The Office's Craig Robinson Shares What Makes the Cast of His New Comedy Killing It Special
When it comes to his American dream, Craig Robinson is killing it. The actor, who played Darryl Philbin on The Office and Doug Judy on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, leads the cast of the new *hissssssterical* comedy, Killing It—premiering Thursday, April 14, on Peacock.
The series, from the creative minds behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine, DanGoor and LukeDelTredici, follows Robinson's character named Craig as he hunts big snakes in order to achieve his American dream.
"This show gets a little dark. The show can be like a little weird and strange because it has these snakes and there's a lot of tonal shifts in it," DelTredici, co-showrunner, told Parade.com. "To be able to ground all of that in such a likable lead performance is really important because I think you run the risk of audiences being a little like unmoored, and when you have Craig at the center of it, it anchors everything."
In addition to Robinson, Killing It also stars Claudia O’Doherty, Rell Battle, Scott MacArthur, Stephanie Nogueras, Wyatt Walter and Jet Miller. "We wanted to make sure that everybody was both an incredibly funny performer and also a really well-rounded actor because we knew that we would have moments, real acting moments for all of them," co-showrunner Goor told Parade.com.
"You always want to make sure that the chemistry is there, because you can cast seven fantastic actors, and then they can have no chemistry and the show doesn't work. And to some extent you don't even know that until you've actually started shooting and so you always feel lucky when it works, and it definitely works. These actors have so much chemistry," Goor added. "We kind of have a no jerks policy on set, and so everyone is a good person—as far as we know. If something comes up we did not know about it—everyone's a good person, and that's really important to us."
Robinson, who's been a part of memorable TV casts in the past, opened up to Parade.com about what makes the Killing It cast special. Continue reading to find out what the Hot Tub Time Machine actor had to say, plus how starring on The Office has affected him and whether he is living his American dream...
KillingIt is very different than The Office. What was it about this comedy that drew you to the project?
Well, first of all, it's the writers of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, so they pretty much could have said, 'Hey, come do the show with us and not show me the script and I'd have been fine.' However, they presented these ideas, and this was one of the ones that stood out and was like, so different and [I'd] not seen anything like this on TV or anywhere. So let's rock with this one. Those guys brought it up, and you know, they're just excellent: Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici!
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Your ex-wife on the show, Camille, is deaf. Did you learn sign language for Killing It?
I had an ASL [American Sign Language] instructor named Rick, and he was awesome and he's [an] aficionado of music as well. He taught me and then Stephanie [Noguera] would help me a little bit here and there. It was important to get that right and it was very challenging. But I started getting the rhythm as we proceeded in the show. I didn't get fluent at it, obviously, but I learned the scenes that we had to do and if I had Stephanie's okay, I was good with it.
You've been a part of some incredible casts, The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. What makes this cast [Killing It] so special?
Let's start with Claudia [O'Doherty] who's just comedically like she's amazing. She's a great actress. Her comedy, it's so warm. She's great. She's well aware of who she is comedically. Her timing, her pauses. It just makes it fun. You have Scott MacArthur who's an improv genius playing Brock and so that was funny. You've got Rell Battle who's a fellow comedian, and we were going toe to toe. It's lifted. Everybody, we all lift each other. I've worked with some great people, so this was another great thing to be a part of.
On the show, your character recites a quote from Rita, whom he admires: "Every red light turns green eventually." Is that something that you can personally relate to? And if so, what do you consider your green light moment?
I can relate somewhat. In my career, it's gone like in lanes. I'll be in this lane, let's call it the audition lane. Auditioning and then I moved over to getting the callbacks, and then moved over to getting the part. So my green light moment, I've had a few of them I think... I was living in Chicago. I went to L.A., I did Def Comedy Jam. I came back to Chicago and some of the connections I made, somebody sent me to audition for this sitcom. And I did the audition. And the lady, the casting agent said, 'You don't have an agent?' And she called and she got me like two commercial meetings that day. So it was a green light moment for me. That's what I first think of, way back to Chicago and shout out to her, but it was just this moment of like, 'What do you mean, you don't have an agent?' And it made me feel like I made the right choice.
How do you think The Office has played a role in your career trajectory? How has it impacted, or affected you?
Barely...I'm kidding! The Office is the main thing I'm known for. It's kind of surreal. Like I watch episodes that I'm not in and I'm like this show is incredible. It's amazing. I will have to pinch myself because I'm like, 'Oh, that's right, I'm a part of this.' Like 'What am I doing in this? This is already amazing. What are you doing?' The Office has been everything and it also means I have a friend everywhere I go. You know, somebody's gonna be like, 'Hey, are you Darryl?' 'Yeah.' So I can have a beer, or kick it or whatever.
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Your character Craig on Killing It is trying to achieve his American dream. Are you living your American dream right now?
I am. I am. You know, at some point when people are like what are your dreams and goals? I guess I gotta set some new ones because I'm pretty much living it. So, yes.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity
