Paul Scheer Issue #36

This Giant star balances the small and silver screens while making fun of everything in between

By Carlye Wisel
Published: June 1st, 2008 | 3:45pm

You can see Paul Scheer in Eddie Murphy’s upcoming film. Well, maybe.

As the only project Scheer’s ever been fired from and rehired onto in the same day, it’s baffling that his role in Meet Dave is the one part he couldn’t nail. The film tells the tale of a spaceship resembling a human and operated by aliens that have landed on Earth to obtain table salt. Perhaps the flick was a bit too bizarre for this Upright Citizens Brigade–affiliated, VH1-certified pop-culture guru and accomplished comedian. Or, maybe he just was too thin.

“I was fired essentially because I was not fat enough,” Scheer says. Too thin? For a movie these days? Is that even possible? “I was cast in the role of Lieutenant Buttocks, which means that I worked in Eddie Murphy’s ass.”

Forced to relinquish his part (and costume) to his replacement — the guy doing video playback for the film — a producer noticed Scheer exiting the set and added a part for him as Lt. Kneecap into the ending. Well, into one of four endings shot for the film.

A lack of work like this is rare for Scheer, who at the time of our interview had to cancel tour dates and a SXSW appearance with eccentric sketch comedy troupe Human Giant in order to film The Year One, a movie starring Jack Black and Michael Cera and directed by one of Scheer’s heroes, Harold Ramis.

Too nervous to reveal information about his part as a bricklayer — “they’ve been really, really, incredibly secretive about it” — he’ll readily gush about their tax refund–friendly filming location of Shreveport, Louisiana. “It seems like there are a couple things here: fried foods, poverty, and casinos,” jokes Scheer as he stares at one of the three through his hotel window. Spending his nights with cast members at the Actors Café, a “sports bar geared toward performers” with classic movies on TVs and tables lined with headshots, the relaxed atmosphere is comparable to that of a few months ago when there was more free time due to the writer’s strike.

Unlike the majority of Scheer’s counterparts, though, Human Giant, the television equivalent of his aforementioned eponymous troupe, continued filming throughout the cold, comedy-free winter months. Premeditating the strike, Scheer and fellow Human Giant members Rob Hubel and Aziz Ansari created about 70 scripts by the time the picket lines formed, allowing them to shoot their non-union show while scoring exclusive cameos from jobless friends and SNL cohorts.

Having been on sets that had lobsters for lunch, a standby sushi chef, on-hand medics, trays of iced lattes, and whole hams as snacks, Scheer’s experience with Human Giant is beyond different.

Lunch? Chips retrieved out of a white van’s trunk and pasta of some kind, causing a constant broccoli, meat sauce, or mac-and-cheese guessing game. Safety precautions? None, except for a space heater that warmed Ansari between takes after he was wrapped in bubble wrap and submerged in a porcelain bathtub full of ice three times, since fake ice didn’t fit into the budget.

And makeup? When shooting ran late, Scheer, who was covered in blue paint, had to walk home “looking like some sort of down and out Smurf.”

Though keeping busy with various projects has forced him to provide less commentary for his most recognizable gig on Best Week Ever, Scheer’s passion for entertainment is central to why he works so hard, even if it gets in the way of life, or in some cases, death.

“I almost missed a wake because I was too busy watching this MTV show called Sorority Life,” he says. “I literally was watching a marathon…standing in my suit… [going] ‘Well, I can get this next train.’ I had to pull myself away. Somebody died! Someone in my family died! And I couldn’t pull myself away from Sorority Life.”