by Troy Rogers
One of the most versatile talents in the entertainment
world, Aisha Tyler has kept herself busy after
recurring roles on Friends, The Ghost Whisperer,
and C.S.I. as an actress, writer, author and stand-up
comedian. Interestingly, Aisha Tyler once filled
in for Roger Ebert as a guest movie critic, was
tapped for her own daytime talk show, plays on
the World Poker Tour for charity, and still finds
time to fit in feature film projects and more
TV guest roles.
After appearing as a voice in the animated hit, The Boondocks, Aisha Tyler is returning to animated TV as the secret agent voice of Lana Kane in the new FX series, Archer, that follows suave top notch spy Sterling Archer at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a spy agency where skilled secret agents work to undermine, betray and royally screw each other amid global crises. The brainchild of Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo co-creator Adam Reed, Archer also stars the voices of H. Jon Benjamin as Sterling Archer, George Coe, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Jessica Walter, and former Saturday Night Live regular, Chris Parnell.
Ahead of the January 14, 10pm premier of Archer on FX, we went undercover for a conference call with the lovely Aisha Tyler and Archer creator Adam Reed to get the scoop on what fans can expect in the way of animated comedy, the Archer characters, and new secret spy missions on FX.
THE DEADBOLT: Adam, is Archer ignorant, selfish, or just a master of misdirection?
ADAM REED: [laughs] I think selfish. When we were working on the pilot with FX, I didn't want to do the bumbling spy who gets it right accidentally. But I also thought it was important that Archer not win all of the time, because he is handsome and he is apparently rich and he's good at Krav Maga and he's got six-pack abs. So I thought if he won all of the time, you wouldn't root for him. So rather than make him sort of stupid and bumbling, we decided that the only way to have him fail, he would just need to get in his own way due 90% of the time to selfishness. So I think selfish.
THE DEADBOLT: Is Lana with Cyril just to aggravate Archer, or is it because he's well endowed?
AISHA
TYLER: [laughs] Yeah, nothing like that
big ole ... I think she's definitely not dating
him to aggravate Archer, because she can do
that on her own. I think Lana is wanting nobody
to fight her battles for her. I think she's
just dating Cyril because he's useful. Probably
the instrument helps, but she can pretty much
get anybody. I just think she wants somebody
who's going to make her stir fry and stay out
of her way. Lana does not need a relationship,
she just needs someone she can dominate and
pick up the dry cleaning and pick all of the
brown M&Ms out of her candy bowl, and Cyril
is that guy. Right now he can't believe his
good fortune.
THE DEADBOLT: So would Cyril be like her Woodhouse?
TYLER: Yeah, Cyril is definitely her Woodhouse. I'll tell you, Woodhouse is probably pretty hung, too [laughs].
REED: We've drawn these characters anatomically correct and then we draw clothes over top of that. So they're all naked underneath those clothes.
TYLER: Now that's good animation.
REED: It costs a lot more, but that's the way I want it.
THE DEADBOLT: I wanted to know how long it takes to get an episode done?
REED: About three weeks from script to the final mix. We're making them pretty fast.
TYLER:
I think it's hugely fast, because I've done
a bunch of other [episodes]. But The Boondocks,
they send over to Korea, like on a clipper schooner
and a basement of Oompa-Loompas works on it
for seven months and sends it back. You hate
everything they've done and you send it back
and go, "Please make them look American." So
this is pretty amazing. This show's made in
America, all USA to the core.
REED: Nice colors, no run.
TYLER: That's right, Papa, bring it. We're magically fist-bumping right now, but in a very Caucasian way. You can't see it.
THE DEADBOLT: Will we see more of Jane?
REED: [laughs] Jane does make more appearances actually. I just finished writing the last script of the season and Jane comes back in for that. Things are not turning positively during the season, I will say that.
THE DEADBOLT: I noticed that she gets blamed for a lot, but we don't see her much.
REED: It gets worse.
