Kal Penn – Super Human

By starrymag | December 22, 2015

Q) So, you’re hosting the show, did you have anything to do with creating it or anything like that?

A) No, I didn’t have anything to do with creating it.  This was an idea that the folks at some of the, I think it was actually a foreign format, if I’m not mistaken, the folks at Endemol Fox had come over, and we had met a few times about working together, and I loved the concept because I’m a huge fan of shows like America’s Got Talent, a lot of the positive, uplifting stuff that makes you watch and really root for all of the contestants. I had also previously hosted and produced a couple of shows for Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel, and those were a little more, I would say, a little more brain-oriented.  And I loved those also, but this seemed like a cool combination of both, and so I was excited to talk to them about what it was like and see how it would work for an American format.  And we just had a blast working on it.

Q) Why a special rather than a series?

A) I think that the idea is that if this is something that people enjoy that there’s talk about hopefully turning it into a series, which I think would be a lot of fun.  I had a great time working on it and was really amazed at the brain skills of all the people involved.  So I think, if I’m not mistaken, but I think the idea was to do a two-hour special and if it did well talk about turning it into something a little more long term.

Q) What was the audition process like?  Will we see any of that in the special?

A) I think you’ll see a little bit of the preparation.  I don’t know how much of the auditioning per se comes into it.  I joined a little bit after they had chosen all of the contestants, and I think it was a pretty wide net that they cast, for better or worse, I think for better.  A lot of folks with these kinds of superhuman skills already have things up on YouTube that showcase their talents, so I think it was a combination of traditional casting mechanisms, as well as looking through online and social media stuff to find these folks. What was really interesting for me, since I joined after they had already been chosen, was to get to know them as they were practicing.  And it’s interesting to see people compete in a format where their individual skills are different.  So, for example, a lot of other shows, if it’s a dance competition or a singing competition you know that everyone’s a singer or everyone’s a dancer, and so it’s probably a little more consistent in terms of how to work with them, or rank them, or what criteria the judges use to compare and contrast them. And in this case since everybody has such different skills it was really fascinating just to watch them prepare.  Some of them use their bodies and muscle memory, some of them use a trick with their brains, or a talent that they have for adding up numbers quickly, and some of them are more visual than others.  And I think because of that, I’ve never worked on a show that focuses on one art form versus a bunch of different ones, but they seem to all be rooting for each other, which was also a lot of fun through the process to see.

Q) And we’re seeing this in a two hour special, but how long did it take to film, would you say?

A) It actually took, let me see if I’m getting this right, it took three days.  Actually, I think it was two production days and two down days for them to rehearse.  So, what you’re seeing is pretty much in, generally speaking, in real time.  And also when I say two days to film, it wasn’t like we started in the morning and then shot until late at night.  We rehearsed a little bit with the contestants and the cameras, but what you’re seeing as a live show was shot in real time, so you’re seeing it pretty much the way that it was shot.

Q) I think it’s refreshing to have a competition show that isn’t a stinging talent show, where people are stabbing each other in the back.  Don’t you think?

A) Well, it’s funny because when I compare it to certain shows I think it’s similar in some ways to America’s Got Talent, or even some of the dance shows, because of that camaraderie.  I think there are shows out there that are arts-related, or that are about singing, where the model of the show is a little more jabby. But there are also shows out there that are less jabby.  I think, Nick Cannon, for example, does a great job at bringing the audience into rooting for the different contestants on his show.  And I think we were going for something a little more similar to that in tone. But you’re right, it’s a celebration of people’s skills as opposed to somebody beating somebody else down for it.  And there’s a certain joy to it, we had a live audience for the shoot and it seemed like that was something that they really enjoyed.  They were the ones who voted on how the contestants ranked, and so it was definitely uplifting and I think it was, more than anything, probably a celebration of these insane, amazing skills that people have.

Q) Are any of these superhuman abilities something that you would like to have, or would find useful?  I’m looking at this and thinking super memory would come in handy for an actor, although you probably have a super memory for lines and things already.

A) No.  But you’re right, you always want more of a memory as an actor, especially if you’ve got a shorter amount of time to prep.  So, yes, I think some of the folks who had memory skills were probably what I would pick if I had to pick one of them for myself.

Q) You’ve been around the globe, and I’m sure you’ve met extraordinary people.  But out of these 12 contestants, how many really blew your mind?

