MONDO EXTRAS

We should probably clarify -- this series isn't about Chris Kattan being desperate to find a job.
Chris Kattan: It's not about me trying to get work, it's about me wanting to be a leading man, and that not happening. So I'm getting work and being funny, it's just, "What if this guy thought he could be Keanu Reeves, or Matt Damon, or Clive Owen, or, you know, Shia LeBeouf?" These leading men of today, and why I'm not getting that chance.

Your character's desire to be a leading man -- is that something that you understand about yourself?
Kattan: I'm realistic about it. I don't think it's really gonna happen, and that's fine. I understand what my gift is, which is making people laugh, hopefully. It's more on that level. I don't need to be a leading man, I'm fine with that.

Did you enjoy playing a heightened version of yourself?
Kattan: Yeah, definitely. IFC had a great way of letting me do that and not doing the reality show approach and keeping it up to the level of smart comedy.

You enlisted a lot of your real-life friends to do the show with you -- were they all game to play versions of themselves?
Kattan: I think the best way to get people like that is when you ask your friends to do it. So I asked Maya [Rudolph], and she read it -- she wasn't like "Yeah, I'll do it, whatever." Smart people are smart enough to say, "Well, let me read it first." So yes, Maya is a friend, and Keanu [Reeves], and David Alan Grier. They responded strongly to the script. They're not all my best friends, but Maya in particular I have a close relationship with. And my dad, we do get along. And Jennifer Coolidge, as well. She's in the second episode.