Nick Kroll is a busy man, and it seems that everything he touches these days turns into comedy gold. While his hit Netflix show Big Mouth is ending with its eighth season, Kroll has many new projects in the pipeline, including a live-action series for FX. The actor / writer / producer talks to emmy about his success and what the future holds. The award-winning official publication of the Television Academy is on sale now.
The son of a successful businessman, Kroll never imagined he could pursue a career in comedy. “There was no model for it in my family,” he says. “People who I grew up with were going to be doctors or lawyers or in finance. So as much as I loved The Simpsons, Seinfeld and SNL, I never thought, ‘Oh, I can do that.’” Then, while studying at Georgetown University, he auditioned for the school’s improv group, and soon he had “fallen head over heels” for live comedy. His friend, collaborator and [current] Big Mouth costar, John Mulaney, knew he had potential. “I met Nick within my first two days at Georgetown and immediately thought, ‘This is the next Mel Brooks,’” Mulaney says. “He was so loose and timelessly funny.”
Years later, and despite having voiced a character on The Simpsons, starred in the self-titled sketch show on Comedy Central, Kroll Show, and performed on Broadway in the hit play All In, opposite Aidy Bryant, Jimmy Fallon and Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kroll says he still feels like an insecure preteen. “I know it’s crazy, because I’m about to be on stage with the most talented people in the world,” he says. “But who you are in middle school is so foundational to who you become as an adult.” Kroll turned his painful teen years into the animated smash Big Mouth, which he created with his childhood best friend, Family Guy writer / producer Andrew Goldberg, along with Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin. The show revolves around the challenges of ninth grade and touches on everything from periods to pubic hair.
In “Wild Child,” Kroll tells emmy that he believes the real-life friendship sealed Big Mouth’s success. “Andrew and I were best friends from first through eighth grade; and now we’ve done eight years of the show together, so it’s like this was our second run-through,” he says. Goldberg agrees, “Rehashing the scariest moments from our childhood and figuring out how to make them funny has been super therapeutic. If it’s funny, it’s not scary anymore.” The final season of Big Mouth premieres May 23 on Netflix.
As an executive producer, writer and voice of 80-plus characters on Big Mouth, Kroll is immersed in every stage of production. “I encouraged him to stop being so involved,” Mulaney says. “Whenever I’d see him and he’d have some kind of look, I’d go, ‘What’s up?’ and he’d say he was thinking about something from episode 607.”
Kroll, who is also executive producer of the FX comedy Adults, which premieres May 28, has big plans for the future, including a bucket-list goal of hosting Saturday Night Live. “I just want to make stuff with people I like and respect,” he says. “If I do that, I’ll be a happy, happy man.”
Additional feature highlights from the new issue include:
From modeling and acting to high-profile relationships, Anjelica Huston has forged her own path in Hollywood. In “Talk of Fame” she reflects on her diverse career, her television triumphs and her recent role in the BritBox limited series Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero.
Filmed during more than 180 expeditions over five years, The Americas takes viewers across the beaches, oceans, jungles, islands and even densely populated cities of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. In “Animals Without Borders,” emmy talks to Mike Gunton, executive producer of NBC’s 10-episode nature documentary series narrated by Tom Hanks.
In “Cast Track,” emmy talks to acclaimed casting director Nina Gold, who has cast some of the most popular films and TV shows of the 21st century, including Game of Thrones, The Crown, Chernobyl, several Star Wars films and the recent FX limited series Say Nothing.
Download the press release here.
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