Community Star Danny Pudi on Breaking Out of the Abed Box

When Danny Pudi received the pilot script for Community, his agents wrote at the top that Abed was the role he was “born to play.” He had no idea at the time how true that would be.

In this episode of The Last Laugh podcast, Pudi traces his road from guest star on dramas like The West Wing and ER, to his breakthrough role as the pop culture-obsessed Abed, to his charming reunion with Community co-star Alison Brie in her new rom-com Somebody I Used to Know. We also talk about the career challenges he faced after the sixth season of that cult hit sitcom, and how he’s feeling about the chance to inhabit the character once more when the Community movie finally starts shooting soon.

A wide smile spreads across Pudi’s face when I ask him what it was like to reunite with Brie on the set of Somebody I Used to Know. What follows is an emotional avalanche: “Fantastic, distracting, joy-fest, a lot of old bits, but just really refreshing. You rarely get a chance to truly work with a friend that you’ve known for a long time, and I was just grateful.”

When Brie was on The Last Laugh podcast last fall, she too could barely contain her excitement about reuniting with her old castmate in the film. “It’s the first time that Danny and I have acted together since Community. And it was so fun to be back on set,” she said at the time. “Immediately our antics from the past were right in the forefront, and a lot of them made it on screen. I think that Community fans will be happy to see our characters together in that.”

Somebody I Used to Know is co-written by Brie and directed by her husband, Dave Franco; they wrote Pudi’s role specifically for him and originally named the character Danny before ultimately changing it to Benny. It was also the couple’s idea for him to grow a very un-Abed-like mustache for the part. “At first I was like, are we doing a Western?” Pudi recalls. “But then I was like, it fits.”

But as fun as it was to hang with his friends in the idyllic Pacific Northwest setting for a few weeks, what really appealed to Pudi about the film was playing a grounded, rational, regular person for once.

“There’s a lot of characters I’ve played that have a lot of heart to them, but this was someone who’s really struggling,” he says of the character, who is going through his own breakup while also trying to help navigate the romantic lives of his two close friends, played by Brie and Insecure’s Jay Ellis.

Nearly eight years after Community’s sixth season ended, Pudi is finally in a place where he’s starting to be accepted by audiences as someone other than Abed. That’s part of what has made him equal parts “nervous” and “excited” to return to the character in the upcoming movie, which creator Dan Harmon officially confirmed is happening in the near future. Even if Pudi says, “A little part of me is still holding my breath.”

Below is an edited excerpt from our conversation. You can listen to the whole thing by subscribing to The Last Laugh on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts, and be the first to hear new episodes when they are released every Tuesday.

How were you feeling about your career when Community came up?

I think I’m fortunate, because when Community came up I was a little bit older. I’d already been out of college. I had been auditioning. I moved from Chicago. I’d been doing a lot of sketch comedy. I guess it was a surprise, because in some ways I just wasn’t expecting it. I was hopeful that something would hit but just really never knew if it would. So then, when I read Community, when the script came my way, I was terrified. Because I was like, this is it! This feels right. It was a show that I knew I would watch and be a fan of. It felt very personal. It just felt like Dan Harmon literally wrote it and threw it at me.

Was Abed always the character that you were going out for or was there any ever question about playing anyone else?

There wasn’t. My agents at the time actually sent me the email. And I remember, above the email they wrote, “Here’s the role you were born to play.”

What did that mean to you?

Even more terror! In some ways, you try to play these mental tricks where you’re just like, “Whatever, if it happens, it happens, it’s probably not that great,” just to calm myself down. Then I read it and I was like, “Oh no! This is the role I want to play.”

What was it about Abed that made it the role you were destined to play?

I think that there was this idea of this character that’s in the middle of the action, the middle of this study group, who just sees things differently. And I could always relate to that. I grew up mixed-race. I was, in many ways, the only person like me in a room. I always remember that feeling as a kid where I’d go into a room and I always felt like there’s nobody else like me here. And sometimes that was pointed out, sometimes it wasn’t. But it was something that I was very much in tune with, what that was like. I remember being the only Indian kid in school and there’s just something different about that. And that experience was something I could really relate to. In terms of Abed, I just think that there was something really playful about how he saw the world, which I loved.

One thing about Abed that viewers sort of understand but is never really explicitly laid out is that he is on the autism spectrum in some way. And I was curious if that was something that you had conversations about behind the scenes. Did you talk to Dan Harmon about that at any point early on, or was it something that you thought about while you were playing him at all?

