iCarly's Jerry Trainor Talks Jack Black and More!
Jack Black Guest Stars on “iCarly” Making one of TV’s Funniest Shows Even Funnier! We talk to Jerry Trainor About Working With A Comedy Icon, His Co-Stars, and Voicing One “T.U.F.F. Puppy!”
By Susan J. Yeager
If you haven’t seen an episode of “iCarly” on Nickelodeon, it’s safe to assume that you aren’t around teens or tweens very much. It’s one of the most popular shows on television today and centers on a teenage girl named Carly who produces a daily web show with her two best friends. Carly’s is in the care of her older (but not wiser) brother “Spencer,” who often gets in more trouble than the youngsters.
The daily lives of this unique family make for a lot of laughs but the stakes are raised with the addition of guest star Jack Black in a one-hour iCarly special called “iStart a Fan War.” The episode premieres on November 19 at 8:00PM EST. Jack and Miranda Cosgrove (Carly) worked together a few years ago in a hilarious movie called “School of Rock.” On iCarly, Jack plays “Aspartamay,” a video game rival of “Spencer’s” who challenges him to a video duel at a Comic-con type event where the “iCarly” gang is participating in a panel discussion. Hilarity ensues.
Fans gather to grill Carly, Sam and Freddie in a convention style setting:
Here's our interview with Jerry Trainor who plays Carly's big brother Spencer:
Jerry Trainor who plays “Spencer” recently took time out of his crazy schedule to call in and give us the scoop on life on “iCarly,” working with Jack Black and his latest side job… voicing the main character on Nickelodeon’s new cartoon “T.U.F.F. Puppy.”
If it seems like doing comedy on a sitcom comes naturally to Jerry, it may be because he has been training for a role like this most of his life… even if he didn’t know it. “When I was in grade school, I used to watch the older kids do sort of sketches. I was enamored with that. I was such an easy audience member. I was always cracking up and laughing and being goofy. But I loved seeing the older kids do sketch comedy and stuff like that. Then I started doing plays in high school and that was it. I was just hooked. We turned everything into sketch comedy basically… plays that did not call for it. We were all just trying to make each other laugh. That was it. I knew then. And then I ended up going to college at UC Santa Barbara. My plan was, ‘I’m definitely going to L.A. but I want to get a fall back career or a fall back degree.’ And then I just ended up majoring in theater. No fall back at all.”
It turns out that he didn’t need one anyway. He started landing parts here and there. “When I got to L.A., the first two things I got were a small role in ‘Donnie Darko’ with Ashley Tisdale actually. She and I had a very small role together. We just sort of asked a question to a motivational speaker played by Patrick Swayze. Do you remember MTV’s “Undressed?” I did three episodes of that. It was like the late night MTV soap. Every new actor in town at the time had to get on MTV’s “Undressed.” Every young actor at that time – you had to have that your resume. It was like a rite of passage,” he jokes.
His family and friends could not have been more supportive of him, even while he was waiting on his “big break.” “They were just like, ‘You’re good at it! Do it! Keep going!’” he says of his parents. “My Dad was in the Navy and then he put himself through Law School at night and became a public defender. My Mom was a teacher. My parents have that philosophy where it’s like, ‘You’ve got this life… do what you want with it. There’s no reason not too.’” As for his friends, they knew him well enough to know that being an actor worked for Jerry. “I am a weirdo,” he says pointedly. “Everybody knows. I’m just a goofball. It’s one of those things where I think people just were like, ‘Yeah, you gotta do that… that makes sense.’”
His first big break came when he landed the role of “Crazy Steve” on “Drake and Josh.” That show, a huge hit on Nickelodeon, was created and produced by Dan Schneider, a man credited for creating and maintaining some of Nick’s biggest hits and discovering some of today’s most popular actors. It was while playing “Crazy Steve” that Jerry first heard about a little show that would ultimately change his life forever.
“I remember Dan coming to me with the concept,” he says when asked if he remembers the first time he heard the name “iCarly.” “And really it was more like, ‘Hey, we’ve got a show based on Miranda now and she’s going to have an older brother. We’re thinking of you.’ I was like, ‘Oh wow! That’s pretty weird considering I played a psychopath in your last show,’” he jokes. “It’s a natural progression… psychopath to caretaker. I was obviously very honored and flattered that they thought of me. And then I auditioned and it was a blast.”
