Ed Weeks Calls Dylan McDermott 'Biggest Joker' on Set of New Sitcom 'LA to Vegas'

Ed Weeks is having a blast with his role on Fox’s new sitcom LA to Vegas. The actor spoke to PEOPLE CHICA about his character, who is eerily like him in real life. “I play a British man named Colin. We are pretty similar. Sarcasm masking a deep shyness and insecurity? Check. Maybe a teeny bit pompous? Check,” he jokes. “Oh, and we definitely have similar hair!”

Weeks shares the small screen with Dylan McDermott, Kim Matula, Olivia Macklin, Nathan Lee Graham and Peter Stormare. “Dylan is probably the biggest joker among the cast. He’s full of hilarious pranks and non-sequiturs. If you’re not careful he will make you crack up just before they yell ‘Action.’ Then you’re trying not to giggle for the entire take, but I love that!” he says. “There’s a sense of fun and childishness that he encourages, which permeates to the whole cast. He’s such an in-the-moment actor and he’s having so much fun. I find that really inspiring.”

The actor also reflected on his memorable role on the popular show The Mindy Project. “I was the luckiest to be on The Mindy Project for six fantastic years. I played Jeremy, an OB-GYN who started as a ladies’ man, but then over the years turned into more of an over-worrying insecure British weirdo. Again, closer to my real personality!” he jokes.

The 37-year-old, who’s English and Salvadoran, celebrates his roots. “I feel so lucky to be a mix. England gave me my love of literature, my dry sense of humor perhaps. But I definitely get some of my humor from my El Salvadoran family too! They are so silly and playful. My passion, my exuberance, my love of music —they feel like more Latin traits,” he says. “I also love living in L.A. because there’s so much more Latin culture here than in London — and it’s much closer to my amazing Salvi family!”

The actor says his love of travel makes working on a sitcom about a flight crew a perfect fit: “I have always enjoyed it because it feels like things don’t count up there,” he says of flying. “Want to eat seven Kit-Kats and tube a Pringles? Go for it! Want to weep at that movie you would never admit to watching? Now’s your chance!”

Weeks plays Micah, an accountant who frequently flies between the L.A. and Vegas, according to Deadline. Now that it’s his job to sit on a pseudo plane day after day, traveling by aircraft has lost a bit of its luster. “These days my full-time job is being on a plane, so it’s taken the novelty off somewhat,” he admits.

The actor says frequent-flyers will definitely identify with the story and that it’ll attract a wide audience because it’s pure enjoyment: “LA to Vegas to me is a juicy 22-minute slab of escapism. [It offers] big, hard jokes, which are sometimes missing in modern sitcoms. We are literally above the fray — 30,000 feet to be exact!”

Weeks promises that the series will steer clear of delving into heavy issues, and will serve as a nice fluffy break from the maddening intensity of modern politics: “This isn’t politics or deep social commentary. It’s just good fun. A callback, in a way, to those times you could sit around with the whole family and laugh at the same thing. At a bunch of sweet, funny characters you’re going to want to catch up on week after week. That, to me, is a great reason to put your feet up and tune in.”