David Koechner on improvising, working just to work and Anchorman 2

September 30, 2009 by Lance Carter

david_koechner_20090825 From Movieline:

You’ve accrued a lot of television, film and stand-up experience. In addition to Hank, what kind of work excites you most?
Look, anyone who has a job in show business. as far as I’m concerned. should be grateful and I certainly am. Sometimes you have a particular goal in mind and every actor is probably different in what they think they’re going to get. There have been times in my life where I’ve said “I just want to work.” And it just happens and I work. And then there have been other times when I’m looking around and I have a wife and four children. The number one thing I need to do is provide and so other opportunities come this way or that way. And I’m so fortunate that sometimes I have choices while other times I have only what is in front of me.

And right now, with Hank in particular, working on a four-camera sitcom is the best job in show business, it really is. This one in particular happens to be eight minutes from my house. [Just take the] freeway and an off-ramp and boom, I’m in the studio. I have four kids, I need to share my life with them, I can drop them off at school and I can pick them up and it’s a great job. So look, I’m very blessed to have this opportunity. I’ve never had a regular role on a series. I’ve done different guest spots or had an arc on a series years ago.

Plus, to get to work with Kelsey Grammer. So this is just another beautiful step, you never know where it’s going to take you. Wow, what a great trip. I get to do this one and that one. Look at all the great guys I’ve gotten to work with and going all the way back to Chicago, with all the people I worked with back there. And dude, here’s the thing I’ve realized about my path is that I will always get to work with a bunch of different great people and that’s the fun of it.

I imagine that the days are shorter than doing single-camera stuff.
That’s right.

Are directors taking advantage of your improv experience? If they put a camera in front of you, you’re going to say something crazy eventually; are you encouraged to do that or is it more of a “Let’s get through this” attitude?
Thus far, no, because we’ve worked on the pilot only and it will be up to the director. [Creator Tucker Cawley] will decide what we do show to show. The writers will get to know me and they’ll see what I may or may not be able to bring them and we’ll see how much they want of that. If I have a suggestion, I’m not shy. I don’t mind saying, “Hey Tucker, what do you think about this?” If he says “No,” it’s his show, I don’t care. I think if it’s strong enough and you’ve got time to rehearse and rehearsal is a time to offer something new, and if it’s accepted, “Great.” If it’s right, we’ll all know it. If it’s wrong, we’ll all know it. And so far, in the pilot, we only had one week and you’ve got a lot of pressure to get this one thing down. As the show rolls on, I’m sure we’ll have more opportunities to play.