Ben Feldman has been a comedic champion in so many great shows like Monsters at Work, Silicon Valley, and most notably played Jonah Simms on NBC’s Superstore starring opposite to Barbie’s America Fererra. His latest work Population 11 took him across the world to Northwestern Australia, to a small town called Derby. A part of the town served as the story’s fictional setting called Bidgeegud.
Population 11 was created by Phil Lloyd and was inspired by the true story of the 2017 disappearance of Paddy Moriarty in the Northern Territory. It revolves around Feldman’s character attempting to solve the disappearance of his estranged father from a small town in the Australian outback home to only a dozen residents, who all end up as suspects. CGMagazine was able to sit down with Feldman to discuss Population 11, his impressions on the Outback, and his interactions with the Aussie animals.
Initially, did you do any trip planning and research before heading to Australia for Population 11, watching movies like Australia, Mad Max or Kangaroo Jack, that kind of stuff?
Ben Feldman: Yes! What’s funny is I’ve watched less about the place and more about making sure I understand Australian humour. Or at least just making sure that I’m not way off on assuming that we share a sense of humour—a similar one. I watched a lot of stuff that the Jungle Entertainment people produced, and Phil [Lloyd], who wrote this.
Other than that, the primary job for me was to be a guy who didn’t know what the hell was going on and was confused—from confused to horrified by everything around him. So, the less prepared, the better. Which for someone as lazy as me, this is a dream job. I just have to show up and kind of react and be confused, which I was.
Yeah, and I feel like it’s almost method in a certain sense. It’s like you’re already a fish out of water, and now you’re expected to act as someone who’s a fish out of water in Population 11.
Ben Feldman: Oh yeah. There was a total parallel between my experience in northwestern Australia and Andy’s on the show, one million percent. It was really easy to bring that sort of cocky American hubris to the character. It comes naturally, just as them kind of ball-busting the entire time was for them.
But yeah, it was fun. It was like a fun trip; I’ve never been anywhere like Derby, Australia, and most of the cast hadn’t either. I assumed going there, “Oh, a bunch of Australian actors, they all have crocodiles for pets and all the clichés.” But they were all looking around being like, “‘mate, just so you know, this is not Australia. This is different than what we used to.”
That’s amazing! And I know the snake was real in Population 11, but then the crocodile wasn’t. Were you ever thinking ‘do we need to do the real snake if we’re gonna do the CGI crocodile?’
Ben Feldman: What’s funny is that I pushed for scarier snakes, and that snake was [already] scary-looking. It was not a poisonous snake. And I don’t get too freaked out by animals if I know they’re not locked and loaded. But we had a lot of snake meetings before that crocodile. Do I want to be in a cage with a crocodile? One hundred percent no! But I wish I was with the crocodile there on the day.
There was a day I had a day off, and they had to shoot a scene at a crocodile park. And instead of relaxing, I went with the crew and drove about two or three hours to this crocodile park just because I wanted to hang with them. You’re just surrounded by tons of crocodiles, and these parks are run by people. There are no regulations. It’s not safe. You see pieces of the fence that have been chewed open and then re-patched up again. So, I was near the dangerous animals, but I was never in danger.
Well, you’re here and, I would assume, unscathed. One of the most iconic scenes from Population 11 was the fight scene between you and Stephen Curry. Was there a fight coordinator for all the technicalities, along with pads, because that looked pretty rough?
Ben Feldman: Yeah, there was definitely. There was Dean [Gould]. Dean was the stunt coordinator, and he was there for a lot of things. Early on in the first episode, a car almost hits me. You needed Dean there for that too— between that fight and then I get in another fight a couple episodes later. Also, I’m way up high over a jetty, yards above hungry crocodiles.
So, we were very, very specific with our fights, and we did a lot of rehearsing, and we were wearing pads. There were really great doubles for the really, really crazy stuff, where we’re getting picked up and thrown. Those guys are badasses, and Australian stunt guys and women are the toughest people.
I can imagine having to deal with all of the stunts. Switching gears a little bit, our next question came from our Executive Editor at CGMagazine, Dayna Eileen. She knows you’ve been on a variety of shows like Superstore, Mad Men and Monsters at Work. She asked if there were any genres you tend to be attracted to or if you are always trying to do something new.
Ben Feldman: I love doing new things. I love doing things that feel a little uncomfortable. Everything about this show was uncomfortable, so it was a dream job. But as far as genres go, I’ve always said I’m done with horror. I’ve died in about three horror movies. They’re exhausting. But what’s funny is there are elements of horror that I do like that are fun to do—as long as the whole thing isn’t a horror.
And that’s another reason that made this show so fun. I got to do the creepy, scary horror stuff, but it was still a comedy, still a drama, and almost a rom-com in moments. But yeah, I don’t know. I gravitate towards the funnier stuff a lot. And I think, in a dream world, the next thing that I really did that was big would be the drama I have coming out [soon], but it’s a weird drama. Whoever gives me a job, I’ll take it.
That’s a fair way to look at it. And one of the last questions, what was your favourite memory on-set or craziest memory on-set of Population 11?
Ben Feldman: There’s so many! The cast is amazing and Australians are just different than Americans in so many different ways. They take things way less seriously. They’re way less self-important than us. I remember there’s a scene where an older character, an older actor, has to be completely naked, laying on the ground, while the entire cast is standing there looking at this person. We’re all fully clothed. We’re outside. This person is surrounded by a ring of fire and completely naked.
And I kept thinking like, “Oh man, in America, there’d be an intimacy coordinator, everybody would be so worried about the actor’s happiness and comfort level—and there’d be a closed set.” [For Population 11], they would call cut, and everybody would start taunting him, teasing him and talking to this guy—and he loved it.
And I was like, “These are different people than the ones that I’m used to working with.” But it was so much fun. Honestly, on the days off, we went to a zoo. Everybody went together and saw little baby kangaroos. And there’s a resort nearby. We went and drank and hung out on the beach. It was a vacation at times.
That sounds very wild and fun! I’ve heard about your little frog friend Pico where you were staying. Did you ever think about bringing him home?
Ben Feldman: No, you never want to take [animals] from [their home]. First of all, I feel like customs would have an issue with a live tree frog in my suitcase. But he belonged there. And I also think we came to an understanding. Pico and I, in the end, we were to go our separate ways. I think we had quite a journey together.
I think I almost murdered him at one point. I think he brought his dad or some sort of security frog with him because one day, there was just another giant frog—sort of checking me out. And then I never saw that frog again. Pico left for a while and then came back to let me know that he was okay. So yeah, Pico and I, we had a journey together, and I miss that guy so much. He was my only friend.
Aww! Also, did you end up taking home the miniature of Bidgeegud from Population 11?
Ben Feldman: No, no, I wanted to, and I talked about that a whole bunch. You never know…you don’t know if they need it for another season. You don’t know what’s going to happen with pieces like that. And that was such a beautiful set piece that you don’t mess with it.
Yeah, it was so cool. Sort of like a Warhammer miniature set-pieces.
Ben Feldman: As far as [my wife’s] concerned, I have enough tchotchkes from shows in this house that all sit in the garage. She’s thrilled with the idea that I just came back with my own clothes and toiletries and nothing else—and some whiskey. I brought back some Australian whiskey.
Well, that’s awesome, at least. It was great talking to you!
Ben Feldman: It was great talking to you, too!
