The interview that has everyone talking, Craig Bierko’s sit-down with John Malkovich in a bathtub, and I got the dirt behind it!
Craig Bierko answered my probing questions about his hysterical new webseries Bathing with Bierko and new hit show on Fox Sundays at 9:30p Unhitched.
SOW: How did you come up with the idea to interview people in your bathtub?
Craig: We wanted to take the ridiculously false intimacy of a talk show – two men wearing make-up, one sitting behind a fake desk, having a fake conversation – and turn it up a notch. We just replaced the desk with a very small bath tub and made the conversation even more meaningless. Other than that, it’s just your regular talk show.
SOW: Then once you came up with the idea, how the heck did you convince someone like John Malkovich to do it?
Craig: Well, my agent handles John. We met him at his hotel and told him that we wanted to do “The Charlie Rose Show” only I’d be giving him a sponge bath in a tub. He smiled, paused and said “okay. ” I had to stop myself from asking “why?” He struck me as an incredibly down to earth man who doesn’t take himself seriously. Well, obviously.
SOW: How did you get your producer Rob Cohen aboard to do this?
Craig: I’ve known Rob since he wrote for The Ben Stiller Show. He’s famously hilarious, a highly sought after comedy writer out here – everyone thinks of Rob as being one of the funniest, driest men on the planet. We were having dinner a few months back and I pitched the idea to him. He laughed and said “let’s do it. ” That was literally all there was to it. We called our friend Dan Pasternack at SuperDeluxe.com, told him the idea and he loved it.
SOW: Is it weird bathing someone while you are interviewing them?
Craig: Are you kidding?
SOW: What is it like being filmed taking a bath with someone while interviewing them?
Craig: It was a completely unique experience – which after all is the whole point. We knew this was going to be a very odd, even uncomfortable, for the audience. I didn’t want to make it sillier than it was interesting, if that makes sense – a vaguely familiar mutation of something you see every day.
SOW: Who else do you have joining you in the bathtub?
Craig: We’re very excited, lots of people have been asking to be on the show but you’ll have to wait and see.
SOW: Oh yeah, are you naked in the tub?
Craig: How do you bathe?
SOW: So besides cleaning up in the tub, you have the only non-animated show on Fox Sundays at 9:30p called Unhitched? For my readers who might not have seen the show can you tell them a little about it and your character?
Craig: Unhitched is executive produced by the Farelly Brothers and it’s their first foray into network television. The show is about three divorced guys in their thirties, reentering the dating scene. It’s a whole new world for them and, of course, they’re older now. My character’s name is Jack “Gator” Gately and, on my first date after my wife leaves me, I, um, get raped by an orangutan. I’ll leave it at that. You’ll have to download the pilot from iTunes for further research. Better yet, watch the show Sunday nights at 9:30pm on Fox.
SOW: What is like working with the Farrerlly brothers?
Craig: They’re a great combination of being down to earth and outrageously hilarious – basically two guys you want to hang out with. I really enjoy working with them because, aside from being genuine and kind, they absolutely know what they’re doing. It’s a pleasure to work with nice people who know precisely what they want and how to get it. Makes my job much easier.
SOW: How much of the show is like your life? Like dating a woman who has a monkey or extra skin that looks like a shrimp?
Craig: I’m happy to say that I’ve never been sexually compromised by a monkey and my girlfriend has only the necessary amount of skin – she somehow ended up with just the perfect amount.
SOW: What is coming up on Unhitched?
Craig: Mayhem. You’ll see some things you’ve certainly never seen on television before. And it’s hilarious.
SOW: Will anyone from Unhitched be coming over to your house and take a bath with you in front of the cameras?
Craig: That’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll wash the cast. A few of them could use it. I’m not naming names, but it’s Johnny Sneed.
SOW: Or what about the show you were on last season, Boston Legal? Did you keep that Buzz Lightyear costume?
Craig: I was very happy to leave that costume behind. It was like wearing a Volvo.
SOW: Or Dickie Roberts with a rubber duckie?
Craig: Spade grabbed the duckie, dammit. He got all the good toys.
SOW: Besides Unhitched and Bathing with Bierko, what other projects do you have coming up?
Craig: I’m just hoping to stay off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
SOW: Are you pitching Bathing with Bierko as a TV show?
Craig: There’s been some interest but SuperDeluxe has been so great – we took our time making the first one with John – we all have day jobs – and they were unbelievably patient and supportive. You don’t always get that in the television world.
SOW: When will we see your next interview on SuperDeluxe.com?
Craig: Don’t touch that dial – we’ll be right back!
Seriously how funny are his answers?
One more tidbit I found out from him after the interview is whose bathroom they are filming Bathing with Bierko in….the incredibly talented actress and author Carrie Fisher!!! He also added about her, “She’s probably one of the nicest, most generous people I’ve ever met. A true friend.” Which is really nice to hear about a second-generation star who was in some of the biggest movies of all time!
From what I was able to tell from my interview time that I had with him, he too seems like a really nice person. So please support his incredible talent and tell all your friends about Bathing with Bierko and make sure to watch him in Unhitched on Sundays at 9:30p on Fox. BTW this Sunday Unhitched is doubly as good because it will be airing at 8:30p and 9:30p!
Thank you so much Craig Bierko!
