411mania Interviews: Community's Joel McHale and Ken Jeong
Posted by Al Norton on 11.19.2009
411's Al Norton sits down for an exclusive chate with Community's Joel McHale and Ken Jeong.
Joel McHale has been hosting The Soup since 2004 and was the winner of the 2007 Two Tivos To Paradise TV Entertainer of the Year Award.
Ken Jeong is a fully licensed MD who also has a stand-up career and has appeared on The Office, Curb your Enthusiasm, and Entourage. His breakout role was in last summer's The Hangover.
Both currently star on NBC's Community.
Al Norton: Joel was that really you with your shirt off a couple of weeks ago or did they bring in some stunt abs?
Joel McHale: How dare you? I was wearing a series of girdles and trusses. They were skin colored, especially since my skin color is so pasty white.
Al Norton: Ken you're getting a reputation of being almost a designated hitter of comedy.
Ken Jeong: You're much too kind, Al.
Al Norton: Do you feel more pressure walking on set when everyone expects you to be funny.
Ken Jeong: No. Honestly, I still have the same, blue collar mentality when it comes to work.
Joel McHale: That wasn't funny. That wasn't funny at all.
Ken Jeong: Ok, I do feel a lot of pressure. I'm sorry, that was a horrible answer.
Joel McHale: When Community comes out on DVD you will see Ken go off for hours. If you open that up and allow him to go it's like releasing a hungry cougar into a cage of young kittens.
Ken Jeong: Those scenes are hell on the other cast members since they have very little lines when I go on those monologues. They are forced to sit there and take it.
Joel McHale: And if we break, we ruin the take, which is not good.
Ken Jeong: The scripts are so good that I don't need to improvise but they give me the luxury of it and I'm so grateful for that.
Joel McHale: I can't believe I get paid to watch Ken do what he does. And I've seen him naked.
Ken Jeong: In The Hangover.
Joel McHale: As has everyone else in the United States.
Al Norton: I wasn't sure if you were letting me in on some backstage activity.
Joel McHale: We share a locker.
Ken Jeong: We do share a locker. No one else in the cast has a locker but we chose to have one, and to share it. You get to see a bit of that this week when my character, Senor Chang, becomes unlikely best buddies with Jeff Winger. You get to know a little bit more about Senor Chang's background and how he came to be such a bitter, mean, little man.
Al Norton: Were people grilling Alison (Brie, who co-stars on Community as well as Mad Men) for Mad Men details on set?
Joel McHale: She was shooting both at once, so yes. They were actually filming right next to us on the New York set on the Paramount lot. I was asking her and then I realized that she was never going to give me any answers, so I stopped asking. Now I just walk up to her and say, "I am so disappointed with you."
Al Norton: This is the first time either of you have been a regular on a series; what's been the biggest surprise?
Joel McHale: Ken's free massages.
Al Norton: You thought he would charge?
Joel McHale: I thought he would charge. He is a licensed massage therapist. He's literally a Doctor of moves with his hands.
Ken Jeong: The attention to detail. The Russos, the executive producers and directors, emphasize quality over anything else. You never get a sense that this is a TV show; you feel like there are min-films getting produced each week because the attention to detail is so outstanding.
Joel McHale: It's all shot like a film, it's very cinematic. Our DP is a stickler for what everything looks like and I think that's why the show looks different than any other comedy on TV right now. And on top of all that, the cast has just been amazing.
Ken Jeong: Top to bottom, the funniest cast. From Danny Pudi to Donald Glover to Gillian Jacobs to Yvette Brown…
Joel McHale: And then you've got Jim Rash as the Dean.
Ken Jeong: And John Michael Higgins. And Jon Oliver. It's just ridiculous how good people are.
Joel McHale: Anthony Michael Hall is going to be a part of our Holiday show, so there is a Vacation reunion. I can't believe I get paid for this.
Ken Jeong: It's great to do a show where you're a big fan of the show anyway. If I weren't on Community I'd be tivo'ing it every week and watching like everyone else. That's a rarity, to be a part of a show that you would watch and enjoy without you.
Al Norton: Who gets stuck in the mascot costume?
Ken Jeong: There is a rumor about that.
Joel McHale: There is a guy who was doing it who was miserable.
