Josh Brener is an American actor, known for playing Dale in The Big Bang Theory and Lyle in The Internship.
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» All Actor InterviewsThanks everybody! This was slightly less terrifying than I expected! Check out The Rumperbutts at the Los Feliz 3 in LA or on demand on the internets! Yay!
Josh has guest starred on House of Lies, Workaholics, and The Middle and has recurring roles on The Big Bang Theory and Maron. He was a series regular on the TBS comedy Glory Daze and is Big Head on the HBO series Silicon Valley. Josh was seen in the Fox film The Internship where he starred alongside Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, and he is the voice of Steel in the upcoming feature Max Steel with Andy Garcia and Maria Bello. He plays the mysterious Richie in The Rumperbutts which opens TODAY!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-rumperbutts/id988641842
When you guys are shooting Silicon Valley, how badly does TJ Miller miss seeing his penis? For season 3, I can send him a couple pics of mine if he wants. Just one dude helping out another. Not a gay thing. Pass that on please, will ya?
Great question. And a really generous offer. I'd definitely encourage you to send him lots of d-pics.
How involved is Mike Judge with Silicon Valley? I know he's the creator, but is he there much on a day-to-day while filming?
Hey guys! Thanks for having me. I'm excited and also a little scared.
Mike is totally hands on with SV. He directs half of the episodes (Alec Berg directs the other half) and is involved with writing every episode. It's awesome... he'll give a note on set, and it sounds like Butthead is telling you what to do.
Hey Josh - what's been your favorite role to play so far? And what was it like to work with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson on the Internship? Any fun stories you can share from behind the scenes?
Well, I gotta say the role in Rumberbutts (Richie) was a super fun one! I got to play a somewhat magical, somewhat perverted music nerd... and I got to play the drums with Mates of State, one of my favorite bands!
What's The Rumperbutts about? Why should I go watch it?
Jason and Kori (of Mates of State) play a husband-wife band (like in real life) who are going through a rough patch (not like in real life). They've sold out and started doing shows for kids in crazy furry costumes and given up on their dream of being musicians. Until a big weirdo (Josh Brener) comes to try to get them back on track.
Go watch it because it's fun and goofy and sweet and salty and the director will send you presents if you go see it.
How different is Zach Woods from his Jared character and do all the guys do Beavis and ButtHead and King of the Hill impressions on set with Mike Judge ?
Constant Beavis/KotH impressions. Constant. You'd think after 2 years, we'd be tired of it. We're not. Amanda Crew's Hank Hill is incredible.
Zach Woods is the smartest, funniest person alive. So, yeah, he and Jared are pretty much the same guy.
What's it like working with such a great cast of actors on Silicon Valley?
BTW I love the show.
Envy-inducing. They are all funny and talented and it makes me furious.
Thanks for watching/loving the show! You're nice!
Hi! What was your favourite moment whilst filming Silicon Valley?
On an episode that hasn't aired yet, Thomas Middleditch and I are shooting a scene on the water. Out of nowhere, a giant sea lion jumped up out of the water and caught a fish. Some birds flew down and started trying to steal the fish from the sea lion. It was like a crazy safari nature video during Thomas's close-up. (Safaris happen in the ocean, right??)
Hey Josh!!
What's it like working with Maron on Maron? I think that show is pretty great.
Don't let the gruff exterior fool you, Marc Maron is the sweetest man alive. And also a friggin genius. Like, he knows everything about everything. He's honestly super great. It makes me mad.
Who is your favorite bad-ass female character?
Hermione Granger. She's a bad-ass, right?
Yeah, I'm waiting for the Elon Musk character to show up on SV. He'll probably try to convince to team to angel invest in a rocket to pluto or something..
I would totally invest in that rocket.
Are you ventriloquist? Because I can never tell if your mouth is open or not when you speak. Only question I have, other than that keep up the good work!
Mike Judge records all the dialogue on the show, I'm just the worst at moving my mouth to make it look like I'm actually talking.
Did you guys spend any time in Silicon Valley for role research?
We've been up there quite a bit, spent some time at Google and places like that. I recently got to go to SpaceX which was pretty much the awesomest thing that's ever happened to me. (I'm real real cool, guys.)
will Gavin ever realize that Big Head is an idiot?
Oh man, I hope not.
I wonder if he'll ever realize that Bag Head is Big Head.
Do you work with mike judge much and if so what's he like to hang out with?
All the time. He's on set pretty much every day, even for the episodes he doesn't direct. Hanging out with him is like standing in a backyard drinking beer at an accelerated rate.
Hey man, great to see you on Reddit.
What's something we should all look forward to in "The Rumperbutts"?
