-Hey, David. How are you?
-I'm good. How are you, Seth?
-I'm doing very well. Congrats on your new show.
I'm very jealous. I feel like for a long time,
my dream was to shoot a comedy in England,
and that's exactly what you got to do.
-Yeah. I feel really, really blessed, actually.
It's a lot of fun to work in -- in the U.K.
-And you -- Did you know the creator of this show?
How did you get involved in the first place?
-Yeah, he's a buddy of mine, Nick Mohammed.
You know, he and this other writer and actor, Julia Davis,
had created a show
that they were thinking about adding an American character to.
This was a couple years ago.
So I went out to London to do about a week of improv with them
and just kind of find that character
and find who this guy would be.
We discovered a really fun dynamic between Nick and I
of kind of a difference in status and power.
And I guess Nick really loved that dynamic.
And we had such a good time working together
that about a year later, he just e-mailed me this idea.
And I just thought it was -- I was just so tickled
by the idea of a workplace comedy
set in the high-stakes world of national security
and cyber terrorism that I --
and this guy who's such a pompous American blowhard.
I just thought it was a really fun opportunity, so...
-It does seem like a character that you sink your teeth into.
Did you know from the early creation of the character
or the fact that it was this workplace intelligence comedy
that you wanted to be the brash sort of blowhardy
American character?
-That's kind of who he was from the offset.
And we worked on it then together for about a year,
year and a half, trying to find -- trying to find this guy,
who, to me, is inspired from a lot of men in power in our --
-Yeah. -In our country
and probably his,
this, you know -- This mostly ignorant narcissist
and casually -- casually sexist and racist and homophobic
and -- and very patriotic, mostly because
he's never been out of the United States in his life.
-[ Chuckling ] Right. Were you --
You know, obviously, we both have backgrounds as improvisers,
but I haven't done it for so long.
I think I would be a little terrified
if somebody said, "Hey, let's go -- Let's improvise."
Did you -- Was it all -- Did it all come back to you,
or was it scary?
-It was -- It wasn't scary, but I -- You know, I --
I know your background of improv and Boom Chicago and everything.
But, you know, I learned early on
from when I was in an improv group with Colbert
that I -- He just outclassed me, you know?
So, I-I kind of approach it when I'm in --
I think it's a little -- I approach it more like
an actor in character.
As long as I've got a really solid character
and kind of an idea of what the scene's about,
I feel permission to improv.
And Nick is so good.
He's as good as you and Colbert at it.
So I feel like he carried me, pretty much, so...
-You -- So, you brought up Colbert. Now I need to say it.
Colbert, you, myself, our other guest tonight, Robin Thede,
all graduates of Northwestern University.
-I know we've talked about it before.
You spoke at my graduation.
And I know that's like -- There's a good and bad to that,
'cause, one, I feel like I'm -- I'm age-shaming you.
But two, you gave... -You are. You are.
Thank you for that. Thanks. -...the best commencement speech
I've ever -- I mean, I haven't heard that many,
but it was outstanding. -Well, thank you.
-And then -- So right out of college, did you --
I know Lookingglass was your theater company in Chicago.
Was that right out of college that you started that?
-Yeah, we started upon graduation, actually,
from Northwestern, maybe because we just didn't want --
We were too scared to enter the real world.
But, yeah, we -- We really were hungry
and determined to start our own company.
We had been directing each other in --
throughout, you know, our years at Northwestern.
And then I started to bounce back
between auditioning for TV and film in L.A.
and commuting to Chicago.
So I'd go back and forth to do theater in Chicago
with my company and try to -- try to climb
the, you know, the Hollywood, you know, rungs, as it were,
the ladder, to try to eke out a career in TV and film, as well.
-It's funny. You know, obviously, you know, I think,
like everybody in that cast, you came to prominence on "Friends."
I did not realize that you were on another iconic show.
I did not realize till today
that you were on "The Wonder Years."
-Oh, yeah.
-And based on this photo, a very different character than Ross.
-I was playing this -- this kind of hippie -- not hippie,
but more like a wandering construction kind of guy and --
who fell in love with Olivia Dabo's character,
you know, the sister.
And that was my first introduction to TV, really.
I mean, that was my first real break.
And I can tell you, the first --
Actually, my first real scene on-camera --
You know, I come from theater,
so I had no idea what I was doing, right?
I just thought, "Okay, we all rehearse this big dinner scene."
Actually, about five of us sat at the table.
And we rehearsed, and I felt kind of nervous.
I'm stepping into this big cast, this huge show.
And they shoot -- They shoot Fred first.
They shoot him 'cause he had to go to school after his --
-[ Laughs ] Right, of course.
-So, they shot him out.
And then they shoot everyone else out, and I'm last.
And when I'm finally on-camera,
I'm acting across a piece of tape
that they put next to the camera box
and some older script supervisor kind of reading the lines.
And I'm like, "Oh, my God. This is my intro --
I'm just acting with a piece of tape."
Anyway, it was -- It was baptism by fire, I guess, but, you know.
-I think the other weird thing that happens
is the first time you're on television --
My first time, I was -- had a very small role
in an episode of "Spin City."
People at home, they see you, and they assume,
since you've been on network television,
that you have now made it, and you have nothing but money.
But the reality is, like, as soon as I did that episode,
I went back to my normal life.
And the same happened for you, right?
-For sure. I mean, I was waiting tables for seven years
during all these little gigs, you know?
You're right. I mean, people think,
"Wow, you're on TV. You made it!"
But, I mean, the first time I actually saw myself
on television, on "The Wonder Years,"
I was waiting tables -- I was on my shift.
And one of my buddies, another waiter, you know,
pointed out to the television that we had over the bar --
at the bar area of the restaurant.
He said, "Schwimmer, you're on TV."
You know, and I turn, and I looked. I'm like, "Yeah."
Then I turn back to my table.
I was like, "Do you want blue cheese or thousand island?"
-[ Laughs ]
It's very humbling.
It's -- That's a good story.
I hope that everybody who's trying to get into this business
can hear that and be a little inspired
by how it ultimately turned out.
-Well, it also -- I think it teaches you so much respect
for anyone in the service industry,
for the rest of your life.
I mean, if you've ever waited tables,
as I did for seven years, first of all,
you tip really well for the rest of your life...
-Absolutely. -...because you just know
how much -- how much people rely on gratuity.
And that's the only way I paid my bills,
you know, for all those years.
-I also -- I don't know if you feel this way,
but I think there's this projection
of how stressful show business can be.
And it's not without its stresses,
but the only stress dreams I ever have
are ones about being a waiter.
Like, that is still --
That, like, table seven needs their burrito.
That will wake me up in the middle of the night
more than anything that ever happened in my career.
Well, I hope, one, that we can --
all of us can get back to restaurants soon.
And, two, that we all can remember
to over-tip our wait staff.
-Yes, yes. -And congrats on the show.
It's always so nice talking to you, David.
-Thanks, man. Thank, Seth. I appreciate it.