Actor Craig Robinson has been stealing scenes on The Office for a few seasons now. His chill, dry delivery is the wet blanket needed to counteract Michael Scott's manic energy. The dude is too cool to be fazed by one of the funniest character actors in a generation. Hollywood inevitably took notice, or at least Judd Apatow did. Robinson seems to be in every hit comedy lately with diamond-bit-parts in Knocked Up, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Pineapple Express, Zack and Miri Make A Porno and now Miss March.
I recently met up with Robinson at the W Hotel in Times Square to talk about his role as Horsed*ck.MPEG in the sophomoric comedy, Miss March, from The Whitest Boys You know comedy troupe.
UGO: So your character in this movie is pretty spectacular. Did you come up with the name and the songs?
Craig Robinson: No, the character was pretty much written by the guys (writer/directors Zach Creggor and Trevor Moore) before I got there. But the video and all the choreography...that was all me.
UGO: You filled out the role of a cartoonishly hardcore hiphop star very well. Do you think you could ever get into music, or maybe make a hiphop album?
CR: Well, I have a backup band play with me for my comedy act. We incorporate music into the show wherever possible. And some of the songs are hiphop songs. So yeah, maybe I would think about doing an album someday.
UGO: That's really cool, I'd bet a lot of people didn't know you were musically inclined. What do you play?
CR: Keyboards. I started playing in college. I actually majored in music in college, and got a master's from Xavier. After I started performing around town and doing some funny stuff in the act I discovered comedy, and kinda of just started doing that.
UGO: If you could jam with anyone right now, who would it be?
CR: Prince, most definitely. He's one of the baddest most underrated guitar players there is.
UGO: So, in this movie you play a really misogynistic dude, but there's a scene where you're smoking blunts with Zach Creggor on the bus and you start talking about how a woman hurt you. Did you improv any of that?
CR: Some of it. A lot of the script was already laid out. But this character was obviously over compensating for something, and I thought it would be funny to play it completely over the top.
UGO: Was the name "Horsed*ck.MPEG" something from real life?
CR: I think it was a real filename of some crazy porn Zach and Trevor had seen.
UGO: Have you ever been to the Playboy Mansion before this?
CR: Yeah, one time. It was really strange. It was a Halloween party...and it's really like how you think it is - there are just naked girls walking around all over the place.
UGO: Did you meet Hef?
CR: I didn't. I saw him walking through the room at a distance, but I wasn't cool enough to hang out with him.
(At this point, Craig starts yawning heavily. He's also been sweating since the interview started.)
UGO: You alright, man? What time did you get in last night?
CR: Oh man...like 5:30. We went to the club last night. It's New York! I can't stay in.
UGO: So no girlfriend, then?
CR: No, no. No girlfriend at the moment.
UGO: What's next for you?
CR: Well, I'm going to start filming a movie with John Cuscack in April called Hot Tub Time Machine.
UGO: Sweet. Thanks for talking to us this morning. Go back to bed.
