In 11 Questions, The A.V. Club asks interesting people 11 interesting questions\u2014and then asks them to suggest one for our next interviewee.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Glenn Howerton has been a staple on our screens for years now\u2014and that\u2019s outside of that sitcom<\/a> he developed with his pal Rob McElhenney<\/a>. Earlier this year, the actor reveled in playing a different role than the curmudgeonly ones we\u2019re used to seeing in The Mindy Project and A.P. Bio<\/a>. In Netflix\u2019s Sirens<\/a>, he starred as a pathetically-in-love rich guy striving to woo his partner. And now, he\u2019s back as manipulative troublemaker Dennis Reynolds in It\u2019s Always Sunny In Philadelphia\u2018s 17th<\/a>(!) season. \u201cIt\u2019s the pinnacle of what I could\u2019ve asked for, given how hard it was to get people to watch it when it began,\u201d he tells The A.V. Club about the show\u2019s endurance. He adds that despite a lack of Emmy wins, Sunny has lasted because fans deeply connect with it. \u201cThat\u2019s the art I personally consume the most. I\u2019m into something because it\u2019s just so damn good and not because the powers that be told me I needed to watch it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In our latest 11 Questions, Howerton opens up about his love for Elizabeth Shue and Karate Kid, why he can\u2019t stop scrolling Instagram, and his desire to go back in time to become a tennis expert.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Glenn Howerton: <\/b>I did not make a New Year\u2019s resolution this year. I have done that in the past, but now I tend to make resolutions throughout the year, so it\u2019s not isolated to any one time. I make and break lots of resolutions throughout the entire year. That\u2019s how I try to create new and better habits for myself. The older I get, the worse I am at actually succeeding at those things because I\u2019m just so damn tired now. I set these goals for myself and then I\u2019m just too tired to keep up. I\u2019m always like, \u201cLet\u2019s take a nap.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The A.V. Club: Do you remember what the last one was, even if you broke it?\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> Yes, I\u2019ve tried meditation many times. I\u2019ve tried all the different types of meditation that you can think of. I\u2019ve tried different apps a million times. I\u2019ve been consistent for years at a time, but it\u2019s just never done anything for me. Then I started doing more breathwork. I found that to be extremely powerful. So my last resolution was to do breathwork at least once a day, and I haven\u2019t done it once this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n GH:<\/b> You know, I forget that that\u2019s an option. Instead of doing that, the next day I usually go for an extra cup of coffee. But instead, I should honestly do a 10-minute breathwork session. It would make me feel even better and it wouldn\u2019t come with the jitters and stuff. So as we\u2019re talking about this, I\u2019m realizing I need to get back to it tomorrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n GH:<\/b> At this stage in my life, I don\u2019t think it would be industry-related. If we\u2019re talking about an actual blank check, it would be creating a beautiful, magical city where all of the most thoughtful, considerate people could live; and there would have to be some sort of extensive psychological exam for each person who\u2019s allowed to live in the city to make sure that they\u2019re genuinely ethical and moral people who don\u2019t take up two parking spots when they only need to take up one. I would just let all the people who throw their trash on the sidewalk and modify their mufflers so that their cars can be loud as shit live somewhere else and let all of us who are good people live in this magical city together.<\/p>\n AVC: That sounds like a complex test. Have you thought about what it would entail?<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> I think it would be pretty extensive. It would be one of those things where it\u2019s smartly crafted so that you cannot cheat your way through it by giving answers, you know? It would be made with verified members of this group of really good people, and hopefully, you could also get someone to vouch for you. I don\u2019t know, though, I\u2019d have to spend some more time thinking about it.<\/p>\n AVC: Who do you know who would get in for sure?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> My wife, for sure. My kids, probably not so much. They\u2019re little dickheads right now. But they\u2019ll get there. I think we\u2019re setting a pretty good example for them. But my wife is an incredible person.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n 3. What discontinued food or beverage would you like to see brought back?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n GH: <\/b>Oh. I\u2019m curious to know, is that a question you ask people often?\u00a0<\/p>\n AVC: Yeah, and so far this might be the one that has stumped most people.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is when I was a kid, I ate a lot of sugary cereals. We didn\u2019t have a lot of other sugary foods in the house, but somehow the cereals slipped past my parents. I went nuts on them and had a few favorites as a child. But one of them was the peanut-butter flavored Cap\u2019n Crunch. It tasted like a mix of sweet and salty peanut butter and had the perfect texture as if there was real peanut butter in it. Then, by the time I got to high school, I remember they changed the formula so they started tasting artificially sweet or something. That ruined it for me. I loved that cereal, so it\u2019s a shame. I would like to see the original version of that come back.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Who was your first pop culture crush?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH: <\/b>The first person that comes to mind is Elizabeth Shue. I was probably like six or seven years old when I first saw Karate Kid, and I just thought she was so cute.