Incredible music!!! Mates of State are (is?) amazing! If you don't know their music, check them out... by watching Rumperbutts. Over and over and over and over again.
What food do you think you could eat every day for a year?
Pizza from New Haven, CT.
Hi Josh! It seems like your story line on Silicon Valley is ramping up to something big. Are we going to be seeing more of you on the show?
That'd be awesome... but I'm pretty sure that monkey is gonna steal all my screen time. Man, that monkey's good.
Do you have any causes or charities you support and why?
Great question! Yes! There's an after-school program in Hollywood called 9 Dots that gives underserved students in the area exposure to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. Kids learn to code and and build robots and do all sorts of cool stuff.
I also love A Purposeful Rescue and the Wildlife Waystation... because when people are dicks to animals, they try to make it better.
What's the funniest Dave Anthony moment you've ever witnessed? That guy is something else, huh?
All of them. He's impossibly hilarious.
I do remember watching a gag reel with him after season 2 of Maron. Neither of us were in it, and he went on a tirade saying that it's proof of our professionalism and preparedness as actors. He had to be escorted out.
I see that THE RUMPERBUTTS is playing at the Los Feliz 3 in Los Angeles... If I am not in LA, where else can I see it? Thanks! And love SV and Maron!
Find it on iTunes, Amazon, Vimeo, Playstation, XBox, etc. etc. etc. It matters not HOW you find it, just THAT you find it! Find it! FIND IT!
P.S. Find it.
How did you get started in television? Is comedy your favorite genre to act in?
Luck? I got cast in a short-lived show on TBS called Glory Daze. I was single-handedly responsible for its demise.
I'm told I have a face for comedy. And radio. And bank robberies.
Hi Josh. I thoroughly enjoy watching you on Silicon Valley and Maron. Seeing as how you're a Jewish man from Houston, how would you rate Kenny & Ziggy's versus LA's delicatessen's?
Oh man I love Kenny & Ziggy's so much. This AMA is over, I need to go to Kenny & Ziggy's.
What path do I take it if I want to become a comedy writer? I feel like I could do it if I got on the right track but I don't know what track to get on. I know no one in comedy or showbiz.
I have no idea, but if you find out, please tell me. I have a bunch of pretty crappy unfinished pilot scripts saved on my laptop. Anyone interested? Anyone??
Hi Josh! Two questions: (1) what's your "process" like?; (2) do you know the nifkin man?!?!?!?!?
Hi jvrodrig, here's hoping you make it to Varsity rodrig at some point soon.
(1) Vocal warmups are very important to me.
(2) Yes.
Can we get you a catch phrase on Silicon Valley? Even if its something meek like a soft "boo-yah."
Are we having FUN YET???
Have you had the pleasure of hearing your co-stars Marc Maron and Kumail Nanjiani beef with each other on the Doug Loves Movies podcast? If they ever came to blows with one another, do you think they'd both swallow?
On a scale of 1-10 how strongly do you agree with the following statement: Josh Brener looks like the guy who looks like the male version of Lorde.?
Keep making awesome shit.
I look exactly like Randy Marsh from South Park.
Do you have a favorite kind of animal?
Yes. And they should all be rescued from kill shelters.
This movie looks really good, it kind've reminds me of that movie "Frank." My questions to you are 'how did you get into the entertainment industry? Who are some of your inspirations? And what was the Funnest part about filming this movie?'
Great questions. Great username.
I don't know "Frank"... is it about Frank Costanza by any chance? I love Frank Costanza.
See above (or below... I can't figure this out) about my first TV job. After that, people were just stupid enough to keep hiring me. But they'll figure it out eventually.
Seinfeld and Simpsons were probably by biggest inspirations growing up. Nowadays, Seinfeld and Woody Allen. I also really like Seinfeld and Marc Brener's work.
Best part about filming was probably the pizza. We were in New Haven, CT and omg.
Who would you say had the best lightbulb-related bits on the set of The Internship?
Brian Schacter.
Josh! Big fan! If you were single and could date Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Cho Chang or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One Cho Chang, which Cho Chang would you date?
Trick Question. Order of the Phoenix Cho Chang.
dude sucks
Nah, come on, he's alright.
Josh, who is your favorite first cousin,and why?
Really tough one. Hmm. Definitely someone on my dad's side.
I notice you have an ukulele. You good?
Nope. Nope I'm not.
Who do you got in this marry, fuck, kill?
Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez.
You marry President Bartlett, you have a threesome with Wild Thing and Gordon Bombay, and then you kill yourself because the rest of your life will never be as good as that threesome.
Never watched the show, but ill give it a shot. On a related note, what's your favorite tv show that you are not in?
Thrones. I'm all about that Thrones.
