Eric Andre – Man Seeking Woman

By starrymag | March 3, 2015

Q) I know the show is pre-scripted, and we’ve talked to Jay and Simon about it, and I know it’s scripted.  I’ve got to ask, how much of your character is you, and how much of him is not you?  Is there a lot of you in the character?

A) Yes.  I improvise a lot, and they actually end up using some of the stuff I improvise.  The character I take from all of the biggest douchebags I grew up with in Florida and I channel them and put them into Mike.

Q) Is he a guy you would hang out with in normal life?

A) No.  I would run for the hills.

Q) I read that you’re divorced.  Is that correct?

A) I wish.  I’m a virgin.

Q) I know you’re single, but how do you usually meet the women that you usually go out with?  I mean, this is Man Seeking Woman.

A) I just cruise around community colleges in my GL, in my Toyota Corolla, lurking.  I’m a lurker.  I’m a creep.

Q) How is it working with Jay on screen compared to off screen?  Do you guys still have the chemistry?

A) Yes.  Jay’s the best.  He’s a maniac.  He’s a smart, smart cookie.  He’s coming up with funny; he’s a real funny guy.  The good thing is he’s a writer as well as an actor so I can always go to him for funny lines.

Q) Since your character is basically the moral center of the show, in that everybody should do the opposite of what he says; do you think we’ll ever get a piece of good advice from Mike?

A) I think so, with time.  In the last episode, we saw some softer sides of Mike.  Towards the end of the season, the subtle nuances of Mike’s character will come out where he’s a bit of a walking contradiction.  He has a softer; or he’s in touch with his feminine side more than we think, eventually.

Q) How did you hear about this role in the first place and what made you want to do it?

A) I read the script.  My manager sent me the script, and I read it, and I loved it.  Then I found out that Jon Krisel was directing it, and he’s fantastic.  I just auditioned really hard.  Then I met with Simon, and we clicked right away.  Yes.  I auditioned and got it.

Q) what do you think Mike sees in Josh that most people don’t?

A) That’s a good question.  What do I think Mike sees in Josh that most people don’t?  I think there’s an inner playboy in Josh that Mike is trying to channel.  They have a Mr. Miyagi – Ralph Macchio kind of relationship sometimes there I think he’s trying to change.  He sees potential.  He thinks Josh is like the young grasshopper, and his flower is waiting to blossom like a Georgia O’Keeffe painting.

Q) Who’s more likely to break up, you or Jay?

A) I’m pretty bad.  I guess we’re both pretty guilty of it.  It depends on the scene.

Q) How do you recover?

A) We don’t.  We usually just disintegrate on set.

Q) One of my favorite things about your comedic style is you do a hilarious dead-pan delivery.  Do you ever have any issues on set; like you’re doing an absurd scene, and you just can’t keep a straight face?

A) Yes.  Constantly.  I’m not a very good actor, so I break character all the time.

Q) I know that Mike staged an intervention for Josh a little bit earlier in the season when he was getting too serious about Kayla.  Why do you think it’s important for Mike that Josh is single?

A) Why is it important that Josh is single?  Because I think Mike always needs a wing man.  I think it’s for selfish needs.  Also, I think Mike is a little jealous.  That’s his bro.  He doesn’t want anybody to take his bro away from him.

Q) I know you said we were going to see a little bit of a softer side for Mike a little bit later in the season, but do you think he’ll ever get a serious girlfriend, or will want to?

A) Maybe with time.  Mike’s a complex individual.  His brain is like a Rubik’s Cube with some of the pieces missing, so you never know if you got it correctly.

Q) I’ve had issues explaining the show to people trying to recommend it because it’s really funny, but it’s really unique.  I was wondering; do you have any trouble pigeon-holing the idea of the show to pitch it to people to tell them what you’re doing?

A) Yes.  It’s not easy.  I say cartoon come to life.  I say John Cusack Rom-Com mixed with a Salvador Dali painting.  I say the Meg Ryan movie You’ve Got Mail on Peyote.  It’s a psychedelic Rom-Com.

Q) One of my favorite shows that got canceled was actually Don’t Trust the B**ch in Apartment 23.  How would you contrast between Mark and Mike because I feel they have some similarities, but they’re also extremely different in the way that they come off?

A) Yes. I think Mark is sackless.  He’s like a sackless beta male.  And Mike is a cocky chauvinist sociopath.  So, pretty big contrast.

Q) Do you think that Josh and Mike have a symbiotic relationship, as in Josh needs Mike as much as Mike needs Josh?

A) I think so a little bit.  There’s a little bit of co-dependency in their relationship.  For sure.

Q) How would you separate Mike from other best friend characters.  Do you really approach it differently?

A) A little more of the latter.  I think it’s pure Id, but it has some of that classic; I get my best friend into sh**ty circumstances.  I don’t know.  I think it’s just pure Id, and I’m just pulling from all the kids I hated in high school.

Q) I was wondering if you can talk at all about the next few episodes, just tell us a little bit about what’s coming up for your character?

A) Yes.  My character goes into a parallel universe.  What else?  I’m trying to figure out what I can say, that’s why.  My character pisses off Josh and his new girlfriend and goes into a shelter for bros, a bro shelter, instead of a dog shelter.  I can’t remember what else is coming up.  Oh, the ninth episode—I don’t know what I can or can’t say.  There’s always pressure to not spoil stuff.  I don’t want to bum anybody at FXX out.

Q) Can we expect you maybe to go back to promote Man Seeking Woman because I think Howard would love the show, and we’d love to get you back on there again because it was certainly hilarious.

A) I would love nothing more, or if we do another Eric Andre Show season, at least for that, but I love Howard so I’d be thrilled.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*