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Ted Star Max Burkholder on Working in Seth MacFarlane-Verse, Growth

Max Burkholder (Parenthood) spoke with Bleeding Cool about starring in the Peacock series Ted, working with Seth MacFarlane & more.

Max Burkholder is fortunate to frequently collaborate with Seth MacFarlane on the bulk of his projects in live-action and animation, which includes Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, and The Orville. Believe it or not, it wasn't guaranteed for the Parenthood star that he would star in the Peacock series Ted which is the prequel to the two films that starred Mark Wahlberg, with MacFarlane returning to voice the title character. Burkholder spoke to Bleeding Cool about taking over the role of John Bennett, how he's handling the burden of leading the franchise, working on MacFarlane's other shows, his rapport with castmates, his favorite scene, and growth as an actor. Ted is set in 1993, and Ted the Bear's moment of fame has passed. He's living back home with his best friend, John Bennett, and his family. While Ted may be a lousy influence on John, he's a loyal pal who will go out on a limb for friendship.

Ted Star Max Burkholder on Embracing His Role in Peacock Series

How did you get involved with 'Ted?' Did Seth contact you?

Burkholder: Seth didn't approach me directly. I got sent the audition information by my agents over at Paradigm and put myself on tape for it, not hoping for anything. I was like, "I'm 24 years old at the time. There's no way I can still believably play a 16-year-old. There's no shot. I'll put myself on the tape and send it in. Maybe when they see it, they'll bring me in for a guest spot in some episode here or there." The tape got kicked up the ladder until it got to Seth's desk, then negotiations, and eventually, this was sweet. No, truly, nobody does this, [Seth] gave me the call himself, and he wanted me to be in it, and I was over the moon.

Since you're going to star in an established franchise, was there anything that Seth wanted you to do to prep, like see the first two films? Did you talk to Mark Wahlberg about John Bennett pointers?

No, I didn't get to have any contact with Mark, but [Seth and Mark] are busy guys as things go. [Seth] didn't give me too much in the way of guidance on the character or anything like that. From the tape that I sent in the table reads, I think he felt like I had a good handle on the timing and the comedy, which is the most important part of the character. The moments that demanded hearts, he trusted me to bring that as well. His sense of humor is so influential on mine that, at least in terms of the sense of humor of the show, comedy, show that felt simple and easy to slip into.

Was Seth there on set to perform Ted's lines, or did you work off of someone else reciting them to you for him to record in post-production?

He directed every single episode, so you better believe he was there on set. That wasn't tough to pull off otherwise. He would be behind the monitors, either on the side of the room or in an adjacent room reading Ted's lines. I don't think the show would be as good as it is if he had not been reading Ted's lines, because that timing, the ability to improv, and play off each other are so important to the comedy.

You have been on both ends as far as working with Seth on his various shows on the live-action front and voiceover. Can you kind of tell me what it's like to work on the set he runs and if there were any rough patches along the way?

Certainly not rough. I mean, the roughest thing about shooting 'Ted' was it took a little bit of extra time every day for the VFX team to do everything that they needed to do. I'm glad they did it because the bear turned out amazing. This is the closest and most intensive I have ever gotten to work with him so far. The voice stuff was in and out. You show up, record lines, and leave. 'The Orville' shoot for me was only about two weeks, and not even working every day. This was you showing up every day with a front-row seat in his style. He picks the best people for the crew, and everybody is efficient. They know their jobs and how to do them perfectly. [Seth's] manning the ship and it's his job to answer any question anyone has about anything at any time. He's so focused, wearing a trillion different hats, and he still manages to find the room to play around and have fun every day. It was incredible.

Did you feel pressure leading a series like this compared to your other roles?

Yes, certainly there was. There was a bit of nervousness coming into it for the first week two weeks or so when I was like, "This is the biggest thing that I have ever been so prominent in." There was certainly a day I felt like everybody gets this a little bit at times, and if you don't, kudos to you. I felt a bit of imposter syndrome for the first little bit and wondering like, "Oh damn! Do I know how to do this? Can I hack this?" The set was so kind, welcoming, and open that after the first couple weeks during which we were shooting this fifth episode, 'Desperately Seeking Susan,' I settled into a nice flow and state of like, "I know how to do this. This is fine."

How did you build a rapport with your castmates Alana [Ubach], Scott [Grimes], and Giorgia [Whigham]? Was there anything you guys did before filming, or was it something that you fell in organically and hit the ground running?

A bit of both. There wasn't a tremendous amount of run-up for us to do stuff before we started shooting. Once we got started, the table read in four games in about a month or so before we started shooting. We felt like we all hung out, got dinners, and had movie nights with each other. There was a brief but great intensive rehearsal process in the few days leading up to shooting, where we went over all the big family dinner scenes, big living room scene, and stuff like that, where we got to flesh out our dynamic and our timing. By the time we started shooting and certainly by the end of the series or season, I should say we felt like a family.

Did you have a favorite scene for the season?

My favorite scene is the 'Pippin' scene with the security guard is fucking hilarious [from episode two "My Two Dads"]. It's so funny. The scene where I got to throw eggs at stuntmen from on top of a roof was sick [In episode four, "Subways, Bicycles and Automobiles"]. I've never gotten to do that before. What else? Those stick out as some of my favorites, but any time I get to see Alana do her thing in a monologue or even in a brief throwaway moment, she is a treat to watch perform because her character is so different from how she is in life.

How do you reconcile the growth in your career going on for 20 years? You had plenty of memorable roles in the TV series 'Parenthood' and the film 'The Purge.' What is the most invaluable lesson you've learned all this time?

It's certainly a lot different now. Depending on the projects, it can be way less draining now because I'm also not going to school on the days when I'm not working. That is huge in terms of being able to rest and recuperate in the middle of something. In that way, my stamina management has gotten a lot better. My approach and process have remained largely unchanged since I was like 6 or 7 and first started seeing my old acting coach who sadly passed away last year is the absolute best. His name is Harry Mastrogeorge. Everything that he imparted to me from the time I was young I kept close to me. My appreciation of nuance, story structure, and the nitty-gritty of everything that goes into production has certainly evolved. In terms of my process for my work and vocation, it is largely set.

Was there something that you hope to do in the future, perhaps outside of your typical wheelhouse, a genre, or a franchise you might hope to do in the future?

I would love to play the villain. That would be cool. When I did 'The Purge,' I wasn't a horror movie fan at all at that point, and I still wouldn't call myself a super fan, but I have a higher appreciation for the genre and the art form now. It would be cool to do a horror film or a thriller again with sort of my new sensibilities. I want to do everything. I want to do it all. I'm going to do every genre of every type. The fun of this job is that every character is so different.

All episodes of Ted are available to stream on Peacock.

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