Mark Duplass Talks The League, Working With NFL Players, Relationships, and More

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.

Besides being ridiculously funny, The League contains one of the hardest working casts on television. A prime example of which is Mark Duplass, who plays Pete Eckhart. Although his character has no ambition, Duplass is nothing like his character in real life. Mark has starred in films such as Zero Dark Thirty, Safety Not Guaranteed, and The One I Love and is a recurring character on The Mindy Project. He’s also written and directed (with his brother Jay) critically-acclaimed films like Cyrus and and Jeff, Who Lives at Home.

At a roundtable interview at New York Comic Con, Mark spoke with Pop-Break and other members of the press about acting along side NFL players, playing such a lazy character, and the chances of Pete having a real relationship again.

So you pretty much play the complete opposite of yourself in real life because you’re incredibly busy all the time writing, directing, and producing movies.

And Pete’s lazy as fuck.

Incredibly lazy. Is that the only time you get to relax?

It’s super fun. Obviously you don’t get to relax that much on a set where you are filming an episode every three days and shooting twelve-hour days. That being said the character of Pete is really fun to play, not only because he is different from my personality, but he has zero emotionality. The films I am making are very complex towing lines between drama and comedy and they are hard to get right. Pete is all about trying to craft the most artisan version of a dick joke he can find. Like a good micro-brewed dick joke. That’s really what he’s about. So that simplicity is fun.

Are fans of your movies surprised when they find out about the show?

I think there is some crossover and sometimes there’s not and it’s great when people don’t know about the other side of what I do, there’s a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde. So occasionally someone who likes the sensitive stuff will watch The League and they will be like “Boy, you were real mean to those people on that show.” But more important it’s sort of like the more Midwestern somewhat close-minded football fan who loves the show and goes sees a movie of mine like Hump Day where I challenge a friend of mine to sleep with me for a porn film festival and they are like “Saw that movie on Netflix bro, it’s kind of weird…what are you doing.” [Laughs]

Do you think Pete can have a stable relationship?

Well Pete was obviously married. That didn’t end so well for him. Only lasted for the first episode. I think Pete is really at the point right now where he has crossed over that bridge of just like “I am giving minimum effort in my life and I am getting maximum output,” and marriage, as many people know, is not for those that don’t want to put in effort. I would say Pete would be a pretty shitty husband. He would have to find somebody that’s pretty independent and maybe just as evil as he is for that to be a sustainable marriage.

Pete seems to enjoy watch everyone else do their thing and observe from a slight distance. What’s your favorite pairing of two characters with Pete?

I really like doing scenes with Paul Scheer. I think the Andre/Pete dynamic is interesting. It’s really funny for me for some reason when Pete tries to date these younger women because he thinks he’s kind of cool, but he’s really not. Those things are fun. Actually this season I start to date more woman who are age appropriate, so it’s good. Pete thinks he’s cool and I like when he gets his comeuppance that’s kind of the most fun for me.

Do you think because you are a director that you would want to direct an episode?

No. I think to be perfectly honest. I am not that well suited to write and direct this stuff. It’s so fast-paced and if you look at my movies they’re much more slow growing and a little more sensitive [laughs] and this is my affair on my other career. So I honestly think that I’d not be good and writing and directing one of these episodes. What Jeff Schaffer does to this show is very few people who can do this that well. It’s mostly improvised and he’s thinking on his feet. After any given take he comes in with ten great joke pitches right away and my brain doesn’t work that fast or that way.

What is it like working with NFL players?

To be honest with you it can go from passable to terrible because sometimes they come on and there really sensitive and don’t understand the way everybody makes fun of each other and that can be like um he’s 6’8 and 350 pounds and he might destroy me so I have to be careful what I say, but then a guy like J.J. Watt comes on who’s super nice, very funny. Really smart, easy to get along with and that works out well.