Actor T.J. Miller recently completed what he might dub the “famous person trifecta.”
He says at first people came up to you and insisted they knew him from somewhere but couldn’t quite place him. Next, they recognized him from movies but couldn’t remember his name or the film in question. Now, film fans are starting to approach Miller by name to tell him they enjoy his work.
That’s what appearing in six movies in a single year will do for an actor.
“It’s become weirder to walk through the airport,” says Miller, now co-starring in “Gulliver’s Travels.” “The recent shift just happened. I want to put all these thoughts and experiences [down].”
He’ll have plenty of chances to do that in 2011. Miller is slated to shoot a Comedy Central stand-up special in Denver this Spring. Other percolating projects include more voice-over work, an upcoming Disney pilot and a possible live action/animated combo series for Comedy Central.
His 2011 film slate won’t be nearly as packed as 2010, but he isn’t worried about any potential dry spells.
“I’m a stand-up. I’m never worried about getting my next role. That’s never distressing to me,” he says. For now, he’s enjoying having both “Gulliver’s Travels” and “Yogi Bear” in theaters. He suspects some audiences might be confused by the former’s tone.
“There are moments where it makes fun of itself, then it has moments where it takes itself seriously. Then, it has Jack Black playing with these conventions,“ he says.
“Yogi Bear” plays more strictly to a younger crowd, much to his chagrin.
“The studio was very oppositional with the comedy for the adults. All my comedy, the riffing and improvising that would play to an older audience, was cut,” says Miller, who casually notes he suffered from brain hemorrhaging during the shoot for “Yogi Bear” which later required surgery to correct a congenital defect. “So it wasn’t just the talking bears that were driving me insane,” he quips.
He had more control over “I’m Having a Difficult Time Killing My Parents,” the short film he wrote that makes its Sundance Film Festival debut next month.
“There’s a different tone to it than anything I’ve ever done,” says Miller, who stars in the film alongside actors Ethan Suplee (“My Name is Earl”) and Allison Munn (“One Tree Hill”). “It’s a movie about this kid who’s stagnating, stuck, and he doesn’t understand how to make changes in his life.”
The film features his actual parents in the title roles.
“I wanted my ex [girlfriend] to play my ex, but she wasn’t as excited about the project,” he says, adding the project offers an “undercurrent of sadness and poignancy.”
Miller may have plenty on his plate, but sometimes it’s not enough to impress his family members.
“They ask me, ‘where do you wanna end up?’ I’m doing it now,” he answers with a crooked smile. “’But I mean eventually …’ they say. It’s happening now … currently.”
(Photo: Actor/stand-up comic T.J. Miller)
Related posts:
- WWTW Interview: T.J. Miller (‘Gulliver’s Travels,’ ‘Yogi Bear’) – Part I
- WWTW Interview: ‘Free Style’ actress Penelope Ann Miller – Part 1
- WWTW Interview: ‘Free Style’ actress Penelope Ann Miller – Part 2
- WWTW Interview: Actor Colin Michael Day (‘Loneliest Road in America’)
- WWTW Interview: Film student/actor Dean Satriano (‘Let Me In’)
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