An Interview with 'MacGruber' Star Jasper Cole
Jasper Cole is a man of many talents. You've seen him on hit series such as CSI, Everybody Hates Chris, The Forgotten with Christian Slater, and much more. This spring he appears in MacGruber, the big screen take on Saturday Night Live's spoof on MacGyver with Will Forte and Val Kilmer. Jasper spoke with TheCelebrityCafe.com's Matthew Bentel about MacGruber, playing the bad guy, and persevering in Hollywood.
Matthew Bentel: Your latest role is Val Kilmer's sidekick Zeke Pleshette in the comedy MacGruber, which is a MacGyver parody based off of the old SNL sketch. How was working with Val?
Jasper Cole: Oh it was great. He was fantastic. He came off really great. I think he’s really funny in the movie. I think people will be surprised with how funny he can be actually. He said it was one of the funniest scripts he had read in a long time.
MB: You have become known as playing the “bad guy” in Hollywood? Happy with the title, or something that just stuck?
JC: You know what, I’m really, really happy with it. It’s taken me many years to just get on quote a list [laugh]. So I’m happy to be on that list. So I will play the bad guy, the creepy guy, the drug addict, the homeless guy. I will play those roles, which is fine with me. The checks clear either way [laugh].
MB: You said before that the thing about working in Hollywood is about sticking with it, and not about the fame. Have you found that a lot of good people end up quitting because fame isn’t the necessary outcome of their efforts?
JC: Well, you know, actually, not really. In fact, what’s amazing is that I’ve run into these people that have hung in their over the years. I think more what I’m talking about is the young actors starting out, eighteen, nineteen, twenty years old, whatever, start out wanting to set some time limit, you know, do this within a year type of thing, instead of sticking with it and making it a career.
MB: You have spent your time, more or less, evenly between film and TV roles. Which do you prefer?
JC: You know what, they are so similar in terms of, I mean, most TV shows are filmed like a movie, just not with as much time. I love sitcoms cause its almost like your doing TV and theater together, but I tend to get more of the one-hour shows which are very much like doing a movie. Usually on location, like a film, that kind of thing. But other then the pace of it, it’s kind of like the same, especially doing these one-hour shows, dramas.
MB: You are the CEO of Wey-Man Productions and you do a lot of writing. Is that something that, as you age, you might pursue more, instead of acting?
JC: Well, yeah, interestingly enough I’m trying to incorporate myself into acting and the things I’m writing now. It doesn’t always work out that way but I am trying to write stuff that is a part of me or that I could be a part of as an actor. But I do enjoy the writing and the producing, its kind of a nice day job. It beats waiting tables [laugh]. Been there, done that.
MB: And in regards to your theater past, could you see yourself opening up a theater production company, or simply a theater?
JC: Ironically, Way-Men started as a theater producing company. I started that company producing plays. So that’s how it all started. I don’t have a lot of time to do that now, but as an actor doing theater, I want to keep always doing that, at least one play a year, or even more.
MacGruber hits theaters on May 21.