After three critically acclaimed and award-winning seasons, Chris Perfetti still finds it hard to watch himself on “Abbott Elementary.” But as Jacob, the “social puppy dog” of “Abbott’s” faculty, Perfetti finds himself more and more ingrained in different storylines and he’s having to get more comfortable with it. Especially considering the strikes limited the 2024 season to just 14 episodes.
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Perfetti also humbly admits that the show’s star and creator, Quinta Brunson, has to pretty much explain a substantial number of pop culture references to him. However, the Rochester, New York native enjoys when the show leans into those moments because it makes it decidedly current for the audience tuning in every week. And that’s significant considering season three was arguably the most “meta” season of the show yet.
“The beauty of making 22 episodes usually is it’s what Quinta always intended, it’s that you would sit down maybe with your family and have a place to go every week to this and there’s no way that thing every week cannot talk about the world and reference it in a hopefully irreverent and beautiful way,” Perfetti says. “So yeah, I think that’s also Quinta trying to test the boundaries of what a classic sitcom might be. And so I think certainly the conceit for next season might be even more meta. And so yeah, it’s like beautiful, golden handcuffs having to make 22 episodes. It’s great and it’s hard.”
Throughout our interview early this month, Perfetti discussed Jacob bonding with his new roommate Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter), how Jacob and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) became closer friends this season, how Jacob’s vaping returned with a vengeance, and much more.
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The Playlist: What were you hoping for Jacob in season three, and what were you most pleasantly surprised about his storyline this season?
Chris Perfetti: I was most looking forward to doing an upheaval of maybe the tenets of Jacob that you feel comfortable with, that a lot of his relationships I knew going into the season were going to be turned on their head. His best friend obviously doesn’t work at the school anymore, his longtime boyfriend and here are going to break up. And so I was very much looking forward to what that might afford us, what Jacob’s getting, what he wants, what that looks like. What does a single Jacob look like? What does a Jacob without Janine look like? So, those were all things I was kind of prepared for. And the thing I think I didn’t really anticipate was just how deep the relationship with Gregory would go. And that I feel like was a thing that we started to explore at the end of the last season. And then we really kind of dug into this year, which was really not a surprise, I guess. I find any time that I just get to do a long scene with Tyler, I always find that to be a beautiful experience. I trust him very much as an actor. I get a lot of joy out of messing with him. And so I knew and was familiar with that experience, but I didn’t know that we were going to get to do as much of that this season. And so that was a real joy.
Did Quinta or the writers let you know about Jacob’s storylines before the season started?
Yeah, I think Quinta is really transparent. And I’ll say first and foremost, one of the weird and groovy things about our show is that we’re kind of making it in real-time with, it’s not much time between when we are shooting the show and when you are seeing the show. And so we get to kind of be in this cool dialogue with our audience and with the world. And so we can change based on that is the beauty of a sitcom. And as much as there is a rough sketch of where we’re going and the trajectory of the emotional trajectory of each character, I’ll ask Quinta what are the things I need to know in order to play those things correctly, but I really like not knowing because the audience doesn’t know. It’s just more fun for me. I feel like I’m sort of making peace more and more each year with that facet of this. I come from the theater, I’m very used to spending a month figuring out what every moment is going to be, and then the work sort of becomes about making that real for yourself every night. And now I get almost as much satisfaction out of not figuring out what those things are and just kind of going with the flow. And I feel like you can only really do that when you have a cast that you trust. And I do.
I’m going to get back to that in a second, but I did want to ask, I had this realization while you were mentioning this, I believe Barbara, Sheryl Lee Ralph’s character, is also single. Is this just a show about single teachers now?
Her character is not single. And yeah, everybody else in the show is.
Wait, have we met Barbara’s husband or is it a mystery? Did I miss this?
Now because you’re asking me and I feel…
Oh, is it a spoiler?
I cannot remember…no, no, no, no, no. I didn’t spoil anything. Please, God, let me not have spoiled anything. No, we haven’t met him, but she talks about him.
So, it’s mostly a show about Quinta and the writers exploring their single issues through these characters who are teachers in Philadelphia a little bit. That works! But I did want to ask, I was watching an episode last night for this interview and I dunno if you remember this, you were in the scene, but there was a moment with Tyler where is frustrated over Quinta and what he assumes is a date she’s on. He picks up a ketchup bottle and almost drinks it instead of a glass. Are the writers that detailed in the scripts or are those moments where you guys get to improv on the show? And if so, can you remember anything in particular that you did that made it into the show in that vein?
Wow, I love talking about this. I would say it is a very healthy dose of both. All of our scripts come very well-baked. I’ve never having this sensation where I’m like, “My character would never do that” or “That’s not funny to me.” For the most part, what is on the page is what you see, the ketchup bottle is not on the page. And to that end, I feel like they sort of tee us up and Quinta has created an environment of improvisation and collaboration that makes you feel like anything could happen or anything is possible. And so basically we get delivered a really great premise and then we try and see how far we can take it. So, it’s a lot of both.
