Jack McBrayer is not famous. The fact that your head just tilted and eyes scrunched upon reading the previous sentence proves the point. Jack McBrayer is not famous. But his face, the aw-shucks smile that widens past his ears, is. His personality, the giggly glee that recalls a child pouring over their Halloween booty, is.

In the following interview, as much as he was pressed for an off-character critical quote, Jack never wavered from the gee-golly-Miss-Molly persona that has become his trademark. When asked about Russell Brand, who wears his pants so tight around his lower body they seem like some sort of male torture device and who harped on the Jonas Brothers to the point of jeers at the VMAs, Jack had this to say: "Russell Brand is such a sweetheart."

He retained the Sunday School persona so tightly to the point where it became starkly clear that Jack was neither in character nor could be pulled out of character. In film and on television, Jack never acts as his character would. He acts as he would and that becomes his character.

In a day when level of fame is defined by number of tabloid photos and celebrity feuds, Jack McBrayer is as refreshing as a glass of sweet tea and a cool, wet breeze. Gosh.


What made you want to play Darald in Forgetting Sarah Marshall? How did you prepare?

Jack McBrayer: If you get a chance to be part of a Judd Apatow film, you just say yes. It's liberating as an actor to improvise based on what's established with the character.

What was filming in Hawaii like?

JM: It was incredible: eight days of work and you get to stay in Hawaii for a month. In the morning, you pop open a Corona Light and hang at the beach.

There's a lot of drinking in the film. Which cast member can really hold their own?

Mila Kunis can drink! Kristen Bell, too. Russell Brand, you know, is clean as a whistle; he'd just watch us in our debauchery.

What was it like humping a chess piece on the beach in Hawaii?

JM: Oh gosh, we filmed that scene on this public beach with all these kids around, so the PA's were going up to the families, asking them to divert their eyes. Russell Brand improvised with the chess pieces. He was bananas.

Were you scared you might trip walking up the stairs when 30 Rock won Best Comedy Series?

JM: There's so much going on emotionally that you just prioritize and don't even think about it. The whole time I just wanted to make sure I was smiling because you don't want to be caught on camera looking angry or disappointed.

Did you want to give any thank-you's during Tina's speech when 30 Rock won Best Comedy Series?

JM: Oh no, of course not, people want to hear Tina talk. I'm just riding her talented coattails.

Alec Baldwin plays your boss on 30 Rock. Does he ever boss you around when the cameras aren't rolling?


JM: One time he came up from behind and gave me orders like he would to my character Kenneth. I said "yes, sir" before realizing it was a joke.

Your character on 30 Rock, Kenneth, keeps a dream journal, do you?

JM: No, but I do check my horoscope in the morning before work.




You were in Mariah Carey's video for "Touch My Body." I read that while filming you accidentally hit her in the face with a Frisbee. How did she react?

JM: You know with a Frisbee, once it leaves your hand it is the responsibility of the recipient. I was scared. This was her video, and it cost a lot of money. When it hit her, I thought, "I have just cost people 3 million dollars." And her bodyguard is the size of a tank.

You've said that you were unemployed most of your life, did you every worry things wouldn't turn out the way you'd hoped?

JM: I'm still worried, but I do have other marketable skills. I've waited tables. And I've starved before. I'm not scared of the working.

If you haven't caught 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' it is now available on DVD in all stores. Also catch Jack McBrayer in 30 Rock, its season premiere is October 30 on NBC. 30 Rock season 2 was also released on DVD October 7


Story by Tim Peterson

Starpulse contributing writer