Twitter: @illbezucked , Instagram: @zuckermanjosh
Josh's Website
Photo By Vince Trupsin.
I love this guy Josh Zuckerman. Not only does he have a cool name, but he forced me to look up big words that were never mentioned in my SAT prep courses. Now I can take these words and perhaps finally beat my hatchlings at Scrabble!
You're the lead in The CW's new comedy "Significant Mother". Describe your audition.
I was on location in New Orleans and had just finished filming my last scene in this movie. I called my manager and said, "What do I do now, I'm unemployed again." She replied, "Actually you're not. You just got an offer to play the lead role in a CW web series." (At the time, our show was intended to be just for the Internet). My response was, "Are you sure they offered it to the right Josh Zuckerman?" So I went back to the hotel and read the three initial scripts that were sent over to me and I believe I wrote back an emphatic "yes" that very day.
How long did it take from your initial audition until you officially were given the role?
Because this was a fortuitous instance where I was offered the role, I never physically met anyone involved in the project until the day I flew out of Los Angeles and up to Portland. That was about two weeks after I returned from New Orleans. I was really lucky to have our show land in my lap. It just happened to be that I had worked with the production company Alloy Entertainment in the past and they knew my work and knew me. In fact, I was told that before I was ever cast they had a photo of me up on their pitch board when they pitched the show to the CW!! I am fairly confident that had our show not initially been for the Internet, it would have been a lengthy audition process with callbacks and producer sessions and tests. Who knows if I would have made it through those hoops. So I am so thankful that it all played out the way it did.
Do you consider yourself a geek?
I am pretty geeky, yes. I like odd sub-culture activities, I am often socially inept, I wore glasses in high school. But I am a modern geek. Geek chic? I play the banjo (cool and geeky), I abhor germs, I play chess, I like 1000 piece puzzles, I am reading Harry Potter for the first time... And being geeky has become cool, no? At least that is what people assure me of. I feel like nowadays everybody I know has a smidge of geek in them. In other words, they have some odd niche or some obsessive tendencies.
What do you secretly enjoy?
I secretly enjoy being alone -- hiking alone, skiing alone, walking along the beach alone, going to movies alone. Do not get me wrong, I like sharing my life with other people but sometimes I really enjoy being as alone as possible. Apart from that, strawberries and peanut butter.
Share a story with us about one of your childhood family vacations.
Has anyone ever said no? I will not do that but just curious. Let's see...my family consistently lacks punctuality. I think my Mom missed the Pope once because she was curling her hair in the hotel. Anyway, one time we were traveling from Norway to Denmark on this overnight cruise-liner type ship. We drove our rental car into the belly of the ship along with hundreds of other vehicles. We walked around the ship, had dinner and went to bed knowing that we will have to be in our car and ready to drive it off the ship at 8 a.m. Instead, we awoke in our cabins at 8:10 a.m. with the command over the loud speakers, "Start your engines!" It was a scramble and we may have pissed some Danes or Norwegians off but we made it to the car and off that boat. [NOTE FROM AUTHOR: Josh, no one has ever said no to me because I'm adorable, except my hatchlings when I want them to get out of the pool.]
The Kyle XY and Desperate Housewives fans adore you. Why do you think that is?
Gosh, that is very sweet. Maybe with Kyle XY it's because I played a good loyal boyfriend to April Matson's character who happened to have a fun sense of humor. With Housewives, perhaps it is pity adoration for that long mop of hair. That and that my character in Housewives was emotionally damaged and sympathetic despite being a serial strangler.
Who do YOU adore?
In entertainment, I adore Ricky Gervais in Derek. His performance is unbelievably charming, funny and poignant. In life, I adore my girlfriend. She is the most adorable person I have ever met -- from her silly jokes to her cute teeth to her little drawings.
Motorcycle or boat?
Boat. 100% boat. Sail boat preferably. It is less smelly and more adventurous to me. Call me old school but I would rather travel a thousand miles over the ocean almost entirely on wind than a thousand miles over a landscape just on gasoline.
Did you ever think you'd be doing interviews when you first decided to go into acting?
Never even crossed my mind. I mean maybe I thought people would ask me a couple questions about world peace like I was a Miss America contestant but that is it.
Were you confident as a kid?
Not at all. I definitely used to lean into my shyness when I was younger. I have it now as well but I always try to push myself to make social efforts and overcome it.
Did you ever graduate from college? Tell us about Princeton University.
I attended Princeton for one year. I almost dropped out after the first semester because I missed acting but my parents convinced me to finish out the year and put up a play to tide me over. So I did just that. Eugene O'Neil (another Princeton drop out, just saying) characterized his time at the school as the three B's: Booze, Books and Broads. I think that most succinctly summarizes my experience at Princeton. True to its reputation, it is an amazing (and gorgeous) academic school with terrific teachers and classes and opportunities. But it can also socially be a bit like Hollywood's representation of "ivy league".
Significant Mother is shot in Portland. What's it like being away from home?
It is like camp but with a lot of homework. You make a new group of friends and share this unique time together and then go your separate ways once your parents (or in this case, the town car) comes to pick you up and take you home. It is exciting to be on location but depending on the project you don't always have the time to explore wherever you are. The other thing about being away from home for me is that you can lose track of what is important to you. You can lose perspective. That is why it is important to keep in contact every so often with your friends and family while away so you do not forget that your life is bigger than that project you are working on. Side note, Portland is a fantastic place to visit. The food and the natural beauty in and around the city is absolutely worth the trip.
Tell us about your environmental causes.
I am a long time supporter of organizations like NRDC, EarthJustice, Global Green, and Environment California. And I am also a big advocate of individuals doing everything they can on a daily basis to limit their negative impact on the environment. To me, it comes down to respect and awareness. When we cultivate respect for our environment and our resources and we become aware of how our choices can affect the world around us, then we can make choices with our pocketbooks, our voting books, our talking points, and our habits that help preserve our planet.
What was it like working with Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen Show?
Ellen was wonderful to me. I had this bit non-speaking role and she came up to me after we had filmed it, thanked me for being there and then said that they were going to write a line for me. She essentially upped my role from glorified extra to co-star in one kind gesture.
Did you get to meet Alan Rickman when you worked on the film CBGB?
Oh yes I did. And let me tell you, he is everything you want him to be. I have a couple stories about Mr. Rickman but the most colorful was a night where I joined him and some other cast members for a drink after work. At some point the conversation turned to ice cream and the famous Savannah, Georgia ice cream Parlor Leopold's came up. We all decided we'd like some ice cream but Leopold's had just closed. Au contraire. Apparently Rickman had a connection to Leopold's so he called them up and they reopened for us to come in and have some sundaes.
Anything else you'd like to say?
Hi Mom!
Also, Significant Mother is a terrific show. From our co-creators Erin Cardillo and Rich Keith who wrote such hilarious and smart material, to our fearless director Tripp Reed, to our jaw-droppingly talented cast: Krista Allen, Nathaniel Buzolic, Jonathan Silverman, Emma Fitzpatrick and Jay Ali. I'm very proud to be a part of it. And I'm excited for people to see it. We premiere Mondays starting August 3 at 9:30/8:30 central on CW. Twitter @cwmother and Instagram @cwsignificantmother