joelmchaleftw:

by Michael Jensen

When I answer the phone the very first words out of Joel McHale’s mouth are “I am so sorry I’m late.”

Indeed, the start of NBC’s Community is fifteen minutes late in calling for our interview, but in Hollywood time that’s nothing. In fact, there are many actors who wouldn’t acknowledge being late at all.

But McHale isn’t one of those celebrities by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he apologizes again for being tardy. And did I mention he’s calling me from his personal number, no publicist running interference? He’s on his way to one of his kids’ activities and is more than happy to chat as long as I want. And don’t think he’s going to badmouth the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for again overlooking both himself and his show when it comes to Emmy nominations. In fact, he’s got nothing but good things to say about them, both for having put him on the cover of their magazine and having asked him to announce this [sic] year’s Emmy nominations along with Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara.

And at the end of our phone call, he asks for my email so he can send me a clip from The Soup — his other gig — that he thinks I should see. Then he wants to know when I’ll be in L.A. next and invites me to do a set visit and have lunch with him.

Trust me, there aren’t a whole of actors who make that kind of effort. Yes, it’s possible McHale isn’t really as nice as he seems. Maybe he’s just an incredibly smart self-promoter and schmoozer. But I’ve met a lot of actors and Hollywood types, and he sure doesn’t come off that way. He seems genuinely nice and I’m going to take that at face value.

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