Rowan Kavner
MILWAUKEE – British actor James Buckley, known for his role on “The Inbetweeners” as well as a variety of other shows in England, spent time last week for his sports podcast “The Dream Team” at an L.A. Clippers game.
Buckley, who worked this summer on a Judd Apatow movie with Andy Samberg in the states, is still in Los Angeles. That allowed Buckley and his podcast partner, Jalaal Hartley, who’s also an English actor, the chance to go behind the scenes at the Clippers’ home game against Orlando on Saturday before going to their first American football game Sunday in San Diego.
The podcast typically takes a look at soccer, as Buckley is a major Crystal Palace supporter, but the week of West Coast sporting events gave the duo some new sports material. Buckley and Hartley shared their thoughts on the whole experience.
So what brought you here to Los Angeles?
Buckley: “I’ve been here because of work. We’re actors, so eventually you have to sometimes go to Hollywood and say, ‘Can I have a job here, please?’ I’ve been doing that. But in the meantime, we’ve still been doing the podcast. I’ve been sacked in a studio in Burbank.”
Hartley: “We’re supposed to stick to (English) football in the podcast. About 80 percent of it is me making up stories about what I’ve done that week. Just lying to make myself look more interesting.”
Buckley: “We do keep getting told to talk football more. This was also my idea. We’re here today, we’re also seeing the Chargers tomorrow. They wouldn’t let us have this sort of treatment. They didn’t trust us.”
Is this the first NBA game you’ve seen?
JB: “I’ve been to an NBA game. I went to see, I think it was last December, I went to see the Lakers and the Cavs. I really wanted to see Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.”
What do you think of the environment?
JB: “It’s sort of a lot more fun. It suits me a lot more, because it was kind of like a night out. That would be my perfect night out. I don’t like going to nightclubs or anything like that. So it’s sort of like going to the theater, but instead you’re watching sports, which is great. If you did that back home, people would start drinking at 11 o’clock in the morning.”
You mentioned going to San Diego for a game, will that be your first time at an American football game?
JB: “Yeah, I’m even newer to American football than I am to basketball. I watched my first Super Bowl this year, and I decided that I was a Seahawks fan. I had to pick a team. I do (know what’s going on). I bought the Madden game on my iPad so I could learn. Then I got too into it and my wife got annoyed because I was playing it too much. I’m a Seahawks fan because a lot of my favorite bands are from that area.”
So how long have you been in Los Angeles now?
JB: “I was here from December to July, went home for a bit and we made a film together back home in Britain, ‘The Comedians’ Guide to Survival.’ But yeah, I’m slowly trying to be out here more than back home. I made a film in the summer with Andy Samberg and Judd Apatow and the Lonely Island boys, which was really great fun. That’s out next summer, so hopefully next year American people might know who I am.”
What’s that going to be called?
JB: “At the moment, it’s called ‘Connor For Real,’ but I think that’s possibly a working title. I quite like it. The character’s name is Connor Farrell, and he’s a pop star, so he calls himself ‘Connor For Real,’ like he’s this sort of obnoxious young pop star with too much money. Me and this other guy play his friends. We’re supposed to be his friends, but we’re just two guys that live in his house and eat his food and tell him how great he is all the time.”
Did you know Andy Samberg before?
JB: “I didn’t know Andy. We’ve worked with mutual people. He did a show back home in Britain called “Cuckoo,” which was a bit of a coup really because it was on a really small channel in Britain, and they managed to get Andy Samberg to come over and be in this show. He worked with a guy called Greg Davies who is in my show back home called ‘The Inbetweeners,’ so we were talking about that. Obviously, I know who Andy Samberg is, but it was nice that he knew who I was as well.”
