Jon Barinholtz On Perfecting The Art of the Doucebag for NBC’s ‘American Auto’

There is a lovably quality to the idiocy that Jon Barinholtz brings to his characters. On NBC’s Superstore, Barinholtz played Marcus, the co-worker who said the worst possible thing at the worst possible time. Marcus was the creeper who got his news from Reddit or tried to market women’s breast milk as a dairy alternative. In Justin Spitzer’s American Auto, Barinholtz is given the chance to capitalize on that cringey douchebaggery, but this character has something to prove.

Superstore and American Auto share the same creator in Justin Spitzer. What the big box sitcom did so well was establish a well-known place and then pack it with one of the most skilled and talented ensembles I have ever seen. For American Auto, however, we are introduced to a batch of executives trying to keep up with the changing times at a Detroit car company. Both sitcoms have dependable, solid ensembles, and that is something that Barinholtz grew to appreciate on the set of Superstore.

“So much of this is jumping into things and see how it plays out–at least at first. I don’t think I even appreciated how curated you have to be to make these ensemble casts. It’s such a process. In Superstore, one through seven on the call sheet is a homerun hitter. They can be in a scene by themselves, and then they can be so dynamic in whatever combination you put them in. The same goes for American Auto. When Justin approached me, I read the pilot, and I knew he was going to do the same thing. It’s the complete opposite of Superstore, but I knew who the characters were, how they were going to play with each other, and how they could have their own storylines. He could’ve not shown me the script, and I would’ve been in. The script was the icing on the cake. Justin is so good at writing things that pop no matter what time you are watching them. He is so good at having his finger on the pulse. Superstore was a sneaky issue show, and it brought storylines in about serious episodes without people realizing it.”

Because Wesley Payne is the grandson of the former CEO, he can get away with anything, but things change when Ana Gasteyer’s Katherine Hastings steps in. Wesley is openly combative towards Katherine, and he undermines her to the rest of the staff whenever she is not around. Since Wesley believes he always has the upper hand–especially because he is a white man in a male dominated industry–it gave Barinholtz a tremendous amount of freedom to play a character who has no filter.

“With Marcus, they wrote a few paragraphs for an audition. It wasn’t specific for that character, but they might have had notes for improvisation to let people go off for their own thing. I was going to take the material and put a spin on it where this guy seems disgusting. You have to have some lovability to allow the character to succeed in a likable ensemble. I thought about how I was such a bullshitter when I was a teen, and I brought that perspective to it. How would Marcus talk his way out of a situation? With Wesley, he reads on the page like a prick. I thought I could take this guy who sucks…but I wanted you to feel bad for him. I wanted that softness. I don’t think either character has a filter. Wesley is unique in this ensemble because everyone on the show is playing chess and trying to climb the corporate ladder. Wesley can’t move up or down, so he is circling the game while everyone is playing. It allows him the freedom to say what he’s thinking. It’s a fun zone to play in.”

As the first season progresses, we get the idea that Wesley is actually a lonely guy. That doesn’t excuse his behavior or the things he says, but Barinholtz was excited to give different shades to his character’s motivations.

“When my brother [Ike Barinholtz] played my brother in episode nine, you see why Wesley is Wesley. I talked earlier in the season with the writers, and we worked together to have a buyback at the end. It’s not like, ‘He’s a good guy at the end,’ but you feel something for the character that you aren’t expecting. I think that happens in episode nine, and I think it’s important to realize that if Wesley was born to a different family, he would be fine. He’s not evil. He’s always going to a product of his environment.”

One of Barinholtz’s latest ventures was in the realm of animation with Netflix’s Chicago Party Aunt. He has leant his voice to other animated shows (like Solar Opposites), but Party Aunt reunites him with Superstore co-star Lauren Ash. Party Aunt is unique because of the messiness of the characters and the specificity from where the show was born. I was shocked to learn that this show was inspired by a fake twitter account, and the show kept growing and growing from there.

“It all comes from the character of Diane. Our friend Chris [Witaske] created Twitter account with this character, and it caught fire amongst Chicago people. And then it became a thing with Chicago transplants. It would be ridiculous traffic on the I94 with a caption like, ‘Pro-tip: when the lights are red the cars are moving away from you. When they are white, they are moving towards you.’ No shit. We knew it was our friend before the avatar was the cartoon. We knew it was a character when we were interacting with it. It may have looked like we were picking fights with this dumb, Midwestern woman. Richie Schwartz and Olive Ridge suggested that it should be a cartoon so we could build more with it. We brought on Katie Rich to help create since everyone thought it was her to begin with. It’s really crazy that you can take a project about not just a city but the small part of that city that Ike and I grew up in and have it be inside baseball about Chicago but also local flavors that are everywhere. Everyone has a party aunt in your life even if they aren’t related to. If they were never there, the night wouldn’t be fun. I love that project so much.”

Hearing Barinholtz talk about not stripping away the “Chicago-ness” of Party Aunt made me realize how personal and more authentic it all is. There are a million stories that I could make a show about the neighborhoods in Pittsburgh (Netflix clearly isn’t taking my calls…), and that adds to the charm and heart of the show.

“Netflix was so great by never asking us to pull back on the Chicago part of it. If you pull back on it too much, you run the risk of it being generic. People aren’t stupid. Your viewing audience is sharp. The character might be talking about, say, a hot dog stand near her house. I may not know what that is, but I know the places in my neighborhood that are exactly like that. It makes it more relatable.”

This television season has proven how robust network comedies still are. American Auto is pushing how far some comedy can go, and Barinholtz is anxious and excited to see what might be in store for season two. Big swings can lead to big rewards, and American Auto is strapping itself in to take the charge.

“Superstore was at the tail end of network shows getting love, but it was still under the radar. I believe that if it came out two years earlier, it would have the same viewership as The Office or Parks and Recreation. Streamers were already rising, and Superstore was carrying the torch for great network comedies. Network shows were kind of revamping to work with 3 cameras and setting things on a stage. It feels like now, people are starting to give those network shows a chance and letting shows take swings. There wasn’t a table read that went by where I didn’t text Justin Spitzer or Eric Ledgin to say, ‘Oh, that joke is so funny…let me know when standards and practices tells us to take it out because I don’t want to get my hopes up.’ But they haven’t done that yet. American Auto is allowed to take really big swings, and it still has that viciousness to the corporate nature. I am so pleased that the network is allowing things through. It says a lot about the trust the network has with Justin and a lot of the creative team.”

American Auto airs its first season finale on March 8 on NBC. You can catch up on episodes on Peacock and Hulu.