He had no idea how huge the show would become. “I knew Dan’s track record with comedies on Nickelodeon and I knew how much fun we had on ‘Drake and Josh,’” he says of being excited about the next chapter. “When he said, ‘you’re going to be crazy’ and we really had fun with him,” he says of creating “Spencer.” “We took it to the nth degree… but in a light-hearted, good natured way. I just knew it would be a good opportunity. I actually never thought, “Oh this won’t be funny.’ It was just always like ‘Oh this is just going to be hilarious.’ People are just going to love this show. I guess I didn’t know how big of a hit it would be. I just assumed it would be big in the Nickelodeon world. I didn’t realize it would become popular in TV overall.”
Jerry is working with some of the best young actors on television today and we asked him to describe his co-stars. “Miranda,” he begins thoughtfully, “huge diva… princess…” and he’s totally kidding… big surprise there.
“I’ll start with Jennette, who plays ‘Sam,’” he says seriously this time. “‘Sam’ is the crazy… she’s like a tyrant. She’s just out of control. In real life, [Jennette is] the sweetest, sweetest girl. Super! Just molasses! Really kind. Really just wants to do good. Is very humble. Very talented.”
“Nathan,” he continues about the actor who plays “Freddie,” “he’s like the together one. He’s really sensible…. really smart. He’s always talking to me about the next thing. And he’s really into paintball. I would say he’s the sensible one.”
“What would that make Miranda?” he wonders. “For being as big a star as she is… she could not be more down-to-Earth! She’s just a cool kid. Texting all the time… talking about boys… just cool, normal, down –to- Earth. I tell everybody this… it’s a crime how much fun we have on that show!”
The set got even cooler when Jack Black arrived to film his guest appearance. It’s one of Jerry’s favorite shows to-date… though he hadn’t seen it when we talked. “I’m nervous to see it,” he confesses. “I’ve heard that it’s very funny and everything but it’s one of those situations where you have Jack Black on the set and I’m just trying to live up to his standards. You know what I mean? Because everybody knows him, everybody knows how funny he is. I was like, ‘I’ve got to go toe to toe with this guy?’ But he could not have been more fun, and cool.”
“He was there for 18 hours. He didn’t complain about anything. He brought it take after take. Super cool! Super genuine! It was unbelievable! He really impressed me. You worry that you meet someone that’s super famous and they’re not going to have time to talk to you. And it’s going to be like ‘Yeah – just what’s my line? Okay, good.’ But it wasn’t like that at all. We were making each other laugh. It was a blast. I can’t wait to see it! I’m freaking out.”
The versatile actor is also super excited about a recent side job that he has taken, though there are no plans to give up his day job any time soon. He now provides the voice of “Dudley Puppy” on Nickelodeon’s new cartoon “T.U.F.F. Puppy.”
“One of the head’s of casting at Nickelodeon was a fan of my work doing ‘Crazy Steve’ and ‘Spencer,’” he says of how this gig came about. “She was like, ‘You’d be so great for animation.’ And I was like, ‘I agree! I want to do that! I love cartoons! I want to do voices on cartoons.’ She’s like, ‘We just have to find the right part.’ So she started setting me up with auditions. It wasn’t always right. I’d do my best here and try a different voice here and there. And then “T.U.F.F. Puppy” came along and they were like ‘Oh yeah, this is by Butch Hartman and he did Fairly Odd Parents.’ I’m like ‘Oh I’ve heard of that.’ I hadn’t seen it but I was like ‘Yeah, I know that!’ I went in and we just had a good time. We were just joking around in the audition room. They liked it. They thought it fit. It’s been like total dream come true… best job ever… besides iCarly! Best voice over job ever!”
Jerry describes “Dudley” as “an energetic, good natured, absent minded, super detective.” “When you read a T.U.F.F. Puppy script… it is as fast paced as it gets. It’s joke, joke, joke, boom, boom, boom. In the description, you can see the physical humor that’s going to happen. That was one of those things where I was like, ‘Oh I get it! I get this guy!’ I get how cocky he is. Like he thinks he’s smart, he thinks he’s the best but he’s not. He’s really absent minded. He tries hard but that usually ends up in him making a mistake. Then he redeems himself in the end which is always the best. That’s the nature of comedy, someone who is flawed, making their mistakes, which are the funny parts… then overcoming those flaws in the end.”
