Glenn Howerton has big plans for the "beautiful, magical city" of his dreams

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2 days ago

In 11 Questions, The A.V. Club asks interesting people 11 interesting questions—and then asks them to suggest one for our next interviewee.
Glenn Howerton has been a staple on our screens for years now—and that's outside of that sitcom he developed with his pal Rob McElhenney. Earlier this year, the actor reveled in playing a different role than the curmudgeonly ones we're used to seeing in The Mindy Project and A.P. Bio. In Netflix's Sirens, he starred as a pathetically-in-love rich guy striving to woo his partner. And now, he's back as manipulative troublemaker Dennis Reynolds in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's 17th(!) season. 'It's the pinnacle of what I could've asked for, given how hard it was to get people to watch it when it began,' he tells The A.V. Club about the show's endurance. He adds that despite a lack of Emmy wins, Sunny has lasted because fans deeply connect with it. 'That's the art I personally consume the most. I'm into something because it's just so damn good and not because the powers that be told me I needed to watch it.'
In our latest 11 Questions, Howerton opens up about his love for Elizabeth Shue and Karate Kid, why he can't stop scrolling Instagram, and his desire to go back in time to become a tennis expert.
1. Did you make a New Year's resolution, and if yes, how is it going?
Glenn Howerton: I did not make a New Year's resolution this year. I have done that in the past, but now I tend to make resolutions throughout the year, so it's not isolated to any one time. I make and break lots of resolutions throughout the entire year. That's how I try to create new and better habits for myself. The older I get, the worse I am at actually succeeding at those things because I'm just so damn tired now. I set these goals for myself and then I'm just too tired to keep up. I'm always like, 'Let's take a nap.'
The A.V. Club: Do you remember what the last one was, even if you broke it?
GH: Yes, I've tried meditation many times. I've tried all the different types of meditation that you can think of. I've tried different apps a million times. I've been consistent for years at a time, but it's just never done anything for me. Then I started doing more breathwork. I found that to be extremely powerful. So my last resolution was to do breathwork at least once a day, and I haven't done it once this year.
AVC: Maybe start tomorrow?
GH: You know, I forget that that's an option. Instead of doing that, the next day I usually go for an extra cup of coffee. But instead, I should honestly do a 10-minute breathwork session. It would make me feel even better and it wouldn't come with the jitters and stuff. So as we're talking about this, I'm realizing I need to get back to it tomorrow.
2. If someone gave you a blank check to make any one creative project, what would it be?
GH: At this stage in my life, I don't think it would be industry-related. If we're talking about an actual blank check, it would be creating a beautiful, magical city where all of the most thoughtful, considerate people could live; and there would have to be some sort of extensive psychological exam for each person who's allowed to live in the city to make sure that they're genuinely ethical and moral people who don't take up two parking spots when they only need to take up one. I would just let all the people who throw their trash on the sidewalk and modify their mufflers so that their cars can be loud as shit live somewhere else and let all of us who are good people live in this magical city together.
AVC: That sounds like a complex test. Have you thought about what it would entail?
GH: I think it would be pretty extensive. It would be one of those things where it's smartly crafted so that you cannot cheat your way through it by giving answers, you know? It would be made with verified members of this group of really good people, and hopefully, you could also get someone to vouch for you. I don't know, though, I'd have to spend some more time thinking about it.
AVC: Who do you know who would get in for sure?
GH: My wife, for sure. My kids, probably not so much. They're little dickheads right now. But they'll get there. I think we're setting a pretty good example for them. But my wife is an incredible person.
3. What discontinued food or beverage would you like to see brought back?
GH: Oh. I'm curious to know, is that a question you ask people often?
AVC: Yeah, and so far this might be the one that has stumped most people.
GH: Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is when I was a kid, I ate a lot of sugary cereals. We didn't have a lot of other sugary foods in the house, but somehow the cereals slipped past my parents. I went nuts on them and had a few favorites as a child. But one of them was the peanut-butter flavored Cap'n Crunch. It tasted like a mix of sweet and salty peanut butter and had the perfect texture as if there was real peanut butter in it. Then, by the time I got to high school, I remember they changed the formula so they started tasting artificially sweet or something. That ruined it for me. I loved that cereal, so it's a shame. I would like to see the original version of that come back.
