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John Corbett has had a steady career many of the 98% non-working actors dream of, from Northern Exposure to all three My Big Fat Greek Weddings, and significant arcs on United States of Tara, Parenthood, and all eleventy billion iterations of Sex and the City/And Just Like That. But he’s not fulfilled! It’s more nuanced than that. He was just on the Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade podcast, and it seems John, who’s in his sixties now, feels he made a mistake in not being more involved on the other side of the camera, like writing or producing. He sees what Emma (Emily) Stone is doing and thinks, “That could’ve been me!” I’m grossly paraphrasing that last bit, here’s what he actually said:
John Corbett would have done things differently in his career looking back.
The actor, 63, said it’s been “unfulfilling” being a TV actor and that he chose the “wrong” career path in a recent interview on the Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade podcast.
“Look, I’m in the fourth quarter of the football game now, in life and in showbiz. It’s just a fact. So I can reveal now I picked the f–king wrong thing to do with my life,” Corbett said.
“I’ve made a lot of money. I live in a beautiful home. People come to me at every restaurant I go in. I’m a friend of the world,” the actor continued. “But as far as a fulfilling creative work life, I didn’t write one f–king line. I didn’t write one joke to make people laugh. So it’s been unfulfilling on that level.”
Corbett mentioned Emma Stone as someone he admires as an actor who is also involved in the creative process of putting a project together, after producing the films Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness, in collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos.
“I’m not collaborating with the writers,” Corbett explained. “… Have you ever sat in a waiting room of a doctor’s office for like an hour and been like, ‘What the f–k?’ For me, that’s what making a movie is like, because I’m not part of any creative process.”
“I’m not a movie actor … I’m really a television actor and so that has to move quick and that guy’s got to make a million decisions. And we’re not shucking and jiving and going out for wine after,” he added. “And so I’m just at this point in my life … if something seems really, really fun, I’ll say yes.”
All is not lost! He could still write something, or start a production company. John has options here! He says he’s in the fourth quarter of his sportsball metaphor for life; a lot can happen then. To be literal with the football: the KC Chiefs pulled off their win this year in overtime, at that game that happens on the same day as the Puppy Bowl.
On the other hand, if all this is really a veiled comment to the Sex and the City writers for their beating a dead horse, resuscitating it with half-assed magic, only to beat the poor beast all over again with the tortured Carrie/Aidan storyline — then he’s 1,000% on point there and has my sympathies.
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