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For many people,Breaking BadandThe Officewould be their favorite drama and favorite comedy of the 2000s.
Whats the origin story forLets Get Physicaland its premise?
Theyre absolutely ridiculous and amazing.
Our show is not set in the 80s, its set present day.
The conception of it is that there literally had never been a show about aerobics.
Fitness is such a big thing nowadays and nobody does a show about it.
How did you control your weight for this show?
I had gotten pretty big.
I have a two year old, and when you have a kid, stuff just changes.
And I really liked the script.
Then we shot for six weeks and I lost thirty pounds since those episodes were filmed.
Me in that spandex outfit in that pilot, Im 30 pounds lighter now from shooting that.
Ive worked 14-hour days and dance rehearsal on the weekends, sometimes all day long.
It was hard not to just drop weight.
Turns out aerobics is like a real fucking thing.
Whats the exercise that best works for you?
The best exercise Ive found is not eating garbage constantly.
Try not to drink too much and dont eat garbage.
Besides that, any exercise is pretty good.
Just stay away from garbage.
How was it to have Jane Seymour playing your mom in this?
Very similar in others.
I mean, she was a Bond girl, its insane.
RadioheadsOK Computerwas recorded in Jane Seymours house.
Thats the tip of the iceberg.
Shes British, but when youre British you dont actually know the royals; she knows the royals.
Its funny Chris has his own crazy regiment.
He doesnt even work out that much.
He works out like once a week.
He just has a really strict eating thing.
Hes the guy thats constantly on this thing where its about the food you eat.
Or as I say, he doesnt enjoy his life.
Whats the percentage of improv on the show?
Some improv, some just writing it and changing the writing on the day.
Everybody was working on everything all the time.
It was very fluid, things changed a lot.
So everything was changing very quickly.
But in a good way.
You started doing improv when you were around 15.
What is it like to be pursuing comedy at that age?
It was short-form, just games and stuff.
UCB didnt come until much, much later.
When you were studying at Boom, you ended up doing about 1,000 shows over three years.
The audience for the most part is there to see a good show.
Nobody is rooting for you to fail unless youre in certain places in England.
The thing you learn is that people want you to do good, so do good.
You never buy tickets to go to a show and have it suck.
And especially in improv and comedy, if youre not having fun then the audience isnt having fun either.
you oughta have fun.
Thats kind of what my acting career is built around that Im having fun doing it.
Which country had the strangest reaction to short-form improv?
They dont really like subtlety.
Scandinavian countries really like subtle shit.
You wrote, directed, and starred in the movieThe Night is Youngin 2015 with friend Dave Hill.
What did you learn during the process of making a movie?
I learned so much.
I learned how to make a movie, first of all.
I learned that you have to really be in love with what youve written prior to beginning shooting it.
It seemed very autobiographical.
Yeah, a little bit.
I was actually doing voiceover the whole time to pay the rent.
Thats what kept me afloat, and commercials.
Eventually you must have also gotten more work because ofBreaking Bad.
It just took a little time.
Thats one of the best things that ever happened to me.
Im so happy I was a part of that.
My first episode ofBreaking Badwas 2007, and Ive been in so much since then and because of that.
What was the favorite opportunity you got from being Badger?
They said, No, theyre on stage right now.
We love that show!
Were playing a concert at the Wiltern, you should come backstage.
I was like Okay!
and I gotta go!
and then I went to like five of their concerts and they kept inviting me backstage.
I was always like I am not cool enough to be here.
Dave Grohl is back here.
What the hell is my life right now?
Part of that weird What is my life?
feeling must have happened in 2013 when you appeared in the series finales for bothBreaking BadandThe Office.
They cast me in this spin-off ofThe Office.
It was Rainn Wilson, me, Thomas Middleditch, Majandra Delfino.
I was in two huge finales within months of each other.
I got to go to a lot of great parties, Ill tell you that.
What do you think didnt work aboutThe Farm?
What would the world look like if Middleditch wasnt inSilicon Valleyand you werent doing what you did instead?
I think they didnt pick it up because what we shot wasnt that great.
It was fine, it was okay.
It didnt feel like anything amazing.
And withThe Officeending, it felt like it should justendbecause it had been on for so long.
What do you think about theposts that come along once in awhilethat argue for paying improvisors at UCB?
We werent an improv theater, we were a theater-theater.
We werent equity, but thats kind of how it was.
Theyll find more people thatll do it for free.
Theyre not gonna run out of people.
For me its just Fine, you just dont get paid to do improv.
Whats your favorite thing aboutLets Get Physical?
My favorite thing about the show is that its so stupid.
Its funny and theres nothing political about it.
Were not trying to say something.
Its just a comedy.
Remember when comedy was just comedy?
Thats what this is.
