Fame from a $467 million comedy almost broke him, so he spent the next decade proving he never needed it.
At a glance
- Known for
- The Hangover trilogy, Between Two Ferns, Baskets
- Before fame
- Dropped out of NC State one credit short of graduating
- Off-screen
- Lives on a farm in North Carolina, told his sons he works as a librarian
Rise to Fame
A piano sitting onstage at Largo in Los Angeles rewired the whole act. He noticed it mid-set in the late '90s, started playing off-key between surreal one-liners, and built a cult following that had nothing to do with Hollywood. VH1 gave him a talk show in 2002. All 35 episodes aired over nine weeks before they pulled the plug.
The Hangover grossed $467 million in 2009. A guy who'd been doing weird bits in the back of Hamburger Harry's in Times Square was suddenly a movie star, and not the kind he wanted to be. The cast made less than $1 million combined for that first film. By Part III, he was getting $10 million upfront. He's said the fame 'really messed me up.' He meant it.
In the Spotlight
Birdman was the proof of concept. Inarritu called casting him 'a bet,' and the film won Best Picture. Baskets, which he co-created for FX, earned him an Emmy nomination for Lead Actor. After Louis C.K. confirmed sexual misconduct allegations in 2017, he didn't hedge: 'This is the poison of celebrity culture. It grosses me out.'
He's playing a tech billionaire in AMC's The Audacity and hosting a Netflix gardening show because he's been doing it for 25 years. Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch crossed $1 billion with him voicing Jumba. He picks the weird stuff first, and it keeps working.
Side Notes
Before anyone knew his name, he met a homeless woman named Mimi Haist at a Santa Monica laundromat in 1994. After the money came in, he found her an apartment and paid her rent for years. He brought her as his date to The Campaign premiere. She became the subject of a 2015 documentary called Queen Mimi and lived to 96.
He lives on a farm in Sparta, North Carolina, and used to tell his young sons he worked as a librarian. He quit drinking, dropped roughly 50 pounds, and once lit what appeared to be a joint on Bill Maher's show. The Hollywood lifestyle didn't take. He just kept gardening.