Online post from Pop Wrap:


You may not recognize his name, but if you contributed $10 to the $80 million "Cloverfield" made at the box office this year, then you certainly know Michael Stahl-David's face.

While other actors in his position - star of a film phenomenon - would sop up every movie offer that came their way in the wake of that global exposure, Michael carved a different route.

Like many a thesp before him with the desire to prove their comedy prowess, Michael took to the Internet and created "Michael Stahl-David: Behind the Star."

The Crakle.com series is a hilarious mockumentary that follows the suddenly too self-confident actor as he tries to conquer Hollywood, despite the constant danger of suffocating under his overinflated ego.

Pop Wrap: Where did the idea for this series come from?
Michael Stahl-David: I'm a big fan of awkward comedy, like what Ricky Gervais does, and I kept finding myself in all these bizarre situations after I was in "Cloverfield." I wondered what life would be like if I just did all these horrible things but with a completely straight face.

PW: So how did it get from that to an actual show?
Michael: My friend Jeremy [Beiler, co-writer] asked me if I was going to become a huge d*** once the movie was successful. Naturally I said yes, I also thought about getting a huge bodyguard. We just started riffing on that and the show was born.

PW: Have you seen other actors fall victim to that?
Michael: Not really - my friends are all really chill, but Jeremy and I love the idea that it's really en vogue to be down to Earth. To be someone who tells people, "Oh, I'm just a normal guy," when there's no reason they shouldn't be because they're not that famous!

PW: Did anyone try to talk you out of spoofing yourself?
Michael: I met with a financier for a different project and they thought it was a bad idea. An actor has to be a mystery, they said, which is a good point - I just chose to ignore it. My team was never worried about how it was going to make me look, more than anything it just proves I can do comedy.

PW: Obviously "Michael" on the show is a raging egomaniac - are you worried about blurring the line between actor and character?
Michael: It's a little scary sometimes. The first thing we shot for the series was a red carpet at Sundance. I was asked if I wanted to walk the red carpet, so Jeremy mic'd me and he stood on the pressline filming it. We didn't have anything written, I just walked out there and started saying the most arrogant things I could imagine. "Yeah, that's right, I'm so f***ing sexy," and then I stayed on the carpet until they asked me to leave. It was thrilling but also scary because no one there knew I was doing that - they must all think I'm a huge jerk.

PW: So no fears of people mistaking the character for you and having that kind of behavior ending up in Page Six?
Michael: No one cares enough about me for that to happen. But it's funny because one commenter on the first episode said, "Oh my god - does he really sleep with the 'Cloverfield' poster above his bed?'"

PW: And for the record...
Michael: I don't (laughs).

PW: In the first episode you Google yourself; do you ever do that in real life?
Michael: When I was at the NBC upfronts for "The Black Donnellys" someone asked Masi Oka [from "Heroes"] what he would go back in time to tell himself. He advised against reading about yourself on the Internet - I thought that was great advice, it sounded smart...and I didn't do that.

PW: So what did you come across?
Michael: Nothing too weird, mostly people say, "He wasn't good in that movie" or "That scene was fake," or "I'd still [do him]." I'm gonna respond to that guy - see if he wants to go for a Jamba Juice (laughs).

PW: What can we look forward to in future episodes?
Michael: Well, I meet a fan who becomes a recurring character, we stage a musical and I also end up doing an animated movie, "Teen of the Jungle." I make a horrible choice with that and it becomes a struggle for all these people to get me out of it.

PW: Like using a bad accent, or something?
Michael: I just really wanted to do the right thing by them, and couldn't. So I get more and more defensive to their efforts to help. It gets very uncomfortable to watch, and that's when I knew we were getting to a good place. Both "The Office" and "Extras" know how to find that place where things are so funny, it's painful.

PW: Like their loooooong silences?
Michael: Exactly. It's really hard to do, especially at the time, it feels so uncomfortable in the room. So I am just forcing myself to sit in it and stew. I will do more next season.

PW: So there will be more than the planned 13 episodes first season?
Michael: I hope so.

PW: Do you think choosing to do this instead of a big movie will help or hurt your career?
Michael: I'd like to do another big movie, it's not like I don't want to become famous. But the reason is: I want to work. If you're famous, you get to pick and choose and I'd like to have the freedom to do it all: movies, TV and plays. I think this industry is luck -- more than people would like to admit.

Watch Michael make his own luck by checking out new episodes of "Michael Stahl-David: Behind the Star" every Monday on Crackle.com!