If you’re familiar with Eliza Coupe — perhaps known best for her stint as Jane Kerkovich-Williams on the short-lived, well loved “Happy Endings,” — you know that she’s belly achingly funny. You want proof? When I tell her, over the phone, that she’s had some sort of role in nearly every comedy series I’ve watched, she quips, “So you’re my demographic. F—king great! I love it.”
She’s not wrong. The 36-year-old has starred in the likes of everything from “The Mindy Project” to “Casual,” but now she has a bigger role coming up in Hulu’s “Future Man,” an action-comedy hybrid series helmed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Coupe stars as Tiger, a hard, purple-haired soldier from the future who suffers little to no bulls—t.
But instead of chatting about the new series — out on Hulu on November 14 — Coupe got distracted waxing poetic about “Outlander,” comparing Jamie Fraser to her husband, and her favorite TV shows. “I guess I forgot to be an asshole actor,” she says, before telling me she’ll take me out for prosecco next time I’m in Los Angeles. I tell her I’m counting on it.
We talked more with the delightfully potty mouthed actress about bonding with her co-stars, Michael Fassbender and grounding comedy.
OK, we should talk about “Future Man” a bit. Your hair looks great in it.
I have to wear extensions now. If I don’t, I’ve got a mullet because it all broke off. So that hair looks f—king great, but let it be known. I ended up dying it myself every weekend to keep up with it. I went to art school, I can mix some f—king paint, so I did it.
It works for you! Also, it seems like you and Derek [Wilson, who plays Wolf] and Josh [Hutcherson, the titular Future Man] have such a good rapport. It makes the series so enjoyable.
I love them so much. We text all the time. I gotta say, it’s rare that there’s no egos on a set. And these two, ah! They’re amazing and I love them so much. They’re my boys. And they’re both attractive which is helpful.
I want to ask you about your former obsession with Michael Fassbender, because same. How are you feeling now that he’s officially off the market?
I ended up meeting Michael Fassbender! We have a mutual friend. And the whole time, I was like, “Oh, he’s just a normal dude. Of course he is.” We were having dinner and I had just started dating the guy who became my husband, and I was super duper in love. I was kind of like, “Oh it’s Michael Fassbender! But I’m really into the guy that I’m with and I’m going to probably marry him.” So I didn’t care. It kind of ruined the whole thing for me. I’m happy somebody tamed him, I guess? I’m saying that like I think he was a wildman but let’s just be honest: I know nothing.
That started as a Funny or Die series, but you do a lot of dramatic fare too.
That’s kind of how I am in a day. I go from being super happy to totally depressed to super freaking weird and creepy, creepy happy to totally dark, saying weird s—t that people feel like they need to call a doctor, and then back to super happy again. So it’s pretty easy for me to vacillate between drama and comedy.
I like doing comedy that, even if it’s wacky, I like to ground it in the truth of it all. I’m not a big fan of doing comedy for the sake of hitting jokes and trying to make the jokes. I need to lose myself in the character to do it. I watch so much TV, but [sometimes] I’m like “Oh I can see them acting, I can f—king see them acting.” And I hate it!
What kind of shows are you watching right now?
I just jumped on the “Outlander” train. Can we talk about f—king Jamie? What’s going on with that man? Listen, my husband is the absolute love of my life. The annoying thing about being married to my husband is that nobody compares to him. But, then there’s Jamie. Like, what? That guy is so hot. And [Claire is] beautiful! And they’re so tall. Why are they so tall? They’re the only actors in Hollywood that are so tall.
I watched the first season of “Outlander,” but then I had to take a break because it was just a lot, sexiness wise.
We’re just on season two and it is a lot. It’s so much. We also just finished watching “Manhunt” with Sam Worthington and Paul Bettany. I’m weirdly attracted to [Bettany] as the unabomber. I don’t know what that says about me. It wasn’t Sam Worthington — who is f—king gorgeous — getting me all riled up. It’s the f—king unabomber.
