Will Arnett is not who you might expect to play an alcoholic basketball announcer in the upcoming Will Ferrell comedy, Semi-Pro. First of all, his favorite drink is Diet Coke, and he's from Canada, which isn't exactly the greatest place to learn about shooting hoops. While Arnett was in State College for the Funny or Die Comedy Tour in support of Semi-Pro, the former Arrested Development star sat down and discussed the movie and his background.
Q: It's your second time working with Will Ferrell. What's that been like?
A: It's getting worse. It's just -- he's a maniac -- he's a psychopathic maniac. No, it's really fun, man. He's the best in my book. Who's funnier than Will? So for me it's like, 'Hey do you want to go to this thing with Will?' And I'm like, 'You mean have good times every day? Yeah.'
Q: Your character drinks a lot of scotch. Drink of choice?
A: Drink of choice these days -- Diet Coke. My days of scotch are gone. It used to be Jameson's Irish Whiskey, which was a good, smooth drink, but those days are gone.
Q: Did you play any basketball when you were younger?
A: Terrible, terrible basketball player. I mean, I can dribble and I can pass. Actually that's not true, I'm a decent shooter of a basketball. I grew up in Canada, so it's not a hotbed up there. Although Steve Nash is from Canada.
Q: You've done a lot of voiceover work with commercials and animated projects. How is that different from acting in front of the camera?
A: First of all, your guard is probably kind of down, because nobody is actually filming you. I spent a lot of years doing straight-up voiceover work, so you know when you first hear your voice? You're like, 'Man, I sound like an idiot.' I got over that a long time ago. I reconciled with the fact that I sound like an idiot, and now I can deal with it. The animation stuff has been kind of cool the last couple years. It's a world that has kind of opened up for me. I've been really lucky and I feel like the stuff that I've had the chance to be a part of has been really great.
Q: I saw something about G-Force? Gerbils fighting crime?
A: Gerbils, hamsters, rats, a fly -- a mole. Me and [Zach] Galifianakis did that, and it was actually a really fun movie. It's like an action movie for kids and it's part animation and part live action, so there was a lot of technical stuff that seemed to be going on around us.
Q: I saw that the first listing on your IMDB.com page was that you were an on-air personality for Woodstock '94. Is that something you were interested in doing originally?
A: No. That was something that a friend of mine [who] worked for the company that was making that thing and knew that I was trying to pay my rent [set up]. Not only was it that, but it was also the overnight shift on that show. So whatever maniacs were watching at midnight to 6 a.m., they saw me. I was so bad at it, too. They were like 'Will, we're going to you.' And I was like 'What? Now? Now we're on?' I was just terrible.
Q: Are you sick of people talking about how great it would have been if Arrested Development kept going, or if Showtime had picked it up?
A: No, I'm not sick of it. I'm really proud of the show, and I'm happy that people really liked it. At least some people did, most of America did not, but the people that did, I'm glad that they liked it. It was such a great experience, and I look back so fondly at it because I had so much fun doing it.
Q: What do you think of Penn State so far?
A: I haven't gotten out much, but I can tell you the hallways underneath the Bryce Jordan Center are incredible. They are very broad and clean. I've been meaning to get to Arby's so maybe I'll pop in there. Maybe do some kind of roast beef sandwich thing. But it seems like a nice town.
