Features

Photo Credit: Kevin Zacher

BY JONATHAN SOROFF

Weymouth native Nate Corddry, 33, known for his roles on TV shows like The Daily Show, United States of Tara and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is currently starring in NBC’s Harry’s Law, opposite Kathy Bates. The younger brother of comedian Rob Corddry, Nate earned a bachelor’s degree at Colby-Sawyer College. After training as an actor at the Williamstown Theater Festival, he joined The Daily Show in 2005 as a correspondent alongside his brother. His film work includes The Ugly Truth, The Invention of Lying and Yogi Bear. He lives in Los Angeles.

Jonathan Soroff: So you clearly got all the hair in your family…
Nate Corddry: It’s the Propecia and Rogaine that’s keeping it barely hanging on. It’s the real high point of my day, sitting in the hair and makeup trailer and having my bald spots painted in.

Anything to say to Tom Brady about his hair?
God love you, Tom Brady! I think it looks fantastic. My girlfriend disagrees, as do a majority of Americans, but the guy’s a beast.

Are all comedians angry people?
No. Most of them are broken on the inside and need positive reinforcement from dark rooms full of strangers.

Did growing up in Weymouth make you funny?
I’m not sure it’s Weymouth. When you grow up with New England winters, there’s a natural sarcasm you develop.

In a bare-knuckle boxing fight, would you pick Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert?
Bare knuckles? Colbert. But if they had to follow rules and wear gloves, I’d say Jon Stewart.

Ever ruined a take by cracking up?
Maybe a thousand times. But you just go, “mother-f***ing c***-sucker!” and then try again.

How much of what you do is improv?
On The Daily Show, a lot of it, but you don’t have to improvise when the writing is really good. The only thing worse than bad improv is bad Shakespeare.

Has Kathy Bates ever tied you to a bed, put a cement block between your knees and smashed it with a sledgehammer?
Oddly enough, no. But I kind of assumed that she wouldn’t do that.

Was that a casting couch situation? Did she try to have her way with you?
There was no seduction, but I’m seduced by the work that she does every single day. Groan.

You were on Guiding Light?
I played a computer nerd. The episode never aired, though. It got preempted by the invasion of Iraq.

Strangest thing you ever read about yourself?
My college alumni magazine did a story about me and one of my professors said I was the most pretentious student he ever had.

Yogi Bear: What were you thinking?
It’s the exact movie they set out to make! It’s not a movie for A.O. Scott. It’s a movie for A.O. Scott’s 7-year-old daughter. It’s made something like $90 million. It’s not gonna get me on Inside the Actors Studio, but it was my first big studio film. So for me, that job was significant.

Which of the films you’ve done will produce the most royalty checks?
Yogi Bear, for sure. Children’s DVDs sell a lot more than serious films. That’s why a lot of kids’ movies get made. A lot of parents use them as babysitters. I’m assuming Yogi Bear is gonna sell a ton of DVDs when it comes out.

Favorite cartoon of all time?
I used to watch Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner a lot growing up. They still hold up.

Is Childrens Hospital, your brother’s show, the sickest thing on TV?
I think TMZ is the sickest thing on TV, but it’s a close second.

What do your parents think of it?
They like my sister more than either my brother or me, but seriously, they love it.

Is Colby-Sawyer College a hotbed of subversive comedic genius?
It is. We’re sort of running neck-and-neck with Plymouth State in terms of fostering young talent.

Tell me a secret about Jon Stewart.
He’s very short.

If he walked in the room, would I say, “Look at how short that guy is?”
No. That’s Tom Cruise. Jon Stewart is more like Al Pacino small.

Are farts intrinsically funny?
Yes. Absolutely. Because they come from a dark place. Burps aren’t as funny because they come from your mouth.

Finish this sentence: Kim Kardashian and Snooki get stuck on an elevator together….
And they decide to enter the Republican primary.

If it was between Sarah Palin and Kim Kardashian?
I would vote for Kim Kardashian.

Is it cause for concern that a lot of people get their news from The Daily Show?
No. The average person who watches it is smart and has enough sense to distinguish satire from truth.

Your fantasy reality TV show?
Put 50 singles on the moon and see what happens. They have to deal with astronaut ice cream, peeing in bags and floating to see who wins the heart of the astronaut bachelor.

Worst job you ever had?
Washing dogs. I did it one summer, and I smelled like wet dog for three months. I got paid two dollars in cash per dog, and they’d be snarling at me, and snapping, and there would be crap in their butt. It was hardcore.

Last badge in becoming an Eagle Scout?
That was 16 years ago. I don’t even remember. But I can tell you what my hardest badge was. Life Saving. We had to swim out to the middle of the pond and rescue a guy who weighed like 270 pounds. I probably weighed 120 at the time. And if you did it wrong, he’d grab you and hold you underwater. That was the hardest merit badge.

Any chance you’ll be guest starring on Glee?
That’s something that’s never going to happen. I can’t sing, and I couldn’t pass for a high school student.

Your brother’s movie Hot Tub Time Machine—was it unfairly overlooked by the Academy?
Probably not. Every other word out of my brother’s mouth was f***. He killed in that movie. I laughed from start to finish.

Favorite knock-knock joke of all time?
Knock-knock.

Who’s there?
Interrupting cow.

Interrupting cow…
Moooooo!

Will you make the cover of Vanity Fair?
[Laughs.] Nope. Not in this lifetime. My real dream is to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park, anyway. I just want to be famous enough that members of the Red Sox know who I am. That’s my goal. Vanity Fair can suck it. I wanna meet Youkilis.