You know that whole beard trend that's going on in Hollywood right now?
Well, Will Forte has been rocking it longer...and wider...and grosser than any other actor, thank you very much. It's all for his bold new comedy Last Man on Earth, premiering Sunday on Fox. But unlike Josh Duhamel or Chris Pine, please note that Forte's monstrosity did not make the ladies swoon.
"People would cross the street [to avoid me]," Will tells me of his admittedly "disgusting" facial hair, which he insisted on growing in real life. "My niece and nephew are young and they were terrified."
While nearly every "new" comedy out there these days is derivative of something we've seen before, we can't help but shout from the rooftops how excitingly ORIGINAL this show is. And funny.
Forte is, yes, the last man on Earth, after a virus wipes out the population. And there are Wilson-esque sports ball jokes, as you'd imagine. But so much of what Will shoots in this first episode is insanely fun to watch, and we can only imagine how fun it was to shoot. Lying in a kiddie-pool margarita with a giant straw? Yes please! Raiding the Smithsonian for house décor? Plus one on that!
"There's a wish fulfillment element to the show," Forte explains, "and that means that part of my job is that wish fulfillment. You know, I get to go bowling out in the middle of the street and bowl a bunch of bowling balls at fish tanks, and I get to use a flamethrower and torch a bunch of stuff, and so much more. It's like the guy version of wish fulfillment."
The series also has an impressive pedigree behind it. "Chris Miller and Phil Lord, who directed 21 and 22 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, we've been friends for years," Forte tells me, "and we just decided, ‘Let's all write something together.' We just somehow stumbled on this idea and it all kind of grew out of that friendship."
Forte is also holding the storyline arc of the season very close to his chest, as well as how it's possible that other actors have been cast on this show, when he seems to be the only man around.
"There are twists and turns," Forte reveals. "Other people show up, and we do have flashbacks and dreams, so we do have some exciting people involved. Kristen Schaal, who's one of the funniest people around, January Jones, Mary Steenburgen just signed on. I don't want to give away what roles they play, but it's an amazing group of people."
Also amazing? How good it now feels for him to be able to eat a burrito without his terrifying beard.
Hear more from Will about his beard and Last Man on Earth in the video above! Then tune in Sunday on Fox.