Finally. After Hank Azaria shipped off to Russia, Sean Penn dated her twin and Alec Baldwin was crazy, Phoebe gets a real boyfriend in Friends' cliffhanger season finale. Which makes the actor who plays him, Eddie McClintock, one very lucky guy--because this time he didn't have to lose a job to get the part.
Usually, Eddie gets his biggest breaks by getting fired. When the Canton, Ohio, native graduated from Wright State--on the six-year plan--he moved to L.A. to work at an insurance company. But as a goth-loving dude who preferred Doc Martens to a suit and tie, he didn't keep the job long. He next tried a string of PA gigs on television commercials, but even he'll tell you he wasn't any good at it. He seemed to have a knack for wrecking the trucks.
Needless to say, it's a good thing his Hollywood friends suggested acting classes. Four months into it, Eddie landed a lucrative spot in a series of Coors Light ads that brought in enough residual dough to fund more classes, until he nabbed a recurring role as Chazz on Ned and Stacey and a regular gig on Stark Raving Mad.
More guest spots, including one on Felicity, led to the role as Phoebe's love interest Cliff on Friends, which could turn out to be his biggest break yet. Meanwhile, in August's Full Frontal, he shares a memorable scene with Catherine Keener, who--you guessed it--fires him.
Which got us to wondering...
What's the deal with all this sacking? Did he really think he was cut out for
the world of insurance? "My uncle drives a big, fat Mercedes, and he goes
to the L.A. Country Club, and I thought, Sure, I'll sell insurance. I could
play the part. After seven months, my girlfriend left me. My uncle fired me.
My car got stolen. I had nothing. It was rough. I don't think I spoke for two
weeks. I thought, I don't want to leave, but what else am I going to do here?
So, I moved to Hollywood.
And that's when the acting bug hit? "My friends kept asking me why I wasn't trying to be an actor. I thought, I'd like to be an actor, but I don't really know how. The only person I knew out here was Bill Maher, and he was doing a movie called Pizza Man. I was, like, Oh, I'll just be in Bill's movie. I'll just call him up, and that's what I'll do. And he was, like [imitating Maher's voice], 'I may be able to get you an audition, Eddie, but you know, Eddie, frankly, Eddie...' So, that didn't work out."
And a few short years later he scores Friends. What was that like? "It was an honor. I told Matthew Perry, 'You guys have to be willing to accept that you helped mold the landscape of modern comedy.' So, when I say an honor, I don't feel like that's a grandiose term. These guys are going to be on the air forever. It's just like I Love Lucy. Everybody, even the cast members I didn't work with, seemed to go out of their way to say good morning and call me by name."
We know he has to keep Friends' secrets, but could he be the One for Phoebe? "Well, my character is remarkably normal. On Stark Raving Mad, I was the stoned guy; I play the stoned guy really well, but this was a great opportunity to play something completely straight. It's a little intimidating to go on someone else's show because they have their system, but Lisa really made me feel comfortable, and she has one of the best necks in Hollywood. [Laughs.] Maybe they'll make me the arc for her. They want me to come back next year for at least three episodes."
He has also recently worked with one of his movie idols, Catherine Keener,
along with white-hot director Steven Soderbergh. Did he have to pinch himself?
"[Full Frontal] is a great movie. It shows you can make a great movie for
nothing. Brad Pitt's in it. Terrence Stamp, Julia Roberts, David Hyde Pierce,
David Duchovny, the Weinsteins. It's inside but not too inside. I don't think
the same people who are going to see Scorpion King will be going to see this
film. But to go from insurance man to P.A. to being in the same room with the
guy who's at the top of his game and have him like what I do and to laugh at
me--when it's appropriate--that's pretty exciting."
--Anderson Jones
