The Community Cast's On-Set Trailers Are Decorated with Pictures of Native Americans, and Other Things They Told Us at Paleyfest This Week

On March 15, the cast and crew of NBC's Community arrived at PaleyFest to talk about their quirky, genre-bending comedy. We were able to get a few minutes with some of the stars on the red carpet; read on for some insights from Danny Pudi, Chevy Chase, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, Jim Rash, and Gillian Jacobs.

Danny Pudi (Abed Nadir)

Tell me a little about Abed's side stories. Do your scripts look different from everyone else's? You're always having a background adventure.

Yeah, I mean, it started out—I remember when we first started the show, we were doing photo shoots in the beginning, and people would be like, "Everybody smile!" And I would smile, and they'd be like, "Except you, Danny." And I was like, okay, this is sort of where we're going. Everybody smiles but Danny. And I get it. The Abed character—in some ways I feel like a fan who's won a contest to be in a show. Because I get to kind of be part of the show as well as being the audience in many ways, which I love. The scripts are always pretty damn ridiculous. All the sudden I'll flip to page 23, and it's like, "Abed delivers baby," and I'm like, "What?!" Somehow it makes sense, though.

How often does your taste in TV and movies match up with Abed's?

You know, pretty often. I think the tastes are pretty similar. The knowledge is vastly different, because Abed has such a vast knowledge—he's like an encyclopedia. My favorite movie of all time is Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, and last year, in an episode, I got to wear Indiana Jones's whip, and I was talking about Indiana Jones a lot. You know, Abed has this love and fascination with '80s movies, with '80s trivia, and with shows that were huge in the '80s. And I grew up then, so a lot of that stuff definitely resonates with me. I think the biggest difference, though, is Abed can name every episode from M*A*S*H Season 4, and I can't name one.

Can you talk a little about your bromance with Donald Glover—how it developed and how it's worked itself into the show?

Yeah, it kind of just happened. It was one of those organic things. We talk about Dan Harmon being so brilliant in so many ways, and one of the ways he's very brilliant is capturing what's going on. He's always able to capture what's going on and put it into the script, whether it's a Twitter thing or whatever it is. So we did an interview last year where [Donald and I] sort of broke off into this impromptu rap. Someone literally asked us for our sandwich wrap, or something, but I thought they said "rap," like R-A-P. Next thing you know, we're just busting it out. And then, Dan saw it and was like, "I'm gonna put that into the show." The very next week we were doing a Spanish rap, and it's kind of taken off from there. I think in many ways it really makes sense just for our two characters to have this end-of-show bit. It's not really doing anything. It's just a little silly taste into the world of Greendale. And for me, it's such the essence of college. It's those moments where you're not in class, where you're not walking to school, where it's not a final, but it's those moments where you're sitting around with your buddies and the funniest shit happens, and you guys literally can't stop laughing over—I don't know—a bird that flew into the window or whatever, stuff that you can't really explain. But it's those moments of true friendship where you're experiencing something together. That's my favorite thing to do.

You mentioned that Abed is kind of a participant and a viewer. Do you think his outsider status bothers him, or is he used to it by now?

I think he's grown to accept it and he's comfortable with it. He understands it. I think he still has such a need to connect, though, like anybody else, and trying to figure out why he doesn't necessarily respond to things other people do. Kind of like me—there's always that urge to connect with someone, but sometimes you realize, like, I don't know why I can't connect with that person. I know I can't, though. It's a fun role to play, because I get to really not adhere to any social queues in many ways. It's very freeing, but it is also lonely. And you've seen with Abed's character this year, there is a little bit of loneliness—a lot of loneliness—where he's just by himself. But I think he's so used to it and comfortable with it, and one of the ways he's really coped with it is diving into movies and that kind of thing. He's much more comfortable with the movie structure and the film and TV structure, because it gives him a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Gillian Jacobs (Britta Perry)

Do you think Britta will ever stop taking herself so seriously, or is that just who the character is?

She gets made fun of a lot, and she doesn't seem to stop doing what she's doing. So I don't know. Maybe she'll really go into therapy, not like Professor Duncan fake therapy, and maybe loosen up a bit. It'll finally hit home that she should stop taking everything so seriously, but not now. Not Season 2.

Does she frustrate you to play?

No, I love it.

What's the best part about playing Britta?

Being completely wrong, being a hypocrite, being wrong, getting called out on things, having paper balls thrown at me. [laughs] All of that.

Do you prefer doing the episodes that are a bit more grounded, or do you like the big theme episodes? Or do you like the mix?

I like that we don't have to pick. 'Cause I don't think I would want to be on a show that was all one or the other, you know? But it's really nice to go from doing something hyperrealistic, like the hospital episode, which was faux-documentary style—to go from that to something that's really heightened reality, I think that's really fun. And you feel sort of challenged as an actor. You've got to keep all your chops up rather than just doing the same thing week after week.

You mentioned last year at PaleyFest that you'd felt a little out of your element at first, without the comedic background that some of your co-stars have. How much have you learned since you started the show?

I've learned a lot. I've learned a lot from this man, Jim Rash [who plays Dean Pelton]. He's a Groundling and he actually asked me to go and do improv one night at the Groundlings. I was foolishly like, "Yeah, sure!" And then I got there and was instantly terrified, like, "What have I done?" But I feel like I've absorbed some stuff … The only reason I was able to pull it off is getting to work with people like Jim and Donald Glover and Chevy Chase.

What can you tell me that you haven't told anyone else in the press line?

Why are you trying to get me in trouble? … What can I tell you that I haven't told anyone else? Our trailers have really weird pictures of Native Americans in them that I don't understand. And they have, like, all-brown decor.

Well, can you explain the ending of The Box?

No, I can't. I'm sorry. I don't have that answer for you.

NEXT: Jim Rash, Ken Jeong, Yvette Nicole, and Chevy Chase >>