David Crosses The River
BG: That’s a pretty wise answer.
DC: That’s why you should come to my Learning Annex class.
BG: Were you as wise when you were younger, or was it more frustrating then?
DC: When I was younger, sometimes it was very frustrating. Take Run, Ronnie, Run, the movie that grew out of Mr. Show. Bob Odenkirk and I made that movie and that was supposed to get us out there and make us Judd Apatow, you know? We were supposed to be making movies with this same group of people for 15 years. And when that movie failed, it didn’t just put the brakes on. It derailed everything. People went off on their own, to their own projects. It’s turned out ok, but it was very difficult to deal with at the time.
BG: You mentioned the opportunity to do more good work. Are you interested in broadening the kinds of roles you do? This year, for example, Albert Brooks has gotten lots of acclaim, and almost an Oscar nomination, for his role in Drive. Would you want to try your hand at drama?
DC: Sure. As you can imagine, most of the things that I’m up for are comedy. Sometimes they’re very broad; sometimes they’re physical. I love doing that kind of thing, but I also think that I would be interested in doing a more serious role.
BG: Let’s talk about a very non-serious role: Tobias Funke, from Arrested Development. There was a nice moment at last year’s New Yorker Festival when the whole cast got together. It seemed like that was a group you liked working with.
DC: I did, and that was a great event. We hadn’t seen each other since the wrap party.
BG: And it seems like the rabid demand for more Arrested Development will finally be satisfied. What happens now with that? New episodes on Netflix and then a feature film?
DC: That’s the plan, as far as I understand it. You get your news from the same place that I get mine. I think what will happen is that there will be half-hour shows for each character summarizing what’s been happening since the show ended, so that there’s no extra explanation that has to happen when the movie comes along.
BG: That seems like a smart way to handle it. Have there been any huge changes, as far as you know?
DC: For the actors or the characters? I don’t know exactly what will happen to Tobias. We haven’t seen any scripts yet. If I had to guess, I would say that Buster and Maeby have probably had the most drastic changes in their life.
BG: Even without Arrested Development, you’ve maintained a small-screen presence. You’ve been doing guest spots on Modern Family as a local politician who emerges as a kind of nemesis for Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen). And then there’s The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret,, for which you’re both star and creator. That’s filmed in London. What’s the main difference?
DC: There’s much more tea involved.