Tag: officially

Hayes MacArthur stars in NBC’s new comedy “Perfect Couples” as Rex.  His character is married to the amazing Olivia Munn and they really do play the “perfect couple”.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Hayes about how much he loves working on this show and with his cast.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved with “Perfect Couples”?
Hayes MacArthur: I met with Scott Silveri and Jon Pollack last year. They developed the show later on in NBC’s schedule…so it came out in March, which is a crazy time. Everyone is running around and reading scripts. Immediately when I read it, I saw these six characters being so fleshed out with such unique comedic points of view, that I got excited. I went in and met with them and they explained that they didn’t want to make the typical arc type of characters that you normally see. They wanted my character as a guy who is super psyched to be in a relationship and be married. When it came to Rex, I have never seen that type of character before. Former party guys or jocks are always put out by there relationship, but that was the complete opposite for this guy Rex. I jumped at that opportunity to work with these guys.

MG: Your character Rex has some of the best lines in the show, do you enjoy playing him?
HM: One thing about playing Rex is that he has all of this competitive energy and he puts it in to make his relationship the best it can be. Rex also says these certain things that may seem totally absurd but very grounded from his point of view. It is great to watch the rest of the cast just crack up. That is what makes work so fun, just trying to make people laugh…that is really what it is all about.

MG: You and Olivia Munn have great chemistry together and are really funny, tell us about working with her?
HM: Olivia is just so much fun to work with. She always has these new gadgets to work..whether it is the newest phone or the latest camera. She is always taking pictures and doing these digital things. I like to say it is like working with a really hot and talented Radio Shack employee [laughs]. She always has the best stuff. She just brings so much energy and when she is playing Leigh we have just such a great time.

MG: What is your favorite episode that you have worked on?
HM: I think anytime we get together with a six person scene with everyone, those are always stand out scenes. They always end up encompassing the entire episode. Some of the later episodes as we work towards Vance and Amy’s wedding are a lot of fun. The guys go on a camping trip as a Bachelor Party. To get those characters together in that setting for this show is so great. You might think “a bunch a guys at a bachelor party…I’ve seen that before”, but again the writing takes it in such a great direction that you do not see it coming.

MG: One of my favorites was the “Man-Cave” episode.
HM: That is what I talking about. People might have heard of that concept but the way the guys wrote that episode was a man-cave designed by a dude’s wife who wanted him have it. Usually it is a guy who designs it to get away from everything. The show plays a lot with gender roles and that is so fun. Sometimes you are in a relationship and the guy acts more like the girl and the girl acts more like the guy. That is really a run dynamic to play with.

MG: This is the third project you have worked with Kyle Bornheimer, “Worst Week” and the film “She’s Out of My League”, how did you guys meet?
HM: We met in Pittsburgh during “She Out Of My League”. We had a lot a mutual friends but never met. When we got down to Pittsburgh and we had such a great time. We called ourselves an inadvertently comedy team. We keep working together but its never intentional. The stars just align like that. After “She’s Out of My League”, we came back to LA and played his brother-in-law in “Worst Week”…which was really fun. When he came aboard this project last Summer it just took it to a great level.

MG: What can you tell us about what’s to come in the rest of the season?
HM: Well I think as we see Vance and Amy build up till there wedding, we see how it sucks all the other characters into it. It is a nice thing to track through the series. There is a lot of fun things a long the way, like Amy loses her job and Leigh tries and help her find another job. That is coming up I believe March 17th, called “Perfect Job”.

Mary Elizabeth Ellis stars in NBC’s new comedy “Perfect Couples” as Amy. Her character is married to the very funny David Walton on the show and they are break-up and make-up couple….who are getting married. Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Mary Elizabeth about working on this show and with her amazing cast.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved with the show “Perfect Couples”?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis: It actually was just one of many auditions that I had during pilot season last year. I wasn’t educated that Jon Pollack, Scott Silveri and even Andy Ackerman were the guys doing it, which was probably a good thing. I probably would have been a lot more nervous knowing the success of these guys. I went in and the scene I auditioned with was the one from the pilot episode, where we are doing game night. I get to freak out at Vance for telling me that my voice makes me want to kill himself.  So the opportunity to get to scream, be nervous and almost cry at someone was kind of [laughs] right up my alley. After I did that scene, I knew I totally loved the show and was all in.

MG: Tell us about your character Amy and how you enjoying playing her?
MEE: Amy is someone who is definitely jumps off the bridge and thinks about the broken arm later. She never questions what she wants to say or the emotions that she feels like normal people do. She just goes for it at like 110%. For an actor it is super awesome to get to play someone that is so emotionally available and just free. I also love playing her because I get to work with David Walton who is really so amazing and hilarious. The character he created with Vance is like nothing I have ever seen. It is a joy to get to go and play his other half.

MG: Tell us about how you and David Walton create such great chemistry on the set?
MEE: I was really lucky to have known David before the show started. His fiancé Majandra Delfino is an amazing actress and was on a pilot with me the year before. So through her I got to know David. Oh and also a few years, I had a guest spot on a show he was on years ago called “Cracking Up” with Molly Shannon. When we were doing the chemistry read, it was nice to know that, 1st: we know each other already and 2nd: we were in relationships with cool people. So it wasn’t going to be super weird making out with each other all the time…because we do. Vance and Amy make out a lot on the show.

MG: I love the “Man-Cave” episode, do you have a favorite?
MEE: Doing “Man-Cave” was a lot of fun because I got to some gymnastics. I got to prove to that myself that even at 31…I can still do a back-hand spring. That was pretty exciting. Plus it was really cool to get to do the chewing tobacco scene. My family is from Mississippi and my dad told me one of his friends came up to him and was like “I can’t believe she was doing chewing tobacco on TV”. I told him that it obviously wasn’t real chewing tobacco [laughing]. I also liked an episode that hasn’t aired yet, when Vance buys these super tight red pants and just because I don’t like them…he doesn’t take them off for days and days. I do everything I can to foil him. That one was a lot of fun as well.

MG: What can you tell us about the upcoming episodes, is there a wedding planned?
MEE: Yeah we started off the season with us going to Paris to get engaged. So the wedding planning has been happening throughout the season. Yeah, I am not sure which order it is going to play in but there is definitely going to be a bachelor/bachelorette party episode. That is going to be amazing what the guys decide to do and then what they end up actually doing. It is pretty classic what happens. Also Amy’s best pretty Dottie comes up from Louisiana and kind of steals Julia thunder as the maid of honor.

MG: If you weren’t acting, what would you be doing?
MEE: I would have trained in something else like dance or music, so I could be good in it. That or I would be doing street art. I would love to do street art that would be amazing but I do not have the balls [laughs].