Jeremy Sisto is making the rounds promoting Suburgatory and I had the pleasure to speak with him about his move from drama to comedy, working with some of the greatest comedic talent available and reuniting with Alicia Silverstone 17 years after they shared the screen in Clueless.
What has it been like to move from television dramas to a weekly comedy like Suburgatory?
Well, I’m married, with a kid and another on the way, so that’s my life. What I do at work coincides perfectly with hanging out with a two year old, because just being silly is definitely a tool that comes into play, so it’s a real blessing that I get to do that at work, as well.
You’re working with some of the biggest names in comedy, Ana Gasteyer, Chris Parnell and Cheryl Hines, after years of working with Larry David, has this down pat. How does it feel to be working along side them?
It’s such a treat all the time. Cheryl is so great in this role. It’s a role she was born to play. She’s so much fun to watch as a viewer and as a fellow cast mate. And Ana and Chris, their relationship is hilarious. They’re family dynamic is the wackiest element of the show. There’s an episode coming up where Fred thinks Sheila is in love with me because she starts shouting out “George” in the middle of the night, and he gets very jealous. It’s really good stuff.
As a father of a daughter yourself, do you think this role will help you as she grows older?
I have no idea, I still have about 13 years to go and I have no idea who I’ll be then. I think George is a really great dad who has problems letting his daughter go and have her own intimate relationships, and if I am anything like him and the fathers of girls I dated when I was younger in real life, I will probably be the same!
Do you do any improvisation or do you stick mostly with the script?
We started with that some at the beginning, but the writing is so good that unless we come up with something really funny before filming we just leave it as is. That’s what’s so great about single camera shows, you can try a bunch of different things, throw in different lines, more private moments and let them figure it out in the editing room. With multi camera you have a lot more rehearsing to do and have to have it ready to film.
Have you started filming with Alicia Silverstone yet?
Yep. We’re on our third episode together and we start our fourth next week. She’s doing great and it’s been great reconnecting with her. I think it’s going to be a really satisfying reunion Clueless fans.
Are there a lot of scenes between George, Dallas and Eden and how to does Dallas take George having a girlfriend?
Yeah, I think it’s really sad for the audience. It’s hard to see two people that you really want to get together not be together, but George very quickly feel like this could the answer to some of the issues in his life, with his daughter, not having a mother around and, like he does, he acts very impulsively so the Dallas thing gets kind of left on the table. But it’s always there. It’s under the surface, how they see each other, but it’s never harped on. That’s one of the great things about Dallas as a character. She’s positive and independent in her own way, so it’s still waiting to happen though.
So there’s still hope out there for George and Dallas fans! Keep the fire burning and tune in every Wednesday on ABC right after The Middle at 8:30 EST.
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