better because there’s a healthy competitiveness. When we hand something
back and forth, one of us will tweak a joke to make it funnier. There’s a
little bit of one-upping each other that is fun, and productive, but we also
try not to hurt each other’s feelings.
Everyone over at Big Bang Theory must be very proud of
you guys?
The writers on Big Bang are really supportive of us—they tease
us and say they’re going to show up and start acting in episodes of Big
Bang. But they also offer comforting advice because they know how hard it
is to work in the system.
Were you an improv guy like so many actors who book
parts these days on sitcoms?
I know it doesn’t show but I am a traditionally trained actor. I went
to the American Academy of Dramatic Art. And then I studied under Uta Hagen, a
renowned actor who had been blacklisted during the McCarthy era. John’s
at Upright Citizens Brigade in an improv group with Rob Courdrey and he’s
amazing at it. I think that as collaborators we work so well, because we
approach writing totally different, in that regard. He’s quick and you can see
his improv background. He will take anything I give him and go with it—so I try
not to give him crap.
But the formal theater training must help with scene
structure…
Oh yeah, I’ve had to read endless plays and I suppose that informs my
writing (fundamental stuff like characters and conflict or that every
scene needs forward momentum. I also have read a lot of books on writing,
probably too many. Drew's Script-O-Rama is a gold mine for
somebody that wants to go into screenwriting. It’s basically a database of
shooting scripts. It’s an invaluable and essential resource.
When were you able to act full time and say goodbye to
those nefarious day jobs?
I was working at Fuji Bank at the Word Trade Center doing Excel spreadsheets. I
got along really well with the Japanese guy who actually offered to take me on
as a permanent employee and give me health benefits, which I didn’t have. He knew I was trying to be an actor (every once in a while I’d put some costume
on at lunch and go uptown for an audition). And then a week later I booked my
first TV show,Ghost Story—kind of like a "B" version of Tails from
the Crypt. So, I had this dilemma about whether to take the job or
take the step and keep acting. I felt so horrible about Toro
Tanaka. (laughs).
Do you know if he was in the World Trade Center on
9-11?
I don’t think so because I once looked at a fatality list and didn’t
see anyone that I knew from Fuji. He was probably back in Japan by then because
he would have been rotated out of there. What a horrible thing. Fuji was
located on the 80th floor...
I was watching David Krumholtz being interviewed on
Kevin Pollak’s chat show and he mentioned working with you on your first big
film Liberty Heights.
Yeah, David, Adrian Brody and I hung out a lot and Barry Levinson made it so we
could spend a lot of time together. We had a great time, a lot of laughs Brody,
Krumholtz and I… I remember at the end of the film when we were saying goodbye
David Krumholtz said, “I’ve worked on a lot of movies and when they’re done
everybody says, ‘we’ll keep in touch’ and we never do, so let’s not even do
that.’” (laughs)
So, you’ve never seen him since?
We have, and that’s the irony.
So, when did you finally move to LA?
I moved out there when I booked Ugly Betty.
You’re recognized a lot for Wet Hot American Summer.
I was a last minute replacement for Wet Hot and I came in
towards the end. But that movie is so beloved for people who have a sense of
humor.
Were you able to bond with George Clooney on Burn
After Reading?
Yes, the guy is so grounded that you almost get the feeling that he’s doing
himself a disservice (laughs)… “Don’t forget now, you’re George Clooney you
don’t have to waste your time hanging out with me…you must have better things
to do. When people ask me who the coolest celebrity I’ve worked with it’s
an easy answer. Clooney for the win.”
That was a very physical scene and he tackles you.
And, also technically difficult because he had just been in a motorcycle
accident and his back was fucked up. He was doing something most stars don’t
do…which is do something physically painful, over and over, just to help the
collaborative effort. That was the striking thing about him… weirdly selfless
for a guy who could have a black SUV whisk him away at a moment’s notice.
Do you often reflect on having worked with Joel and
Ethan Coen, two of the most beloved filmmakers out there?
When I talk about my experience on that, it’s usually in terms of experienced
directors’ versus inexperienced low budget directors. The Coens are the
experienced directors. They show up, having already worked everything out shot
by shot and they’re pretty hands off with the acting part of it. The
better directors have spoken to me less.
Did you experience the same direction from Steven
Spielberg?
Yes, same thing with him and Roger Michell (Changing Lanes), the
ones who get the best performances are the ones who say the least. If I feel
they trust me, it relaxes me and I’m able to take risks, in the moment, As
opposed to stuffing my concentration with added tasks the director wants me to
do even though it’s not coming from me organically.
What does your summer look like?
So much depends on if Dark Minions gets picked up and
if it does my summer is going to be about writing episodes. If not, it’ll be
about trying to develop something new, probably for TV, and then the acting
thing as well. Since Big Bang doesn’t pick up until August,
I’ll do what I usually do, kick around and see if I could show up in somebody’s
movie.
*****
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| I gotta see this. I'd never heard of it 'til today. |
So did you guys like the interview? As an existing fan of Kevin I learned so much, am going to look up Dark Minions, and just really appreciated this view into his life and the writing process. I'm glad no one he knew died in the World Trade Center. Oh and according to the YouTube trailer, Dark Minions can be watched for free on Amazon Instant video.
Have a great Wednesday.