4. Who was your first pop culture crush?
GH: The first person that comes to mind is Elizabeth Shue. I was probably like six or seven years old when I first saw Karate Kid, and I just thought she was so cute.
AVC: Have you ever met her over the years?
GH: I actually recently did. Her kids went to the same school that my kids went to in Los Angeles. My wife knows her husband a little bit, and we were at some event at Sundance and hanging out with the same group of people for a brief amount of time. She was lovely, so grounded. And I had heard that about her. And she's still pretty stunning, if I do say so.
AVC: What about revisiting the Karate Kid movies? Have you done that in recent years?
GH: Absolutely. I think the first one is an especially extraordinary film that holds up surprisingly well because of Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita's performances. Ralph, in particular, just gave a very real and grounded performance. I love it.
5. What would you consider your biggest pop culture blind spot?
GH: Pop music for sure. Any pop music that's playing on the radio, I just don't connect to it. This isn't necessarily true across the board. Every once in a while, there'll be a musician who's very, very popular that I like. Some of my favorite artists have been extraordinarily popular if you look at their overall fame throughout the years, like David Bowie and Pink Floyd. Radiohead, too, but their stuff doesn't play on the radio, ironically. I'm trying to think of who I've liked that's been popular recently. Oh, I think Bruno Mars is talented. I'm sure there are other talented ones, and I don't even think they make bad music. But to me, it's a little bit like eating candy. I can only have a bit of it, and it's delicious, but it does not satisfy me. I'm not getting much from it. I like my music to challenge me.
AVC: What is the music that does satisfy you or that you keep going back to?
GH: I overuse this word with the people who know me, but I'm always seeking authenticity. With pop music, it's hard to know what's authentic and what isn't because, almost by definition, it feels like pandering just by being so widely popular and everybody loving it. I kind of lean towards artists that I feel like they're giving a little bit of a middle finger to the industry and challenging people to like them. Faith No More and Mike Patton, who was their lead singer for several years—that would be a good example of a band that made interesting music and didn't care about alienating all their fans. They just made whatever they wanted to make, and it was so weird. You can't even quite specify what genre they're playing in. It seems like every musician in that band was in a different band, and yet somehow, it worked. Recently, I've been into this band called Viagra Boys. They're a post-punk band who don't take themselves too seriously.
6. When were you the most starstruck and by whom?
GH: I get more starstruck by musicians than I do by actors. Maybe if I were a musician, it would be the other way around. But I feel like it's musicians who touch my soul. I remember when I first met the guys from the Kings Of Leon. It was a long time ago, but I was starstruck. We've since become good buddies, and I have so much respect for them, their upbringing, and their journey. I was also starstruck by Stephen Merchant to the point where I didn't even actually say anything to him because I didn't want to be a blabbering idiot. It would've been the same way if I had seen Ricky Gervais. I'm a huge fan of the British Office and of the other show they made together called Extras. I think those guys are geniuses.
7. What piece of advice that you received coming up in the industry would you say is no longer applicable to new artists?
GH: Most of the advice I got was universal. I don't know how many agencies package projects anymore, but the WGA came down on that a little bit. Am I going to get in trouble here by saying more? My feeling is that if you're ever offered the opportunity to have your representatives package something or pay commission, just pay the commission if you think it's a good deal.
Then there's also how social media has changed our industry and how having a large following can amplify your career. But nobody ever gave me advice about it when I was coming up because it wasn't a huge thing. It existed, but it didn't apply to how easily you could book a job. Honestly, I don't know if I have the mind for the kind of content that people create there. There are some brilliant creators, and I am endlessly entertained by them when I scroll Instagram to the point where it's become a bit of a problem because I can scroll and scroll and scroll. The algorithm is so damn good. And there are a lot of funny people there.
AVC: I know this season of It's Always Sunny has a little parody of the Hawk Tuah stuff. Can you tell me how that came about?
