CHICAGO — On “Abbott Elementary,” the breakout hit ABC sitcom that was recently renewed for a second season, Jacob is one of the newer teachers at the school. He can be fidgety and naive. Dorky as the day is long. His heart is always in the right (overeager) place. He’s a combination of thrumming nervousness and innate confidence — sometimes overconfidence — and combined, those qualities become extremely funny.
He’s played by Chris Perfetti, who is in Chicago through mid-April starring in a production of the new play “King James” — a story of two friends in Cleveland who bond over basketball, LeBron James and life itself — at Steppenwolf Theatre.
“This is my Chicago debut,” Perfetti said. The play was originally slated to premiere almost exactly two years ago, before being canceled due to the pandemic. It was a stroke of luck that Perfetti was available now; usually getting cast on a sitcom means there’s little time to squeeze in a play. But because filming on “Abbott Elementary” had already wrapped by November, Perfetti’s schedule was free a Steppenwolf run this spring.
We talked about bonding over sports, navigating new celebrity and how he and his “Abbott” cast mates figure out when to break the fourth wall and glance at the camera.
Q: Tell me a little about “King James.”
A: The play is very much about sports. It’s written by the brilliant Pulitzer nominee Rajiv Joseph, and it’s this intimate exploration of the space sports occupies in human beings — in our emotional lives and our relationships with one another.
It’s a two-hander, just myself and this brilliant actor Glenn Davis, who is also the Steppenwolf co-artistic artistic director, and we play two guys who grew up in the same part of suburban Cleveland. To me, the play is about what men are really talking about when they’re talking about sports. I think Rajiv was attracted to, and I was attracted to, this idea that sports, while being an incredible source of entertainment, is also a vehicle for a lot of people to talk about a lot of other things in their lives.
Q: What is your own connection to sports?
A: I grew up in a house where sports were very big, but I found out very early on that I wasn’t going to have any talent in that regard. I was more attracted to the glimmer of the artsy fartsy things that were going on around me as a kid. So I love sports, I love going to games — and basketball is the best sport to see live, I think — but yeah, there was a bit for me to learn in the preparation of the play. But again, the play is more about friendship and the hell that is life and love and getting older.
Q: LeBron James and his celebrity is referenced in the play’s title. Your own life has changed pretty dramatically in the two years since you originally planned to do the play. I wonder if the success of “Abbott Elementary” has given you the tiniest taste of what it feels like to be recognizable and have people project all kinds of ideas onto you?
A: (Joking) Mm-hmm, I’m basically just like LeBron. We’re so similar, we’re living the exact same life. I’m so glad that you noticed that and decided to write about it (laughs). He is, in my opinion, someone who is handling this bizarre, crazy, out-of-this-world life in such a graceful way. And that is very much not my life!
I don’t know, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. The success of the show has been, to be honest, a bit overwhelming. I’m really glad that the show is resonating with people. That’s not happened to me so many times, so this time it feels surreal. I mean, It’s so cool and feels very, very good. But I’ve known what it’s like to be an actor before this, and it’s not the reason that I want to be an actor. I had become very comfortable eating brown rice and sardines and not having money and not being recognized on the street. So I’m hoping it doesn’t disrupt my life very much (laughs).
Q: You and Quinta Brunson, the show’s creator, play the newer teachers at Abbott Elementary. Do you remember how your character Jacob was initially described?
A: He was described to me by Quinta as the best friend, or the sibling that you wish you had. He shares a lot of qualities with Janine (Brunson’s character) just in terms of being ferociously loyal and well-intentioned — often to a fault — and kind of early on, I realized that he is a social puppy. He’s an overachiever and a bit of a nervous wreck. And certainly to me he is a Shakespearean clown, that’s how I see him.
I typically find myself playing darker, brooding, troubled and tragic characters. And Jacob is definitely a rocket launch in another direction.
Q: Since you’ve been cast in so many dark roles, where does comedy come into play for you — would you call yourself a comedy guy? So many people on the show are known for their comedy chops, that’s why I ask.
A: (Laughs) Um. No. That’s funny that you say that because Quinta asked me that when we were shooting the pilot, just how much comedy I had done. I feel like being a good student of the theater and storytelling means you innately understand timing in a way that is useful for things like “Abbott.” Certainly I’ve had a lot of experience in front of a live audience.
Q: I don’t want to overthink this, but “Abbott Elementary” is shot in a mockumentary format, so the characters are playing to this unseen camera crew that’s filming them. Is that sort of what you’re referring to?
A: For me, it absolutely is, I think you’re totally right. I have always thought that Jacob is thrilled to be talking to the crew, and there’s all this interaction with the crew that you do not see (laughs). And there’s an element of his personality that’s performing even when there isn’t a camera around. I think he’s constantly putting himself out there to be reeled back in. I know people like that, it’s his way of connecting with people.
Q: How do the glances to the camera actually work? Are they scripted?
A: On the whole, it’s just a weird alchemy that happens in the moment. We have the most incredible camera operators who have all worked in this format where they’re trying to mine the comedy out of their “documentary,” so for the most part it’s something that happens on the day.
There’s this weird ballet that’s happening between the actors and the cameras and occasionally our directors will suggest a look to the camera, or once in a while in the script it says, “Off of Jacob’s incredulous look we cut to ...” But it’s pretty rare.
Most of the time we’re capturing a million versions in the room. That’s one of the things that I love about the show, but also makes it challenging for someone like me, because it’s shot in a nontraditional way. Usually there’s a formula: There’s a wide shot, then there’s two-shots, then there are close-ups of you reacting. And our show is shot differently because it’s trying to appear like it’s a documentary, so there are three cameras rolling all the time. So you don’t know which pieces they’re going to use. I feel like I’m always looking to the camera because Jacob wants to be on camera (laughs). But it’s mostly a thing we feel out in the room.
Usually the experience of watching myself on screen is nothing less than torturous, but I’ve been watching “Abbott” because I’ve just wanted to see which pieces they pick and how it came out. So that’s been interesting, to see which of my goofy looks to camera they used.
The genius of what Quinta has done, in addition to writing this six-headed amoeba of very different characters, is that we’re all six really different actors who come from different corners of the business. And I didn’t realize how the combination of each of these characters are really endless. This season we get to see what Jacob and Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) spending time would look like. Or we get to see why Jacob and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) are at each other’s throats. And watching it I realized, oh, there’s a million combinations you could do.
Q: Interestingly, Ava (Janelle James) has not tussled with Jacob a whole lot just yet. Is that something that might be coming?
A: I think we can definitely bet on it happening. I think there’s so much opportunity for comedy when you put those two people in a room. I think Jacob’s afraid of her and he also has a weird idolization of her. He knows she’s not great at her job, but if they’re all in a room and Ava says “jump,” I feel like nobody would jump except Jacob (laughs). Quinta may have completely different ideas, but that’s how I’ve played my scenes with her.
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