He also says that he can relate to this cartoon counterpart. “I definitely am bumbling at times and make really stupid faux pas and knock things over because I’m gangly and I’m tall so I’m always in the way. I have my physical foibles. So I think that’s probably where that comes from is just growing up lanky and goofy.”
Creating a cartoon for a new generation made us wonder what animation impacted Jerry as a kid? “Growing up, I loved ‘Transformers’ and ‘He-man’ and ‘G.I. Joe’ and the ‘Smurfs’. Anything ‘Looney Tunes!’ ‘T.U.F.F. Puppy’ is very ‘Looney Tunes’ to me. I remember watching ‘Looney Tunes’ and my Dad LOVED it. My Dad loved watching Wylie Coyote, and Bugs Bunny. I didn’t get why he thought it was funny until you go back and look at those cartoons now and there are jokes that are just completely over your head for a kid. I think that’s what ‘T.U.F.F. Puppy’ has, sort of the wackiness for the kids, but has pop culture references for the grown ups. It’s real snappy, real quick.”
When Jerry isn’t working you can usually find him doing totally normal things like watching TV or playing video games. “Well, I just taught my dog how to shake,” he says proudly when asked about how he spends his spare time. “I like to ride my motorcycle. I like playing video games. Right now I’m doing a lot of work on my house. I bought a house last year and I’ve been fixing it up. Catching up on TV that I’ve missed and things like that. I love eating out. I feel like I’m making a Match.com profile,” he jokes.
Speaking of eating out, we’re sure that the actor who makes viewers laugh on a daily basis, gets recognized a lot in public. Is there a good way for fans to approach him? “Swinging a sword or some sort of medieval spiked device,” he deadpans. “Screaming bloody murder with half of their face painted blue. That’s the best way that I can think of off the top of my head,” he says before turning somewhat serious. “It seems like kids are the only people that approach. Adults are like ‘Oh, I don’t want to bother him. I’m not going to go up.’ So that rarely happens. But kids, they have no filter so they’ll just come up. They’re always really polite and just super shocked. I love it! Every time they come up, I love it! There’s no right way, just with a smile on your face.”
Something that puts a smile on Jerry’s face is being able to help those less fortunate whether it be of the human or animal kind. “I’m really passionate about dogs and rescuing animals. I rescued my dog and that was a really great experience for me,” he says when the conversation turns to charities that he likes to be involved with. “Anything with kids,” he continues. “Because even though I’m on a kids show, kids have had an impact on ME! They let me do so much by being an entertainer for them I want to give back there.”
So what advice would this “older brother” have for young performers who are thinking about pursuing a career in show business? “My advice as far as people who want to be actors and movie makers, I would say the best thing to do is do your own thing. Make a short film with your buddies. Put it up on YouTube. That’s the greatest thing about the Internet is the fact that you don’t need to be in L.A. now to make a movie. You don’t need to be in Hollywood. It helps as far as acting goes because a lot of the casting comes out of here, but even if you’re here that’s not a guaranteed in to get anything. I have friends that have been here for 12 years that are still struggling. But the ones who are doing their own thing… they’re finding their creative nourishment. They’re always doing the next thing and they’re having fun. And there is a better chance that you’ll be seen if you’re in a sketch comedy group or if you’re doing plays or short films. If you’re self starting, if you’re getting it done on your own, it will serve you better because you’re making it on your own terms. You’ll be shown in a way you want to be shown. You’re not trying to fit in to somebody else’s idea of what you should do.”
Maybe someday, someone reading this article will find themselves acting along side Jerry in a movie or television show. It could happen. Though he is looking forward to future projects, Jerry is very happy where he is now. “Nickelodeon has been amazing to me and for me. I was in L.A. getting small parts on shows here and there and a couple of little movie spots. But nothing really hit until I did ‘Crazy Steve’ on ‘Drake and Josh’ and the rest is history. They provide me with such a rich platform. The best thing about it is that it’s in the youth market so as I grow up, this audience is going to grow up. I would hope they’ll want to see me sort of graduate to more grown up endeavors. It’s been wonderful. It’s been very symbiotic. I love doing the wacky, funny stuff and they seem to love having me. It’s been really great and a good partnership.”
Be sure to watch Jerry in the iCarly special “iStart a Fan War” on November 19 at 8:00PM. We have no doubt that this talent more than holds his own against Jack Black. Check your local listings for other “iCarly” and “T.U.F.F. Puppy” airings! For more on Jerry and both shows, visit www.Nick.com
Check out this clip of Jack and Jerry dueling!