It's so funny, I've done so many projects where I've been interrogated. I guest starred on almost every hour drama, and I'm always the guy they think is the bad guy but then they find out is not.
I recently saw this home video where my brother is playing this character Arsenio Grimley, who is a mix of Arsenio Hall and Ed Grimley - which, clearly, is my parents' doing, because he's, like, 10. He's the host, I'm every guest, and then my dad is Elton John. That was a Saturday night.
I remember, the first time I played a parent was - I did a guest spot on 'Veronica Mars,' and they were like, 'OK, and this is your daughter,' and there's this little girl standing there. And I remember thinking, 'OK, this is weird... I guess I'm old enough to have a daughter.'
Like, on the 'Parks And Rec' set, I still feel like I'm a guest star. Being a fan of the show, it's really surreal to be on the set and see that it's not real, and getting to know the actors and they're not their characters.
For years and years, I was doing extra work and guest spots and anything I could cobble together.
A lot of people ask me, 'Are you going to do a sequel to 'The Guest' or 'You're Next?' - those movies weren't financially viable, so even though there are a lot of fans of it, it'd be a pretty small market we'd be appealing to. It's got to be a big hit for you to really justify that.
What is there more kindly than the feeling between host and guest?
Any album that you pick up of mine, you know it's an Akon album. The guests are very limited, and you get to really feel the experience. You get the Akon experience when you get the albums. I always want to make sure that stays the way it is. I don't want to flood the album to where you lose focus on why you bought it.
I have an obsession for quality. I work for my guests, not to obtain Michelin stars.
You come on as a guest. You don't get the girl anymore. But that is our lives. You start off as the boyfriend, then you are the lover, then you are the husband, then you are the father, and then you are the grandfather.
