Keegan-Michael Key

The hilarious Keegan-Michael Key talks new Hulu series & more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're on with Mario Lopez. It's over a Mario Lopez
joining me now on Zoom. Award winning actor and producer
Keegan Michael Key, Welcome to the show man. How are you,
good man, Good to see you. How have have you been.
I've been well. Thank you for asking. Congratulations on the
new Hulu show Reboot. Um, what's about. Well, it is
about a group of actors and producers who are making

(00:24):
a television show. They're rebooting a TV show from the
late nineties early two thousands, and this young woman who
has decided she wanted to reboot the show, and she
goes to Hulu and HU says, yeah, we'll do it,
We'll do it. And so now the the casts who
haven't seen each other in fifteen years and have a
lot of water under the bridge they've got to deal with.
I'm coming back to redo the show and I play

(00:46):
a character named Reid Sterling, who is like this, you know,
like classically trained Shakespearean actor whose first big gig was
this sitcom which he's resented his whole life, like, you know,
I should be doing Hamlet, and I'm on this you
know this, this on this show. And so it's about
all of their relationships and everything, and it's it's really fun.
It's a blast. What a fun premise. Very inside baseball.

(01:08):
I like it, very inside baseball, very inside, but yeah,
very inside baseball. Um, I'm assuming your character's career didn't
exactly pan out how you would hope, because he's back
on the reboot correct, which means to me even more
Discrunt told, I imagine, well, what's what's the twist that's
happened to the character is that this new show runners
come into work on the show, this new creative person,

(01:29):
and she's like this dark indie director and she's gonna
write this weird multicam that has all this nuance and
dark secrets. And he's like, oh my god, I gotta
do it because maybe people will see the potential I
had when I came out of the Yale School of Drama.
And so when he comes back because he thinks he's
going to be able to finally show everybody the legitimate,

(01:49):
amazing actor that he is instead of this schlocky sitcom.
Guy got it, that's funny, that's funny, man, and on
a cool cast to Judy Greer, Paul Hazer, Rachel Bloom, nice, Yeah,
I mean real, like amazing, naturally funny people, and we
should we should not forget Johnny Knoxvilleville is one of
the stars of this show. So far as you can see,

(02:09):
we don't need any stunt men, so right, right, right,
exactly exactly, so Will flipping it on and said with
the reboo concept, that's good. That's cool man. Good for you.
Um you were also the voice of Honest John in
the new live action Pinocchio. You're happy with the way
that turned out. I'm extremely happy with the way it
turned out. I was very very fortunate to be able
to work with, you know, with Robert Semeckis and Tom

(02:31):
Hanks and and and it was just really it's it's
fun to do a reimagining of a classic and the
fact that it was Pinocchio, which is like my favorite
animated movie. In fact, I'm very fortunate that I got
to play the character that was my favorite character in
one of my favorite movies. That is very cool. That's
on the dock heat at Costa Lopez. I got three
small kids. I think I think we're getting into that,

(02:54):
but they'll love it. I think they'll love it. Nice
looking forward to it. Um you saying hide a diddled
d d D Hi diddle d that's how it goes. Yeah,
d's oh that's right right there. Now I remember the song.
I was like, hi, diddle d d h. I know
it's been a minute. It's been like forty years since.

(03:16):
I think about years. Right. Um, Dropping October twenty eight
on Netflix, Wendell and Wild and you're collabined with your
boy Jordan again. Right. Yes, it's a it's a it's
a Key and Peel reunion first one. And gosh, it
feels like now about maybe. I mean it's going we're
going on ten years now because the show has been
off the air going been off the air since and

(03:40):
Jordan's co wrote this project with Henry Selleck. Now you
know Henry Selleck. He's the guy that did Nightmare before Christmas,
James and the Giant Peach and Coraline. He is the
stop motion animation master, and so we're very very happy
that we got to work with them. And it's fun.
It's it's it's a trippy little piece. That's beautiful. Man
Um looking down the roads thinking a trippye the Wonka prequel. Yeah,

(04:02):
that sounds really cool. Is is there anything you can
tell us about your character or the movie, and that
are you sworn secrecy? Get lashes. It's kind of it's
kind of a yeah. Yeah, it's forty lashes for talking
about anything, twenty lashes if I mentioned the character's name. Um,
I can say that it is a prequel. I can
say this is a prequel, and I think it's pretty
pretty much everyone knows that Timothy shallow May is playing

(04:24):
a young Willy Wonka. And um, musical aspects? Can you say?
Is there a musical aspect to it? There is? I
can say that, yes, that's so. Yeah, and it's it's
it's a it's a big, lovely, beautiful, gorgeous, epic kind
of musical. Um, I guess one could call it a musical. Yeah,
and it's really wonderful. It's it's I mean, Timothy, Timo Timote,

(04:48):
he's terrific, He's absolutely terrific in it. And it's it's
pre the Chocolate Factory. And when is uh do they
have a scheduled release? Um? I don't No, next year,
next year or sometime next year. I can say, all right,
I'll be checking that out too, for sure. UM, take
the kids to that one, for sure. For sure, I'll

(05:09):
believe me. We worried about all about those. Uh, you're
big football guy. I know who's your team. Man. I
am from Detroit and I am sorry for that, but
I respect the loyalty. You're a Lions guy. I respect
that because if you could back up a crappy team
like I used to, My Chargers are all these things.
I'm like, those are my kind of guys right there.
Those are the kind of guys you want to ride

(05:29):
or die with. Right there. If you're not a fan,
you're you're not a real fan unless you are with
them in the lean times. And we've had lean times,
you have as long as I've been alive, that exact time.
But you know, Hard Knox was good. It always gives
Hard Knox is tough because it gives you hope, right right,
you get all fired up right right right right. So
that's my that's my team. Respect respect all right. Well, meanwhile,

(05:52):
reboot is premiering Tuesday on Hulu. Keigan, thanks for hanging out, man,
I see you you're tomorrow. We'll get to see your
brokay okay with Mario Lopez