Craig Robinson stars in a new comedy, Killing It, that is all about the pursuit of the American Dream. Robinson plays Craig, a single dad who is down on his luck and has a brilliant idea that could change the course of his life. All he needs is $25,000, but he can’t get approved for a loan. During a chance meeting with an optimistic Uber driver, Craig soon finds himself hunting snakes in the Florida Everglades to make his dream into reality.
The supporting cast is also no joke, including Claudia O’Doherty (Our Flag Means Death) as an optimistic Australian Uber driver named Jillian, Rell Battle (Superior Donuts) as Craig’s brother Isaiah, and Scott MacArthur (The Righteous Gemstones) as a rival and social media influencer named Brock.
Robinson spoke with Screen Rant about the new series, which is streaming now on Peacock. He shared his experience teaming up with Brooklyn Nine-Nine Executive Producers Dan Goor and Luke Del Tridici once more and what excited him about Killing It. Finally, he reveals how he over came his fear of snakes, and why he thinks they get a bad rap.
Screen Rant: I absolutely love Killing It. This show is a hilarious comedy, but at its heart, it really honors people that are struggling, and you can empathize with a lot of these characters. Can you describe the tone and the comedy of the series?
Craig Robinson: Yeah, it’s about a guy trying to achieve the American Dream, and setback after setback. It’s about him trying to overcome all of that. Then the people he meets along the way, that’s where the hilarity ensues.
Now you’ve worked with Dan Goor and Luke Del Tridici on [Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as] Pontiac Bandit. What was it about your experience working with them as collaborators that brought you to Killing It?
Craig Robinson: From the inception of Pontiac Bandit, or when I first was told about it, I went and it was just the most fun. Getting with Andy Samberg, that was like two five year olds getting together and then just playing. If you ever see two kids meet each other, “Hi, how you doing?” and then they just run off and play, that’s Andy and I. So, we have that.
But they would write towards my voice more and more each season. It was always collaborative; always great. Then towards maybe the last couple seasons of Brooklyn, we started talking about doing something else. Then we had these meetings, and this was the idea that rose out of those meetings. Because Dan and Luke pitched some other stuff, but this is the one that everybody was like, “Oh, this feels like we could ride in this,” so that’s what happened.
Talk to me about the character Craig, and what you wanted to bring to the role that wasn’t necessarily on the page.
Craig Robinson: The character’s been down his luck. He gets turned down for loans. He’s nonstop; that’s what I relate to in my real life. But it’s not just, “Keep going,” it’s the way you keep going and the attitude that you bring to it. “I’m going, and nothing’s going to stop me, and I’m going to be joyous about it.”
In the show, his father is the one that taught him early on, “Hey, you’ve just got to have faith. You have to work hard and something’s bound to happen.” So, he always believes something is going to happen.
We’re coming out of a global pandemic and the struggle with money is such a universal theme. Why does the pursuit of money lend itself so well to such a great comedy?
Craig Robinson: Wow. I think because we can all relate to the pursuit of money, and we all think that having that money is going to achieve happiness. So, the pursuit to money and not getting it is what makes it funny, because you’re thinking one thing’s going to happen and another does. Boom. Conflict.
Look Craig, I am terrified of snakes, and this show has a lot of python hunting in it. I had to sometimes look away when snakes on the show would do certain things. Did you guys have any unexpected visitors on set?
Craig Robinson: Yes, we actually had an alligator. They called an alligator… We were in a swamp, so we were in his house. They ended up catching the alligator while we were filming. And there was some other snakes around. We had live snakes, we had CGI snakes, and then we had just fake snakes. But when we worked with the live snakes, we always had the American Humane Society aboard, so there were no snakes harmed in the filming of Killing It.
I used to be terrified of snakes. They get a bad rap between the Bible and Indiana Jones. And then one time, I was in Australia and ended up holding snakes at an animal sanctuary. And I realized they mean me no harm.
You are a braver man than me, Craig. I would not have done that. That is so cool.
Craig Robinson: You would’ve done it. Trust me. I wasn’t going to do it. I was in the background. One of my band members had a snake around his neck, and I was about to be on camera pretending I was going to touch it. But then I ended up touching it. I was like, “Wow.” First of all, they feel amazing. And then the energy coming off, it was a beautiful thing. You would’ve done it, bro.
Killing It Synopsis
Peacock’s original comedy, Killing It, stars Craig Robinson as an underdog pursuing the American Dream, facing relatable – yet absurd – obstacles in order to make it big. This hilarious new series highlights the insanity of today’s get-rich-or-die-trying culture, and is brought to you by the duo who produced The Office & Brooklyn Nine Nine.
Check out our interview with stars Claudia O’Doherty, Rell Battle & Scott MacArthur as well.
Killing It season 1 is currently available to stream on Peacock.