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And I am usually really behind in watching the show. So I don’t know which of those things has made it into the show, but I am finding that to be one of the unbelievable pleasures of being a part of it. It’s like there are so many jokes strewn on the floor of that set. And I usually find the experience of watching things that I’m in mild to moderately torturous. But I have been watching “Abbott” just to see which jokes they chose, which take. There’s an episode, I don’t know if it was the previous one or a couple back where all of the teachers are giving up their vices and Jacob is deciding to part with his vape. And we shot so many different versions of that final scene and I ended up jumping in a trash can and it’s like that wasn’t on the page, but the idea that it’s difficult for him is on the page. And so it really feels like a marriage between the two at this point.
At the time I remember thinking I was surprised that Jacob would be a vape smoker. Were you as well or did that fit with what you thought about him?
No, no. We set up in the pilot that he smokes.
Oh, O.K.
And we quickly sort of disabused ourselves of that. Maybe it was the Disney of it all. But yeah, I always found that to be such a gorgeous detail. I think that tracks with my experience of him, I think he’s a neurotic mess and kind of like a social puppy dog. And so the fact that he was like, I think the character Ava says at one point that we went to a movie and I was vaping throughout the whole movie. I thought that was great detail, but also speaks to what we were talking about a second ago. I’m learning about him in real time because there are 10 experts who sit in a room and Jacob is just as much theirs as he is mine. And so one of the beautiful things about getting to play a character for this long is we get to keep filling in that backstory. But the vaping was of a part of that character from the jump.
One thing that I know surprised viewers was when Jacob and Melissa became such fun roommates. In theory, they are two of the new BFFs on the show. Can you talk about that episode? Were you excited about it?
Yeah, I just thought it was a great idea. I mean, the conceit of this show is sort of begging you to pair up any of these seven kinds of disparately drawn people. And so any combination of them is going to hopefully be funny or weird or painful. Jacob could have moved in with any of them I feel like. And there would’ve been jokes to write about it, but I adore Lisa [Ann Walter] and I feel like I’m a better actor when I’m around her. And so yeah, I just thought it was a really great storyline and I think we end the season and that’s still going on, so I hope it’s something we can milk for as long as possible.
One of the things that popped this season, is the show was sort of a little more meta, a little more pop culture-y than it had been previously. And maybe that’s because there were only 15 episodes but Jacob in particular has this wonderful love letter to Nicole Kidman and the AMC ad, a line that I’ve seen everywhere. Are those moments fun to do?
Yes. If it’s not fun, I say this is not fun. And then somebody informs me about why it is fun. To be totally frank, Quinta has to pretty much explain 60 to 75% of any pop culture anything to me. And so yeah, this is just one of the beautiful things about, as I said, having an audience who is watching the show not long after we’re making it. And the beauty of making 22 episodes usually is it’s what Quinta always intended, it’s that you would sit down maybe with your family and have a place to go every week to this and there’s no way that thing every week cannot talk about the world and reference it in a hopefully irreverent and beautiful way. So yeah, I think that’s also Quinta trying to test the boundaries of what a classic sitcom might be. And so I think certainly the conceit for next season might be even more meta. And so yeah, it’s like beautiful, golden handcuffs having to make 22 episodes. It’s great and it’s hard.
Was there one episode or one scene that you were sort of most proud of when you think about the season?
Oh, man. No. To be honest, they all just sort of blur together at this point. Let me think. Yes, the last two episodes of this season are, I just think feats of filmmaking. I mean the amount in the second to last episode, we will leave the school. I think it’s safe to, I don’t know if I can say that, but I said it and we got a lot of work done. I feel like since the plan was originally to do 22 episodes and instead, this year we did 14, I feel like we distilled what we were going to do in 22 and sort of concentrated it. And so the last two episodes I feel like of this season are just very anxiety-provoking and really hilarious. I feel like it feels like they are double episodes, but they’re not. And I think the ways in which we have stretched these characters and made them uncomfortable just really comes to a head beautifully in what is the climax of the season in the last two episodes. And I think they’re also just beautifully shot. And so they were a real joy to make.
So you’re not spoiling anything, But Janelle did tell me a couple of weeks ago that the final episode had a cliffhanger. Would you agree with her interpretation that there’s a cliffhanger at the end of the season?
No, she can’t say that! [Laughs.] Yes, I would agree.
You would agree? Janelle also said you have a really short break this year compared to other years in terms of when you stopped filming and when you have to go back for season four. Do you have time to do anything else or are you just chilling and relaxing? What’s your plan during the break?
I’m mostly chilling. I’m doing a tour of the East Coast, seeing the people that I love. But I’m going to do a little movie and a little play in the park as well. And then we’ll be right back at it. I mean our writer’s room is assembling as we speak, so I’m excited to have a little break and a little fun this summer. But I’m mostly just excited about what we’re about to do in season four. These people are my family now and I have been longing to have the experience in TV and film that I have doing plays and I feel like I have that now so I just can’t wait to get back.
“Abbott Elementary” is available on Hulu or Disney+