BB Exclusive: Future Man Star, Kevin Caliber Talks His New Hulu Series
Today, November 14, Hulu released its brand new series, Future Man. Future Man stars Josh Hutcherson as ‘Josh Futturman,’ a janitor by day/gamer by night who is recruited by mysterious visitors to travel through time in order to prevent the extinction of humanity.
We had the chance to sit down and chat with one of the star’s of the show, Kevin Caliber. Kevin plays Blaze on the show and in our interview we talked his character, working with cast mates, like Josh Hutcherson, his other new show, The Haves and The Have Nots and so much more.
On how he learned of his new show, Future Man: “Future Man is a show I’ve actually been following for a couple years now since it was first announced. I’m a big Seth Rogen fan, we’re basically the same age, I’m actually three weeks older than him, and I’ve just been a huge fan of his. A couple of years ago when Preacher first came out it was announced he was doing a couple TV shows, one of them being Future Man. The show was something that got started a while ago, like a year and a half ago, is when he shot the pilot, and I didn’t think much about it. Then the audition came through and I knew exactly what it was from the moment that I saw the title. I got really excited because I’ve always wanted to work with him (Rogen) and their crew. They are just the funniest guys. I love that sense of humor and what they stand for.”
On the audition and landing the part in Future Man: “I got the sides to my character break down. I initially didn’t think I fit the character well because it seemed like he was more a beachy, surfer guy and I could do the bro type but I’m different in the way I go about it. I’m a little more of the meathead type character trope. When I went to the audition every other guy looked like they were straight off the beach, straight out of Venice. I went in there and gave it my all and created the character Blaze and I went a little more dimwitted, fun, very lovable type for it instead of just the surfer guy. It was something that was so much fun from the first time that I got to do it. Then I met the writers Ariel (Shaffir) and Kyle (Hunter), who did Sausage Party, and they all have done stuff since they all went to college together, 15 years ago, and I met them and they just loved Blaze and they just kept writing more for him and kept doing it. It ends up with three episodes that Blaze gets to be part of.”
On what influenced his character, Blaze: “I was kind of making him my own. I was trying to be more like the dim-witted, lovable guy. I was trying to be more like Joey Tribbiani from Friends, just a friendly guy, doesn’t mean any harm and is always looking for a good time. I brought everything with a smile. Instead of going the surfer type, I was trying to avoid the Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High type because you are doing a bad impression of somebody and I definitely did not want to do that.”
You can read the rest of our interview under the jump. For those who have already started watching the new Hulu series, what do you think?
Photo Credit: MLC PR
On the pop references used in the show: “They’re time travelers and my character is in the 80s which turns into the early 90s. It was fun to be able to do that because it’s a very nostalgia based show. Every scene almost is taken as homage to something else. I enjoyed that because growing up in the 80s and, again I’m the same age as the writers, as well, so they’re just writing almost borderline fanfiction for themselves. It’s great because I got to do things like Top Gun, Cocktail, Mad Max, and Spuds MacKenzie. It was all these things that were very popular in that time and we’re recreating them in our own modern twisted way. And I think everybody is really going to find that funny and it’ll be nostalgia overload. I think that they’ll really enjoy it.”
On if there were any references he didn’t understand: “Most of it I did end up picking up on but I’m excited to watch it to see what actually went over my head. That’s something that I really look forward to it because I’m a fan of shows like Family Guy that almost every scene is a reference to something. It’s so funny when you’re sitting there watching with somebody and they don’t get the reference or you don’t get it and you’re explaining it to each other. This is one of those shows that just in sitting on set other people weren’t getting references. I’m pulling up YouTube on my phone like, ‘No, no, what do you mean you never saw the Top Gun volleyball scene? So this means nothing to you’ and I pull it up and I show it on my phone and then they’re like, ‘Oh yes that makes total sense now’. So I’m curious to see actually what went over my head that I was a part of.”
On if he did his own stunts: “I did almost all my own stunts. The only one they would not let me do was one where Blaze was wearing a mask and they had somebody else do that. I also I had a double for a bartending scene, which will blow minds, because they brought in this guy that was like the World Series of Bartending Champion, which I didn’t really realize was a thing, but of course it’s a thing, everything’s competitions nowadays. So, I show up on set and there’s a guy that looks like me, wearing the same outfit as me and I’m like ‘Wait a minute’. And then I see what he does and I’m watching the monitors and I’m like ‘Oh, I am going to look good doing that’.”