A) I would say all of them.  And I’m not just saying that because I’m the host of the show.  I don’t know if they’ve shown you guys a clip, but one of the things I loved was when you’re hosting a show a lot of the stuff, the introductions of the different contestants, you’re reading off of a teleprompter, but there’s some stuff that you just can’t put in a teleprompter.  And I posted a couple other things before, but this is the first time I think we’ve really gone off the teleprompter because I was so amazed at some of the things these people were doing.  And when we would cut to commercial I would run up to the producer and say, “Is that okay?  Is it alright that I did that?  I know that’s not in the script.”  And they were like, “No, that’s great because the fact that you’re actually that impressed by some of these people was awesome.” The other thing I would say is you’ll see in the series everybody has such unique personalities, and that is I think very organically cultivated by just the nature of what they do.  We’ve got somebody who is an incredible chef, somebody else who is really good with numbers.  There’s a woman who’s a dancer, and the muscle memory that she uses with her body even when she’s blindfolded walking through a maze, there’s that kind of stuff where in order to get to the place they were at and to realize that they’ve got this talent when they were young and then hone it in, there are a lot of quirks that they have that they shared with us too. So, I think when I say all of them in response to your question I’m not trying to just say it because I feel like it’s the right thing to say.  It genuinely was a really cool opportunity to hang out with these amazing people for a week almost.

Q) Do your fans from Harold & Kumar also follow you to your other projects to see what you’re doing?  Do you interact with them?  Do you know if it’s a part of who’s watching you?

A) Yes, it’s definitely a part of who’s watching.  I’m always curious to see to what extent.  And it’s kind of interesting, sometimes I’ll get a tweet from people who say things like, “I love your Discovery Channel show.  It’s actually something that I can watch with my mom when I go home from college.”  Like I can’t watch your movies with her, but I can watch this Discovery Channel show. And then other times when I’ve actually had a chance to talk to some of the audience folks in a little more detail, they say things like, “Your movie is perfect for a Friday night, but on Sunday afternoon I love that my fraternity brothers and I can watch your National Geographic thing.” So, it seems like, just like everybody, sometimes you want to watch a dumb comedy, sometimes you want to watch something that makes you think, or cry, or laugh, or whatever, and so it’s been really fun to see audiences react to different things.

Q) Will we see anything about the contestants’ back story, or any confessionals?  Did you have a chance to interview them personally at all?

A) Yes to all of the above, so you’ll see quite a bit about their back stories, sometimes their family history, where they grew up, how they discovered they had these unique talents.  And part of that for me was both as an actor I always find that stuff fascinating because it’s part of crafting the narrative of who they are and how the audience maybe identifies with them.  But it was also just really cool because they come from completely different walks of life, and there’s a pretty big age spread among them also.  I believe the youngest is, I want to say 17 maybe, and the oldest is probably in his 50s or 60s.  And so all of that kind of, yes, there’s appeal for everybody, but it’s also really fun to get to know them outside of their skill.

Q) Then, there’s a wide variety of guest panelists.  Can you provide any insight as to what we might expect from the three of them?

A) Yes.  It’s a great combination, right?  You’ll see when Mike Tyson is sitting there watching some of these folks he’ll sometimes be completely quiet because he’s amazed.  And then you ask him, “Mike, what did you think of that?”  And he’ll just say, “That was insane.”  And the way that he, just the inflection with which he says that will tell you everything you need to know about what’s going on in Mike Tyson’s brain when he’s watching this stuff. And then having a doctor, an actor, and a boxer on at the same time means that everybody’s looking for something completely different and sometimes Dr. Rahul Jandial will offer the scientific explanation of what’s going on in the brain.  But at other times he’ll sit there and say, “I actually don’t know how that’s being done.”  This might be one of the areas of the brain that hasn’t really been studied as well.  And so it’s a little bit of everything from each of the three of them.

Q) Well, was it fun to see Mary Lynn Rajskub again?  Was it sort of a 24 reunion for you?

A) A little bit, yes, and that was a lot of fun.  I had never met Mike or the doctor, but knew of them, so not just a reunion but also kind of a cool thing to dive into.

Q) Yes, that’s definitely people you’ll never see in the same room together otherwise, right?

A) Exactly.  That’s how I describe it to a lot of my friends.

Q) Well, this is a very parochial question, but, Will, the chef that’s from Atlanta, I talked to him.  What was your impression of his skills?

A) He was awesome.  The tough part about doing a show with food is that you always want to eat when it’s done. And he, I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to meet him, but has such an incredible outgoing personality that you don’t just want to eat, you want to sit down with him and ask him a million questions about his life and then eat his food.  So, when you work in TV you don’t have the luxury of doing that, but my next trip to Atlanta I want to go to one of his restaurants and take him up on that, because he was a really great guy with I think a really fun story, and he’s just great on camera.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*