There have been few, if any, funnier performances on television than Tituss Burgess as Titus Andromedon on Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt over the last few years.
Every quip, utterance and look from him on the show provokes some form of laughter. But far from being a one-off, I Hate Kids proves that the 39-year-old singer and actor is just as impressive in film as he is on television.
Burgess doesn’t lead I Hate Kids, as it revolves around Tom Everett Scott’s author learning he has a teenage son, which is a huge problem as he strongly agrees with the film’s title. But then, for the time being, Burgess is happy to play second fiddle.
What is Tituss Burgess doing after Unbreakbale Kimmy Schmidt?
“I love sidekicks and I think I am kind of one myself,” Tituss Burgess tells Metro of his role as the psychic that brings the estranged father and son together. It turns out that this was a role that he has been preparing for since his youth.
“When I was a kid, and this is the truth, I could always predict when the phone was about to ring. ‘Mom it’s for you,’ and sure enough, the phone would ring. [When I got this script] I thought, ‘Finally! It’s not all for nothing.’”
But while I Hate Kids is a road-trip, coming of age comedy, Tituss Burgess was also keen to note the timeliness of the piece, and how it asks important questions regarding its male characters.
“One of the things I thought was most heartwarming about the piece, is that it sort of asks or begs the questions: what does it mean to be masculine? What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to father? What does it mean to mentor? How do you not repeat cycles, over and over again?”
Now that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is coming to an end after four seasons, Burgess is looking to the future. But what is on the horizon for the actor?
“I want to do different things,” Burgess insists. “I want to take a page out of the Will & Grace book. Because they all explored their other artistic ambitions. They were so at the epicenter of their eccentricities. I often thought when I was a little younger, ‘What might they do when the show ends?’”
“I’m a writer. I’m a composer. So my plate is kind of full. I’ve also been reading a couple of scripts to figure out what type of TV show I want to get back into. But I’m in no rush to make a decision. Often, before I make a decision, I look to see where there is a void, where does something not exist, and then I proceed.”
And just to underscore the extent of his talents, Tituss Burgess is also hard at work as the writer of a musical version of The Preacher’s Wife, too.
“We just had a workshop, about four or five months ago now. We are weighing our options. It’s a huge show, full of magic, it’s kind of like a spiritual Mary Poppins, a lot of people think it’s going to be this big gospel sort of thing and it’s far from it.”
“It’s a very classy tale and it just happens, it’s about the ramifications of gentrification on the familial unit, and it just happened to be in a church. I can honestly say that whether audiences like the show or hate it, they will never see a show quite like it.”
I Hate Kids is in select theaters and On Demand beginning Jan. 18.
