Interview with Chi McBride

TV Interview!

Interview with actors from “How We Roll” on CBS by Suzanne 3/23/22

This was a nice CBS press day – my first with them. I was very happy to be included, even though I was only able to ask one question.

This seems like a fun sitcom, so I’ll definitely be checking it out when it airs tomorrow.

CBS SPRING 2022 VIRTUAL PRESS DAY
“How We Roll” with actors Pete Holmes, Katie Lowes, Chi McBride, Julie White and Mark Gross, Executive Producer
Virtual via Zoom
March 23, 2022
© 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
“How We Roll” premieres Thursday, March 31st, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS, and streaming on Paramount Plus.

The show is based on the life of real-life Midwestern dad, Tom Smallwood, who decided to pursue his dream of becoming a pro bowler after he was laid off from his job

There was a video from Brian d’Arcy James, Executive Producer, who couldn’t be there. He told us about how the show came about. He heard about Smallwood because they’re both from Saginaw, MN. He fell in love with the idea of this guy deciding to follow his dream, regardless of the odds against him, in order to take care of his family. They loved and supported him, and so did his whole community. James thought this would make a great story. It’s certainly an interesting idea. I don’t think there’s every been a sitcom about bowling before. There was the comedy-drama, “Ed,” about a lawyer who returns to his hometown and buys a bowling alley…he practiced law out of it. There have been many sitcoms about working class people who go bowling regularly, such as “Laverne and Shirley” and “Roseanne.” There’s never been one that’s mostly about bowling, let alone one that is about a professional bowler. I just hope it’s funny because that’s my main criteria for a comedy. It has to make me laugh, often, or I won’t keep watching it. We’ll see!

I was really happy to be able to ask Chi McBride a question because he’s been in so many great shows I’ve watched and loved, such as “Boston Public,” “Human Target,” “House” and many more. I asked him, “You’ve done a lot of dramas over the past — I don’t know, how long it’s been…. A couple of decades. But you got your start in sitcoms. So, what was it that attracted you to this project?”

He gave me an unexpectedly heartfelt answer. It was really nice. He confided that not only did he “love the story,” but he could relate to it. He said, “30 years ago, I left my successful career at the phone company when I was making $300 a week, against the advice of my broker.” He drove from Atlanta to California to be in show business. He mentioned that he had a lot of confidence. He probably had some money to keep him afloat for awhile, too, is my guess, since he decided he wouldn’t be a waiter or anything like that. He credits that confidence with getting into the business, which he’s worked in for 30 years. He can identify with the situation because everyone thought he was crazy, too, for taking this chance.

He talked about his character, Archie, who is a mentor to the main character, Tom (played by Pete Holmes). He told us that Archie has believed in Tom since he was a child. He really loves characters like Archie and felt that this was “a wonderful opportunity.” Also, he added that he knew all the other people in the cast and their work. He praised them for being both talented and “lovely people at the same time.” He shared that it’s “been a real gas, to tell you the truth.” Going back to my question about having done mostly drama for a long time, he did admit that he hadn’t been “in front of three camera format in 25 years” (that’s how they shoot sitcoms), so he found it “daunting” at first. He gave credit to director Mark Cendrowski for helping him figure it out and get over that bump road. He joked, “it was like riding a bike. Like, when you ride a bike into a tree at first.” He was very funny throughout his answer, and we all laughed a lot. The whole panel was pretty funny. Anyway, he concluded that he’s “just glad to be here” and that the basic story inspired him.

Producer Mark Gross talked about his part in bringing the show to life. He wanted to write something with hope in it. James told him about the Tom Smallwood story. He praised Tom’s beautiful writing about Tom and his story. It really inspired him. He spoke in detail about how he worked on it feverishly (sometimes literally, when he had COVID). He can’t believe that they got such an “incredible, amazing cast.” He thinks Tom’s story is filled with miracles.

Pete Holmes was asked to compare his other show, “Crashing,” based on his early days of trying to make it as a comedian, to this one, since they’re both about someone giving up steady work to pursue their dreams.

