Written By Al Mannarino & Luke Kalamar | Photos by Ryan Demarco
In 2009, FX debuted The League, a sitcom created by Jeff Schaffer (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and starring a slew of familiar faces. The show’s subject matter was highly relatable — five friends competing in a fantasy football league. However, these five friends will do literally anything in their power to sabotage their opponents in order to win their league trophy, “The Shiva.”
While the series’ main focus was predominantly fantasy football, it’s evolved into something much more. With an immensely talented cast, terrific writing, and hilarious recurring gags; The League has become one of the best-kept secrets on television. At the 2014 New York Comic Con, the cast and creators sat down with us to discuss the show, which is currently in the middle of its sixth season and talked about the future of The League.
One of the many reasons to love The League is listening to the array of horrible things said by Rodney Ruxin played by Nick Kroll. Kroll is one of the busiest comedians working today. He is currently working on the second season of his Comedy Central sketch series, Kroll Show, and is set to voice a character in the upcoming adult animated film, Sausage Party, written by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (This is the End, The Interview). We spoke with Kroll, as part of The League roundtable at New York Comic Con, about the inspirations for the character, his lines becoming catch phrases, working with Jeff Goldblum, and the possibilities of returning to Parks and Recreation.
As the inventor of the “frittata”, do you want that to be your legacy?
When I jump off the Brooklyn Bridge next week you guys are the first to know about it. There are so many fun terms that we have all coined on the show and it’s very fun, fulfilling, and bizarre to hear people saying them back to you. It’s like this weird thing. It’s pretty fun. Then there’s a certain point where it also gets weird when people want you to scream “suck it” at you, or scream that you’re “forever unclean” things like that it becomes slightly bizarre.
You had some off time this season because of other projects. Does it feel like you are missing your family?
It is. You know it’s tough. Jeff and Jackie [Schaffer] (Creators of The League) were very generous to help make some time editing because I wrapped Kroll Show on July 18th and starting shooting The League on July 19th, literally. They were generous to help me leave some time so I can edit my show, but the nice thing is we have been doing this for so long that it’s pretty easy to jump right into it. Everybody knows each other’s voices. Your able to kind of slip right back into being Ruxin or how Andre (Paul Scheer) would respond to something, or what kind of relationship you would have with Jenny (Katie Aselton). It’s true that I miss just hanging out with these guys on weeks that I am not in episodes, but it’s so easy to jump back in.
Will Ruxin’s dad (played by Jeff Goldblum) be in this season?
I don’t know if we are seeing Ruxin’s dad. I mean he’s too busy doing GE commercials. Goldblum’s the best, man. He’s such a true, true weirdo in the best way.
For someone that does so much creative projects like yourself, how much of Ruxin is actually you?
I guess Ruxin is all of the terrible thoughts that I have are manifested through Ruxin and through other characters. My meanest observations are usually saved for Ruxin. The things that me as someone who has to walk around in day-to-day life and doesn’t want to get in fights all day, I save those for Ruxin as my outlet. I’m not much like him I generally don’t think people are colluding against me. I tend to think people are decent and Ruxin’s the worst.
Will we get to see the return of ‘Douche Nation’ on the final season of Parks and Recreation?
I don’t know. I’m not sure, they have such little real estate so I’m not sure. It would be fun to do. It was a show that I loved and was a fan of. I think they have created such an amazing world. They’ve created their own Springfield. I think that nobody handles macro ideas of what’s going on in American society on a very micro level in a town like Pawnee better than I think Parks has done it. I don’t know if I will be back, but it’s so fun to do.
Although you don’t appear on a few episodes this season, your character is mentioned in passing and sometimes-even quotes are given from Ruxin. Is that you or them speaking for you?
I speak telepathically to all the guys on the show. I invade their nightmares and I live in their souls. So that’s how we sort of keep the lines coming out.
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