GH: You know, it's been almost six months since we finished filming it, and the Hawk Tuah thing is getting older and older, so I don't know how it will age. But I think it's a funny bit we get to do in the episode. And the character is so funny that it won't matter. We had an idea to do an episode where Frank is the Golden Bachelor, and the Hawk Tuah idea came up out of that. I can't give more away, though.
8. Who's someone in your field that everyone should be paying attention to?
GH: I'm probably not the right person to ask that. I think there are underappreciated people, but they're not necessarily new. Just off the top of my head is director Gareth Evans, who most recently did Havoc with Tom Hardy. He's not underrated, but he is underappreciated. Anybody who has seen the Raid movies will know that the action sequences this guy creates are great. I want to see him make more movies. He's such a lovely, sweet guy. Another one is actor Ben Schwartz, and it's not even that he's underappreciated because he seems to be working all the time, but I think he deserves more. He's an incredible improviser, one of the best ever. The sketch stuff he was doing with Thomas Middleditch is one of the most genius things I've seen. But he's also a really good dramatic actor. I like comedians whose humor comes from a very real place. Ben can make the most ridiculous things feel grounded and real, and I have so much respect for that.
9. What is your biggest travel pet peeve?
GH: It used to be waiting at the ticket counter to check in, but now they have kiosks to do that on your own, so it's not as much of an issue anymore. But I remember you'd stand in that line, and somebody up there on the counter would take like 30 minutes, and I'd wonder, 'What is happening?' I would walk up there, hand my ID, and they would ask if I'm checking my bag, hand me my ticket, and I'd be out of there in five minutes tops. So I wonder if other people used to come to airports with no plan. This isn't a restaurant—presumably people have bought their tickets ahead of time and know what to expect. That used to drive me nuts.
Nowadays, I wish there was a rule where people were required to stand at least four feet away from the luggage carousel. That way, everybody can see when their bags are coming out. Otherwise, inevitably, people start smashing themselves up against the carousel, and then if you don't do the same thing, you might not see your luggage. This is the kind of thing you won't be allowed to do in my city of considerate, lovely people who know doing something like this is shitty.
10. Who was the last person that you FaceTimed?
GH: It must've been my wife while I was in New York City for a long time doing press for Sirens, Sunny, and my whiskey company this year. We have a habit of FaceTiming every night.
11. What is your earliest memory?
GH: I have this spotty, vague memory from when I was like two of walking to the pool in maybe an apartment complex that we were living in. It must've been in Arizona or New Mexico—we lived there back to back, so I'm not sure where. But I was a kid holding somebody's hand, walking to the pool, probably one of my parents.
12. From Karan Soni: If you could go back in time and change one event in your life, what would you change and why?
GH: You know, I just feel like I've nailed it. Every single decision I've made in my life has worked out. [Laughs] No, I would go back to when I was a kid and I had started playing basketball, which was always my favorite sport growing up. I would go back in time and spend more time on my fundamentals. I was always a pretty decent athlete, so I was relying on that to get me through school. I was aggressive, I played hard, and I was pretty good, but not good enough to where I didn't have to keep working on my fundamentals to get by. I wish I had because as I got older, I couldn't rely as much on my speed and aggressiveness. It's harder for me to play the game now. My friends did that, and they were—and still are—really good. Above all that, though, I would go back and play more tennis. Looking back now, I feel like if I could've been excellent at any sport, it would've been tennis.
AVC: Do you get to play any sport now?
GH: Yeah, I still love playing tennis, which is partly why I think if I had focused when I was younger, I would've been way better than decent right now. My family and I play a lot of pickleball because we have a court. I do like playing a lot of ping-pong, too. I guess paddle sports are my thing with ping-pong, pickleball, and tennis—so small, medium, and large.
Without knowing who the next person we speak to is, what would you like to ask them?
GH: I'm assuming that person will be in the entertainment industry, so I would like to ask what they think about how we should handle the emergence of AI as actors and writers. How do we deal with the possibility of our likeness being used? Is it incumbent upon us for the artists who are coming up?
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