If you’ve read a single post on Warming Glow over the last month, then you likely already know that “Community” is set to return tonight on NBC. Here’s the funny thing about “Community,” though: For a show that’s such a huge phenomenon on the Internet, most people don’t actually know much about the actors behind some of their favorite characters. With the exception of Joel McHale and Chevy Chase, the cast of “Community” was largely unknown before the show debuted in 2009. Most of the actors, however, have been working in various roles in television and movies for years. Few, however, would recognize their pre-“Community” work.
I spent a few hours doing some sleuthing, however, and came up with 25 Facts about the pre-show careers of the cast of “Community” that most of us weren’t aware of. Until now. I don’t know how much most of this will change your perception of the actors, but at the very least, fans of 90s hip-hop (DANGER?) may see Yvette Nicole Brown in a completely different light.
1. One of series creator Dan Harmon’s first efforts was the “Laser Fart,” series, which he wrote and starred in as a superhero who shot … laser farts. The shorts also featured Jack Black, who would later star in Envy, a movie about a man who discovers Vapoorize, a spray that instantly removes dog feces.
2. Dan Harmon got started as the co-founder of Channel 101, in which participants submit a short film in the format of a pilot under five minutes in length and a live audience decides which pilots continue as a series. One of those series was “Water and Power,” which starred Harmon, and featured the likes of Chevy Chase, Joel McHale, and Aziz Ansari.
3. We all know that Jim Rash, who plays Dean Pelton, recently received an Oscar for co-writing The Descendants. However, Dan Harmon co-wrote Monster House, a film that was nominated for an Academy Award for best animation film.
4. Before Channel 101, Dan Harmon was part of a Milwaukee-based sketch group, The Dead Alewives. It looked really bad.
5. Dan Harmon has never been nominated for an Emmy for his work on “Community,” but he did win an Emmy for writing the lyrics to Hugh Jackman’s opening dance number at the 2009 Oscar ceremony.
6. Joel McHale’s television debut was on a sketch show “Almost Live!” in which he was featured in a sketch along with Bill Nye, the Science Guy. (Ironically, McHale’s first non-“Almost Live” TV appearance was on an episode of “Bill Nye, Science Guy.”)
7. Before he was an actor, McHale played tight end for the University of Washington.
8. Joel McHale’s first film role was as a bank manager in Spider-man 2.
9. McHale also starred in the American version of “The IT Crowd.” It was not picked up from pilot.
10. One of Gillian Jacobs’ first roles was in the phenomenal Sam Rockwell movie, Choke, based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel (I saw its debut at Sundance). You don’t have to look very hard to find images of Gillian topless. For our purposes, you can settle for this:
11. I have no recollection of it, but Gillian Jacobs — who studied acting at Julliard — also had a role in the pilot for “The Good Wife.”
12. Before “Community,” Jacobs starred in the Off-Broadway production of Little Flower of East Orange, which was directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. You should be able to recognize a few of the other actors from this cast photo.
13. Donald Glover, who was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, started out as a writer for “The Daily Show” and “30 Rock.” He also appeared on two episodes of “30 Rock” as a P.A. and as a “Gay Kid.”
14. Glover’s first television work was in various roles in Dan Harmon’s Channel 101 shows.
15. Donald Glover is part of the sketch comedy team, Derrick Comedy. They put out a pretty great movie, Mystery Team back in 2009. It also starred Aubrey Plaza.
16. Before “Community,” Danny Pudi did a lot of commercial work, including spots for T-Mobile and McDonalds.
17. Danny Pudi starred in the direct-to-DVD sequel to Road Trip called Road Trip: Beer Pong. He basically played an Indian stereotype.
18. Yvette Nicole Brown had an extremely short-run as a singer, appearing in the music video “1-4-All-4-1” by the East Coast Family, a Michael Bivins project. Move ahead to the 2:20 mark. It will blow your mindhole.
19. Kids of the Aughts may also recognize Yvette from a recurring role in “Drake and Josh” as a movie theater manager.
20. Like Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown has also done a lot of commercial work.
21. Before “Mad Men,” Alison Brie was in an episode of “Hannah Montana.”
22. Before becoming an actress, Brie — whose real name is Alison Brie Schermerhorn — worked as a clown at children’s birthday parties.
23. If you went to art school with Alison Brie, there’s a decent chance you had sex with her. From a Nerve Interview in 2010:
I went to art school. Now art school is not like regular college. Tai chi was a required course, we had a circus class taught by a bearded lady, and clothing was optional everywhere but the cafeteria. Similarly, the students there are of a different grain. They’re very deep and introspective, really open to experimentation of any kind, and they have weird haircuts. In my case, the first year there was fraught with exploration. I learned a lot about the inner workings of me. I learned how to become “a clean sheet of paper”; I learned how to breathe through my coccyx; I learned that pretty much anyone would have sex with me. This at first I thought was because I was “so talented” or “so creative.” Later, of course, I realized I was just easy. So I capitalized on it.
Exploring my newfound sexuality, there was, of course, the girl-on-girl action, the crazy threesome with the afros and whips, and the surreal ‘shrooms experience where I thought the tree was fondling me but it turned out to be my creepy male roommate with calluses on his hands… gross. You get the picture. I developed this (possibly misplaced) sexual pride, based solely on the quantity of penetrations of my vagina… and not necessarily the quality of the acts therein.
24. Ken Jeoung is also a doctor of Internal Medicine.
25. Chevy Chase’s real name is Cornelius Crane “Chevy” Chase. Chevy Chase was the first original cast member of “Saturday Night Live” to leave the show. Chase was also banned from “SNL” in 1997 after a history of verbally abusing the cast, specifically the homophobic treatment of openly gay cast member Terry Sweeney in the 1980s (he has since made a couple of appearances on the show. However, he’s still a homophobic prick in real life).
