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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Hadley Freeman

‘I cried for an hour!’: Arrested Development’s Will Arnett on divorce, fatherhood and friendship

Will Arnett: I like characters who are really cocky and really dumb. That seems to be a great cocktail for me.’
Will Arnett: ‘I like characters who are really cocky and really dumb. That seems to be a great cocktail for me.’ Photograph: Corey Nickols/Contour by Getty Images

No one is better at playing idiotic egomaniacs than Will Arnett, and I mean that as the highest of compliments. From his malevolent ice skating champion in Blades of Glory, to the nefarious TV executive Devon Banks in 30 Rock, to most famously, Gob (pronounced, biblically, “Job”) Bluth, the inept eldest son on Arrested Development, Arnett has cornered the market on fools who brag about themselves to compensate for how little they have to brag about.

“Like the guy in the $4,000 suit is holding the elevator for the guy who doesn’t make that in three months. Come on!” Gob shouts at his employees. So it is extremely pleasing that when we connect by video chat, and Arnett appears on my screen from his home in Los Angeles, that he is sitting in front of a clutch of awards. Like the actor with a shelf of awards is going to talk to the journalist with nothing. Come on!

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