Who is smoother, Curtis or Donnell? “Curtis is smoother — only because when he’s not, they cut and we redo it! When Donnell’s a goof-ball, it stays [laughs].”
What musical artist would I be surprised to hear that you’re a fan of? “Hall & Oates. For me, there’s nothing wrong with it, but people always give me a little side-eye when I know every lyric. But that’s all right! Men at Work, I know them, too. Good stuff!”
Before Covid, you were traveling around the country a lot during personal appearances with your co-stars. Who was the most fun to sit next to on a plane and why? “Wow. Well, we didn’t sit next to each other, really. By and large, we were just studying lines or resting, honestly. But I have to say, I was Covid-ready. Before Covid, I’m the guy who wiped down the seat and the seatbelt and the tray and I covered my face. So I don’t know how much fun I was to sit next to!”
Curtis did a magic act at the Nurses’ Ball when he proposed to Jordan. If you had to sing, but you could pick the song, what would you perform? “I have to use caution because any answer could read as a request to the powers-that-be! At one point, I was asked to sing Brian McKnight, okay, and my reply was, ‘Do you know how difficult it is to sing Brian McKnight?!’ If I were to sing a song, it would probably be my go-to karaoke [number], which involves very little effort on my part, because it’s very much crowd participation, Kool & The Gang’s ‘Celebration’. That way, I would just hold the mic to the crowd most of the time!”
Which Curtis ad-lib are you most proud of? “There was a scene where Drew and Curtis were in the mausoleum and the wonderful director, Larry Carpenter, gave us a lot of leeway, a lot of creative autonomy, and an ad-lib that I still think back on and chuckle was, before we pulled the lid off this 20-year-old coffin, Curtis was reluctant, apprehensive, maybe — dare I say scared — and feeling like, ‘Something’s not right about this,’ and I ad-libbed, ‘I’m probably gonna die first.’ Larry, Billy Miller [ex-Drew] and myself, we all died laughing during rehearsal, and Larry said, ‘Yes, say that, that’s funny!’ I said, ‘Okay, cool!’ I felt good about that one. That line was a lot of Donnell coming through in Curtis.”
