Abed (Danny Pudi) becomes Batman on "Community." NBC photos
They're both biracial. They both like making new friends. They love pop culture from the 1980s.
And it turns out they both do dead-on, hilarious impersonations of Christian Bale.
In the comedy's Halloween episode Thursday, Pudi's socially awkward Abed tones down his frenetic persona to be the Dark Knight at the Day of the Dead party his classmate, Annie (Alison Brie), is throwing for their Spanish class.
"It was such a treat to play Batman," Chicago native Pudi told me via e-mail Wednesday. "But it wasn't the first time. There was one Halloween ... around 1990 when I played the Dark Knight. That Batman was a little more innocent and the costume wasn't as good. I believe it was from Walgreens and made of plastic."
COMMUNITY
7 p.m. Thursday, NBC
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You don't see a lot of Pudi in this episode. But when you do, you'll laugh. He's unforgettable, nailing the imposing demeanor and gravely voice Bale brought to Batman.
"There were vocal exercises every morning to prep my larynx for the Batman voice," he said.
Pierce (Chevy Chase) dons a Beastmaster costume on "Community."
"I spent much of the week laughing at the insanity," Pudi wrote. "Chevy Chase plays Beastmaster complete with a fake bird on his arm. I'm just happy I was there to witness that."
For Pudi, who grew up in both Brighton Park and Jefferson Park, studied at Second City and made some comedy inroads with the Asian-American troupe Stir-Friday Night, working with Chase is an unbelievable experience.
"It's a lot like school to me, you know?" he told me during a phone conversation earlier this season. "Because I feel like I'm getting an education on the different comedy styles every day and it's kind of a blessing."
Pudi described an experience from early in the season, when Chase threw a tomato at Pudi and hit him square in the crotch.
"I look up and I see Chevy Chase giggling," Pudi said. "And I'm like, can it get any better than this? I don't think it can. No. I'm having the time of my life. ... If this all ends tomorrow, I've learned a lot; I've had a ball."
Despite the show's less-than-stellar ratings, Pudi's play time won't be ending too soon. Last week NBC picked up the series for a full season, which means nine more episodes will be filmed to go with the original 13-episode order.
I'll have more from Pudi in a future post, but for now read on as he explains the similarities between himself and Abed.
Biraciality: "He's half Palestinian though, and half Caucasian. I'm half Indian and half Polish. ... It's kind of a cool thing ... I think that's kind of a big step for television."
Friendliness: "He's very eager to connect with people, make friends and learn. And I think that's something that I definitely loved about college. I was always having a good time. ... Sometimes I wonder if I could've taken some class work more seriously."
Love of the 80s: "I grew up watching tons of '80's TV like 'Hunter.' I used to watch 'Hunter' with my grandma all the time and I'd sit there and I'd translate it from English to Polish. 'Hunter' wasn't a comedy, but by the time I translated it into Polish, it turned into one."
2 Comments
Jade said:
Pudi made this episode. Enough said. The ending was grande.
Curt Wagner said:
Yes he did. Awesome episode. Thanks for commenting.
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