Photo by
Frank Micelotta / FX
Agent Sterling Archer is the edgiest secret agent on
television and he’s voiced by super-funny actor H. Jon Benjamin. In a recent
conference call interview, the animated star talked about getting cast in his
iconic role and whether or not he gets those obscure references made on the
series.
Jon recalled how he landed the title role on Archer, “Adam Reed, the creator of Archer, God rest his soul [said
jokingly], he called me. I think he had heard me do some other work on Adult
Swim shows. And he called me to read the part.
I don’t know if other people had been asked. I don’t know if I was first choice or like
literally last resort — probably last resort, right? Right? So, yes. And then I accepted and then
it worked out well. But I was tentative
because I didn’t think I could pull off a spy.
If you knew me, you’d know all the reasons why.”
Not only was Jon uncertain about his ability to step into
the espionage world, but he lacked another skill that might seem necessary to Archer fans. It turns out that Benjamin
doesn’t get a lot of the pop culture references that are often woven throughout
the episodes. He admitted, “I occasionally [Google things]… There’s like a
50/50 ratio of me knowing and me not… Fortunately, I’ve read some Melville, so
that’s good… But there is some stuff like the guy who invented or who started
eugenics — I didn’t know that was him.”
Luckily he knew who Burt Reynolds was. Not only is the ‘70s
star frequently mentioned on the show, but he’s due to make an appearance in
the upcoming season. Jon joked, “That’s great.
I can’t believe he’s still doing stuff.
He should take a break. It’s been
like 60 years. Like just stop.”
He added, “It was the natural, well not the natural
progression. But Archer’s obviously
referenced Burt Reynolds a lot, so I’m sure it popped into Adam Reed’s head to
just to try and cast him. It’s funny
that I shouldn’t be calling these people and you must think like they’ll never
do it and then they’re probably like, ‘Of course, I’ll do it.’”
The Reynolds’ guest spot is just another sign to expect the
unexpected on Archer. And Jon
remarked that the upcoming season will not disappoint diehard fans. “It does
get crazier — not crazier, but there are definitely moments of pure craziness,
as there always is in the show. But
[Archer] returns back to his regular life, so he doesn’t go off the rails
completely.”
He continued, “The show gets back to what it did in the
second season, which is focus on all the characters who work for the spy agency
and stuff like that. So he doesn’t have
any more crazy flights… but they go to space.
They get to go to space, but I think that was part of the mission, so
it’s not like he was just like, ‘I’m going to go to space and take off.’”
Watch as the new season of Archer kicks off on Thursday, January 19 at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m.
Central on FX.
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