Ken Jeong: The first time they showed the Greendale Human Being there was a rumor that it was Danny Pudi. I was convinced it was him and texted him telling him he was great. That rumor was not true at all.
Joel McHale: It's been a rotating group of guys. I think its availability.
Ken Jeong: But what's amazing is we have these great actors who agree to do it. Donald Sutherland was one of them. He was really amazing.
Joel McHale: Judge Reinhold.
Ken Jeong: Judge Reinhold was amazing.
Joel McHale: Judd Hirsch.
Ken Jeong: Judd Hirsch was great.
Joel McHale: Judd Nelson.
Al Norton: I was waiting for that.
Ken Jeong: Sir Ian McKellen was one of them. He didn't want to be credited; he didn't want to be acknowledged. He said, "I will be the Greendale Human Being."
Joel McHale: One time he screamed out, "one ring to rule them all", which made no sense.
Ken Jeong: He did do that. It made no sense but you give Sir Ian McKellen latitude. Toby Maguire did it.
Joel McHale: He was great.
Ken Jeong: I hate to name drop…but I will name drop.
Joel McHale: Benji…the dog.
Ken Jeong: You know what, that was a mistake in casting.
Joel McHale: John Goodman did it.
Ken Jeong: That was another mistake in casting. They had to do a lot of CGI, which actually cost twice the budget of the show. He was really terrific but he just didn't fit the form. We had to skinny him down.
Joel McHale: Eddie Murphy. Nicole Kidman.
Ken Jeong: Nicole Kidman honestly was my favorite one. She brought a frailty to the role.
Joel McHale: Guy Piece. A lot of Australian actors have worn the suit. Hugo Weaving.
Ken Jeong: Hugo Weaving was great. I wish to God he could have spoken since he's got such a great voice. The network wouldn't allow it for licensing reasons.
Joel McHale: Vanessa Redgrave…We're just gonna keep going, Al. We will not stop.
Ken Jeong: Helen Mirren forced us all to raise our game.
Joel McHale: She brought the same gravity to her performance as she did in the movie Some Mother's Son.
Ken Jeong: And National Treasure 2. She brought that same gravitas.
Joel McHale: Speaking of National Treasure 2, Nicolas Cage will be doing it. He needs the money. Earnest Borgnine's wife Tova will be wearing the costume.
Ken Jeong: Who else?
Joel McHale: Patrick Duffy.
Ken Jeong: Seriously Joel, if I am not on set that date, when Patrick Duffy wears the costume, call me and I will drive in to meet The Man from Atlantis.
Al Norton: Joel, would you rather host Saturday Night Live or follow in Ken's footsteps and guest host Monday Night Raw?
Joel McHale: Wow, Al, you can not put me on the spot like that. Yeesh, how can I even answer that?
Ken Jeong: If you ask Joel anything that perplexes him and you'll hear, "yeesh." He does it some much he's got a yeesh infection.
Joel McHale: Monday Night Raw or Saturday Night Live; throughout my life I've thought, which one would I do if I'm ever given the opportunity. That's like asking me, "Joel, do you want to pilot the Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon?" Yeesh. Can't I do both?
Ken Jeong: He's so greedy. He's got two shows and he wants to host both.
Joel McHale: I could wear tights on both. Did you see Ken on Monday Night Raw?
Al Norton: I did indeed.
Joel McHale: That was awesome.
Ken Jeong: That was a dream come true. I grew up a wrestling fan.
Al Norton: How much training or prep did they give you?
Ken Jeong: Absolutely none. Actually, I did have some discussion with Mr. Vince McMahon on how to hit a guy with a cane properly, which I did not do. One of the Fabulous Freebirds got mad at me for not executing it right.
Joel McHale: "What are you doing?!? You're beating me up wrong!!"
Ken Jeong: It really was awesome. I didn't tell anyone in the cast I was doing it and then someone told me, "Joel just showed everyone on his IPhone a clip of you getting thrown out of the ring by Jon Cena.
Al Norton: You mentioned a little bit about this Thursday's episode; can you tell me more about the rest of the season?
Ken Jeong: Well, we told you about all the cameos by people playing the Greendale Human Being.
Joel McHale: I will say this about the upcoming episodes; there will be fist fighting, there will be sexually transmitted diseases, in a fun way.
Ken Juong: We've got a funny look at Chlamydia coming up.