We didn’t talk about it much. We definitely talked specifically about what Abed was going through many times. If I had questions about what was taking place or if there were questions about Abed’s point of view in the scene, where is he coming from, those were the conversations we were having a lot of at the time. And obviously, I needed a lot of guidance and I was appreciative of that.

Have you heard from fans of the show who really related to him in that way and said that it was meaningful for them to see someone who was like them?

Definitely. And that is one of the greatest and most unexpected gifts of the show. I meet people on the street, people write me letters, and you never expect that. I never expected the show to last. I didn’t even expect the show to air. It just didn’t feel like it was going to have a long run.

It was always on the bubble.

Yeah, and a lot of that energy we applied to the filming process. We were just going for it and trying things. And I think that helped create this feeling that this was something unique, that this was tapping into something that a lot of people haven’t seen before. Personally, I definitely grew up without seeing anyone like me that I could relate to on screen, and in some ways being able to play Abed and have a character that other people haven’t seen or can relate to now, that just feels so special and so beautiful. I was not expecting that. And I’m just very, very grateful for that.

As you said, the show was never really expected to last as long as it did, and it changed networks and Dan [Harmon] left and then came back. So, how did the whole “six seasons and a movie” thing happen?

So it was in the show. Abed becomes this massive fan of the show The Cape that was on NBC, and it becomes this joke in the show about Abed really wishing that this show is going to last for six seasons and a movie. And then it became this call to action from our fans for our show, which I loved. It was just a beautiful thing to see how the fans embraced this show and became truly a part of this show. So that, over time, really became this rallying cry. I don’t think we ever really believed it would happen; still don’t, in some ways!

You’re still holding your breath?

A small part of me is still holding my breath, but it’s looking really likely and we’re pumped.

This is the realest it’s ever seemed, I would say.

For sure, yeah. I think there’s this reflective feeling that many of us are having—I am, at least—of, it feels really good to think about some of the things that mean a lot to us. And one of them is these relationships with these people and I’m very deeply, deeply thankful for it. And wouldn’t it be fun to go back and try it again?

How do you feel about the process of returning to the character of Abed? Do you think about what that will be like to play him again?

I do. I’ve definitely been thinking about it. I’m definitely a little nervous. It’s been a while. But I’m also very, very excited. I’ve had some conversations with the team about it. I’m trying to get any intel I can so I can just start preparing for it. But I’m very excited. It was such a fun character and world to inhabit that I’m excited to see what it feels like again after 10 years.

“I definitely struggled with wondering if I would find something as special, as specific, as connecting as Abed, wondering if I was able to be seen in a way that was unlike that character as well. ”

— Danny Pudi

What was the experience like for you after those six seasons ended and it was time to walk away from the show?

A lot of mixed feelings. During the show, my life went through a lot of changes. I had kids during the show. It was such a full experience. We filmed long hours. The show was constantly on the bubble. It just felt like a show that we were putting all of our hearts in, I was putting all of my energy into. And then to just have it end, it really did feel like, “What do I do now? How do I do something else knowing that I just walked away from a family that I love, that is extremely talented?” So many gifted artists, incredible writing, directing [from] the Russo Brothers and Justin Lin and all these incredible directors. There was just so much that was there and it felt like this really full experience after six seasons.

How do you follow that?

The answer is, I don’t know. I did a pilot. I did a couple of pilots, actually, afterwards, and I was hopeful for both of them. Neither of those pilots went, unfortunately. And then it was just sort of this idea of being open to finding the next role. I definitely struggled with wondering if I would find something as special, as specific, as connecting as Abed, wondering if I was able to be seen in a way that was unlike that character as well.

You can definitely get put in a box when you are doing a long-running show like that. I’m sure there are dozens of sitcom stars who have felt that.

Yeah. I had all of those feelings. And over time, work has led to Mythic Quest. It came not that long after, which was really exciting because it was a chance to work with Megan Ganz, who had worked on Community, but was also presented to me as a role that was unlike Abed; something very unique that I hadn’t done before and would challenge me in new ways. We just finished our third season. I’m loving it. It’s a great show with a lot of really talented cast members. I’ve been able to direct for the first time on this show. So I feel like it’s been cool to be able to step into a different world, and I’m just really thankful for it. I’ve had a lot of fun playing Brad, who is, I guess, a playful sociopath?

You’re getting to play a more villainous character!

Yeah, it’s been nice to really embrace that side of me. It’s cathartic.

Do you think the Community fans are disturbed by seeing you fully embrace your evil side?

I don’t know, they might like it. They’re probably just wondering, which timeline are we in? And I think that’s a question for all of us right now.

Listen to the episode now and subscribe to The Last Laugh on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts, and be the first to hear new episodes when they are released every Tuesday.

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