On if he enjoys doing his own stunts: I really enjoy doing them myself: “I think something goes into whenever you do everything that the character does. I’m a very physical person, I enjoy it. I’ve taken all the stage fighting and stage combat and translated it into my stunt scenes. I’ve done lots of different stunts from running, jumping, and falling and really, it’s always up to production and it’s not until I get there that they tell me. There was one set that I was on and I showed up and I’m waiting and I see this guy jump on this car and fall down and roll and then take off running. And I’m like, ‘What point is this in the script because I thought that I was the only guy doing that’ and they said, ‘Oh yeah that’s you’. And, I said, ‘I could have done that’ and they said, ‘You’re the star you don’t have to do that’. I get it because of the liability issues and the stuntmen I really appreciate what they do. I never tried to do the stunt as a career choice but I love doing my own. I love action and military and that’s what I strive to play and I enjoy doing it myself. But if production wants to go with a specialist then hats off to them! I’m not going to fight them too much.”
On working with his Future Man cast: “It was a whole lot of fun working with this crew. I’ve been a fan of Eliza (Coupe) for a long time. Dating back to when she was on Scrubs and Happy Endings. Josh (Hutcherson) is Josh and he’s fabulous. There’s a few people that I did not get to share screen time with that I look forward to, like Haley Joel Osment. I did get to meet all of them at one point or another but Derek (Wilson) was the best to work with. He is so good and strong. I shared most of my scenes with him because in my story arc Wilson goes off into the 80s and I’m his best friend in the 80s and he was amazing to work with. It’s just a power cast. I even got to get in a scene with Ed Begley Jr., who I’ve seen in movies my entire life. He’s such a unique person. It really was just a pleasure to be with somebody that you looked up to. I have seen him on television and in movies my entire life and then just to be on set and on screen with him was such a pleasure.”
On his other show, Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots: “That was another one that was such an amazing experience, going to Atlanta because they don’t run things like they do in Hollywood. It’s very family oriented down there so whenever you’re there you’re family. To work with somebody like Tyler Perry, who just runs everything- literally the writer, producer, and director, and he’s so hands on. Whenever you’re there it’s his name, it’s Tyler Perry Studios, it’s a Tyler Perry production. And when he’s on set, he was the one that did everything. I have so much respect for the man and his accomplishments that to be there on on-set directly taking directions from him was really exciting. All my episodes for that come out next year on the Oprah Winfrey Network. I play Leo, somebody’s personal security guard so I’m basically somebody’s shadow for half the season.”
On if we will learn about Leo: “I do get to have some fun. I get to do a little stunt, with a fighting scene with one of the main characters, Wyatt (Aaron O’ Connell) who’s one the stars of the show which was a lot of fun. And again, I got to just share the share the screen with some really cool people and have a great experience, but hopefully we get to meet him and get to know more about him.”
On how he got into acting:” I always did theater back in high school. I was kind of a kid that was split between theater and sports and the theater kids didn’t necessarily like me that much because they thought I was a jock and the jocks kind of gave me crap because I would go off to theater class and I did choir and everything else.
I joined the Marine Corps right out of high school, it was right after 9/11 that I left. After I got home I was playing music because I always played music my whole life. I played rock music, I was a bass player and singer and I played music until I was 25 so I was getting my creative outlet there. I did that but then the band broke up and then I just entered the regular world of work. I was a civil engineer and it was fulfilling but it’s not what I wanted to do forever. Then somebody tagged me in a post back in St. Louis saying they were putting on a TV show and so I submitted, went out for the male young lead and I got the part. It ended up going to pilot. At the time I didn’t realize how few pilots get picked up. It never got picked but just taking a couple of weeks off of work to go and to be part of it reignited everything in me that that’s what I really wanted to do. That was the first time that I had really given it much thought because back in Missouri you don’t think like that. You get a house, get a job, have a family and go from there, rinse and repeat for the next 30 years. It wasn’t until I realized in those two weeks of filming I had more fun and was more fulfilled than in my previous five years in engineering. I decided that was the time and my house was up for sale and so my house sold and the show didn’t get picked up. We were under contract for a little bit to stay in St. Louis, then I got released when the contract was up and I said there’s nothing else holding me back, I moved to L.A. two months later. Sold everything I own and drove the truck cross country.”
On why fans should watch Future Man: “Future Man is going to be cutting edge. It’s going to hit from different angles. It’s going to make you laugh. It’s going to make you second guess things. It’s so modern. And I think that on a place like Hulu, with the way the streaming channels work nowadays that’s not on network TV they’re allowed to just do so much more. And these creators just did not hold back. They’re putting everything into it to make it as wild as it could possibly be. It’s not playing it safe at all. While we were on set, none of us were playing it safe. We’re going all out, we’re going to make you laugh. It’s going to be a wild ride you’re not going to regret being on and it’s going to be one of those shows that people are going to binge and just blow right through. You’re going to want to talk about it and the nostalgia factor alone is worth tuning in.”