Tracy Morgan is one of the stars of 30 Rock. We're not breaking news here, but it bears repeating since he doesn't get much attention. Certainly not as much as co-stars and critical darlings Tina Fey (who created the show) and Alec Baldwin. But, hell, even Jack McBrayer, the guy who plays Kenneth the Page, gets more love. This, we suspect, is because most fans of the show assume Morgan is playing himself, not an arrogant, dunce-y character. That 30 Rock (which returns October 30 on NBC) blurs fiction and reality (Morgan plays Tracy Jordan, star of a sketch-comedy series) only adds to the confusion.
Morgan isn't much help in clarifying the situation. Sitting with him in a booth at the London Bar with his assistant Kenny, I find it's hard to get a bead on the guy. He's talking to me--actually, it's more like rapid-fire free-associating--but not really looking at me. "When you're in the spotlight, people want to dissect you and then put you back together the way they want you. But not Trey-Bag. I'm doing it like Frank Sinatra: my way, baby!" He continues to stare at an indeterminable spot three feet above my left shoulder, eyes slightly crossed. "I just came out of Lasik eye surgery ten minutes ago. Maybe fifteen minutes ago. So my vision is distorted." I ask him if maybe he should be resting his eyes. "Nah, whatever," he says. He orders a green tea. "You lose when you booze, isn't that what they say? I can have a drink if I want to. I just don't feel like it." I nod. "What do they call that? Oh, I'm functioning. I'm a func-tion-ing alcoholic." Kenny offers a cautionary "Trey," which Morgan ignores. "I'm going to tell you the truth any-fucking-way, so it don't matter if that's on the table," he says, motioning to my tape recorder.
I ask him if people confuse him with his character, and if it might be annoying to be mistaken for an idiot. "He's my alter ego, he's not me," says Morgan, pushing his green tea aside. ("That don't look like tea.") "Some people believe everything they see on TV. People, it's called tel-lie-vision! You have to be highly intelligent to get away with a dumb joke. That takes a pretty smart fella."