Pete answered that he never though of that comparison before. He confided that his parents didn’t seem too concerned about his becoming a comedian. He added, “I don’t know if that’s because they believed in me, or they just weren’t paying attention.” Everyone laughed, so he riffed on that idea for a minute. It was hilarious. Then he told us, more seriously, that his parents were always very supportive of him, and other people he knew ere, too. He believes that you should get rid of the “naysayers” in your life if you want to be successful. He also mentioned that he always saw some other comedians that were unsuccessful because they were always comparing themselves or their careers to other comedians, which he referred to as “comedy cancer.” He told us that Mark Gross and one of the other writers (Tommy Johnagin) are both great stand-up performers and writers. He talked about how he and his wife read the script when he got it, praying that it was good. They enjoyed it and laughed, and appreciated that the wife was not just the usual TV “nagging wife.” It reminds him of the series “Ted Lasso,” in the sense that the wife believes more in Tom than he does. He also thought that the other characters were not stereotypes, either. Back to the question, he said that he’s very grateful that he didn’t have people doubting him when he was starting out. He “was one of the first people to go to college” in his family, so they said that he could do whatever he wanted after that.

Another reporter asked a question, but unfortunately, the actors didn’t answer it seriously. It was a very funny time for all of us, though. He/she asked what the actors found it easiest and most difficult as far as connecting to their character. Instead, Pete joked about the other new CBS show “Beyond the Edge,” saying that “I thought the monkeys that were encroaching on our camp were really difficult.” From then on, it only got funnier. I can only hope that the real show is half as funny as these guys were in this panel.

MORE INFO:

CBS ANNOUNCES NEW COMEDY “HOW WE ROLL” TO PREMIERE THURSDAY, MARCH 31 AT 9:30 PM

Julie White (Helen on HOW WE ROLL)

 Julie White is a Tony Award winner for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in “The Little Dog Laughed,” and starred in Joe Mantello’s 2015 production of Lisa D’Amour’s play “Airline Highway,” for which she was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League awards.

Tony-nominated for her performance in the 2019 Taylor Mac-created “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus” on Broadway opposite Nathan Lane, White earlier starred on Broadway in Lucas Hnath’s “A Doll’s House 2” with Stephen Henderson and Jane Houdyshell, and opposite Matthew Broderick and Annaleigh Ashford in the revival of A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia” for director Dan Sullivan.

White’s additional Broadway credits include “Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike,” “The Heidi Chronicles,” and Off-Broadway credits “The Understudy” and “Fiction” for The Roundabout, “Twelfth Night” at The Delacorte for The Public Theatre and “Bad Dates” for Playwrights Horizons, to name some favorites. She won an Obie Award, The Elliot Norton Award, the Ovation Award and been nominated multiple times for Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Drama League Awards.

On television, White recurred as Antoinette, “Nurse Jackie”s AA sponsor; opposite John Goodman in the Garry Trudeau/Amazon series “Alpha House”; and spent a season on “Go On” opposite Matthew Perry, for which she won the Gracie Award. Other memorable TV roles are Mitzi Dalton Huntley in Alan Ball’s “Six Feet Under,” Nadine Swoboda on “Grace Under Fire,” Dr. Anne Morella on “Law & Order: SVU” and comedy appearances on cult favorites “You’re the Worst” and “Man Seeking Woman.”

Coming up, in addition to HOW WE ROLL, White will appear in the new Apple + series “Roar” among an all-star cast, including Nicole Kidman and Cynthia Erivo, as well as the Apple+ miniseries “WeCrashed” opposite Anne Hathaway. Other television credits include White starring opposite Kiefer Sutherland and Anthony Edwards on the final season of “Designated Survivor” and appearing in the critically acclaimed limited series “Mrs. America,” with Cate Blanchett and Sarah Paulson.

On the big screen, White appeared in “Lincoln” for Steven Spielberg opposite Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field, in addition to being a staple on the indie scene in such festival films as “Breaking Upwards,” “Hello I Must Be Going,” “Morning,” “My Idiot Brother” and “Life Partners.” Additional studio features include the massively successful “Transformers” franchise, “Michael Clayton” opposite George Clooney, “The Astronaut Farmer” with Billy Bob Thornton, and the animated film “Monsters and Aliens”.

White resides in Northern Westchester, NY, when not filming. Her birthday is June 4. Follow her on Instagram @missjuliewhite.

Mark Gross is a producer and writer, known for Mike & Molly (2010), Man with a Plan (2016) and Gary Unmarried (2008).

 

 

 

 

 

PETE HOLMES STARS IN THE NEW COMEDY INSPIRED BY THE LIFE OF PROFESSIONAL BOWLER TOM SMALLWOOD, WHO MAKES THE EXTRAORDINARY DECISION TO FOLLOW HIS DREAM OF BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL BOWLER, ON THE SERIES PREMIERE OF “HOW WE ROLL,” THURSDAY, MARCH 31

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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