Superstore’s Feldman likes show’s smartness
TV, film veteran has fans from his roles in everything from Mad Men to Friday the 13th
LOS ANGELES— With a career as diverse as Ben Feldman’s, he has a wide variety of fans. The star of the NBC comedy Superstore is often recognized for his work on Mad Men and Silicon Valley, but he also has groups who know him from Cloverfield, Friday the 13th and 400 Days.
“I have a really weird cross-section of fans that found themselves in the middle of this Venn diagram,” Feldman says.
Superstore has added to the broad nature of those who know his work. On the surface, the series about eclectic workers at a big-box store comes across as a typical network comedy.
What Feldman also saw when he read the script for the first show was a serious side.
Superstore has touched on important topics such as divorce, guns, maternity leave, employee rights and corporate politics.
Blending comedy and serious topics will continue as new episodes are now airing Thursdays on NBC.
Feldman admits to being the biggest skeptic of all the cast members. Although he saw what Superstore could be, he cautiously waited to see if the show would live up to the potential.
“I knew the show would cover a broad spectrum of topics and ideas and versions of comedy. But I still don’t think any of us were expecting this to be a political, hot-topic show. We were just watching something become organically funny, and then it aired and we realized people were watching us like we were an idea show,” Feldman says.
Finding a series that was funny and smart was something he dearly wanted. But the most important thing to him was to get cast on a series that featured a large ensemble.
Other cast members include America Ferrera ( Ugly Betty), Colton Dunn ( Key & Peele), Nichole Bloom ( Shameless), Nico Santos ( Crazy Rich Asians), Mark McKinney ( The Kids in the Hall) and Lauren Ash ( Super Fun Night).
A major reason Feldman was looking to be part of an ensemble goes back to his previous series, A to Z, where he starred with Cristin Milioti. Cancelled in the middle of its first season, the romantic comedy focused on their relationship. Feldman never felt comfortable with a show built on two actors getting most of the attention while everyone else was a distant second.
Part of that comes from seeing how well ensemble shows work. Feldman made his Mad Men debut in the fifth season as a new copywriter at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. He was part of a large cast but was still able to shine, receiving a 2012 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
The Washington, D.C., native got his wish of being on an ensemble show, but the way the episodes have unfolded, his character has been the brunt of more jokes than other members of the cast.
“Every quirk, everything that’s potentially wrong with me shows up somehow in most of the scripts,” Feldman says. “I identify quite strongly with my character, I think.”