\u00a0<\/p>\n AVC: Have you ever met her over the years?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> I actually recently did. Her kids went to the same school that my kids went to in Los Angeles. My wife knows her husband a little bit, and we were at some event at Sundance and hanging out with the same group of people for a brief amount of time. She was lovely, so grounded. And I had heard that about her. And she\u2019s still pretty stunning, if I do say so.\u00a0<\/p>\n AVC: What about revisiting the <\/b>Karate Kid <\/b>movies? Have you done that in recent years?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> Absolutely. I think the first one is an especially extraordinary film that holds up surprisingly well because of Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita\u2019s performances. Ralph, in particular, just gave a very real and grounded performance. I love it.\u00a0<\/p>\n 5. What would you consider your biggest pop culture blind spot?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH: <\/b>Pop music for sure. Any pop music that\u2019s playing on the radio, I just don\u2019t connect to it. This isn\u2019t necessarily true across the board. Every once in a while, there\u2019ll be a musician who\u2019s very, very popular that I like. Some of my favorite artists have been extraordinarily popular if you look at their overall fame throughout the years, like David Bowie and Pink Floyd. Radiohead, too, but their stuff doesn\u2019t play on the radio, ironically. I\u2019m trying to think of who I\u2019ve liked that\u2019s been popular recently. Oh, I think Bruno Mars is talented. I\u2019m sure there are other talented ones, and I don\u2019t even think they make bad music. But to me, it\u2019s a little bit like eating candy. I can only have a bit of it, and it\u2019s delicious, but it does not satisfy me. I\u2019m not getting much from it. I like my music to challenge me.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n AVC: What is the music that does satisfy you or that you keep going back to?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> I overuse this word with the people who know me, but I\u2019m always seeking authenticity. With pop music, it\u2019s hard to know what\u2019s authentic and what isn\u2019t because, almost by definition, it feels like pandering just by being so widely popular and everybody loving it. I kind of lean towards artists that I feel like they\u2019re giving a little bit of a middle finger to the industry and challenging people to like them. Faith No More and Mike Patton, who was their lead singer for several years\u2014that would be a good example of a band that made interesting music and didn\u2019t care about alienating all their fans. They just made whatever they wanted to make, and it was so weird. You can\u2019t even quite specify what genre they\u2019re playing in. It seems like every musician in that band was in a different band, and yet somehow, it worked. Recently, I\u2019ve been into this band called Viagra Boys. They\u2019re a post-punk band who don\u2019t take themselves too seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n 6. When were you the most starstruck and by whom?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH: <\/b>I get more starstruck by musicians than I do by actors. Maybe if I were a musician, it would be the other way around. But I feel like it\u2019s musicians who touch my soul. I remember when I first met the guys from the Kings Of Leon. It was a long time ago, but I was starstruck. We\u2019ve since become good buddies, and I have so much respect for them, their upbringing, and their journey. I was also starstruck by Stephen Merchant to the point where I didn\u2019t even actually say anything to him because I\u00a0 didn\u2019t want to be a blabbering idiot. It would\u2019ve been the same way if I had seen Ricky Gervais. I\u2019m a huge fan of the British Office and of the other show they made together called Extras<\/a>. I think those guys are geniuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n 7. What piece of advice that you received coming up in the industry would you say is no longer applicable to new artists?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH:<\/b> Most of the advice I got was universal. I don\u2019t know how many agencies package projects anymore, but the WGA came down on that a little bit. Am I going to get in trouble here by saying more? My feeling is that if you\u2019re ever offered the opportunity to have your representatives package something or pay commission, just pay the commission if you think it\u2019s a good deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s also how social media has changed our industry and how having a large following can amplify your career. But nobody ever gave me advice about it when I was coming up because it wasn\u2019t a huge thing. It existed, but it didn\u2019t apply to how easily you could book a job. Honestly, I don\u2019t know if I have the mind for the kind of content that people create there. There are some brilliant creators, and I am endlessly entertained by them when I scroll Instagram to the point where it\u2019s become a bit of a problem because I can scroll and scroll and scroll. The algorithm is so damn good. And there are a lot of funny people there.\u00a0<\/p>\n AVC: I know this season of<\/b> It\u2019s Always Sunny <\/b>has a little parody of the <\/b>Hawk Tuah<\/b><\/a> stuff. Can you tell me how that came about?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n GH: <\/b>You know, it\u2019s been almost six months since we finished filming it, and the Hawk Tuah thing is getting older and older, so I don\u2019t know how it will age. But I think it\u2019s a funny bit we get to do in the episode. And the character is so funny that it won\u2019t matter. We had an idea to do an episode where Frank is the Golden Bachelor, and the Hawk Tuah idea came up out of that. I can\u2019t give more away, though.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 8. Who\u2019s someone in your field that everyone should be paying attention to?<\/b><\/p>\n