Note: The following story contains spoilers from “Abbott Elementary” Season 4, Episodes 7 and 8.
“Abbott Elementary” fans are introduced to a new side of Jacob (Chris Perfetti) in this season’s Christmas episodes, when Jacob has a somewhat unwanted family reunion.
Episode 7 introduces Jacob’s younger brother, Caleb (Tyler Perez), a personal trainer who played football and was popular in high school — essentially the “polar opposite” of Jacob, according to Perfetti. While Season 1 revealed Jacob had, in essence, “ran away from home” and feels most at home at Abbott alongside his fellow teachers, the fourth season gives a tangible look at the family life Perfetti had imagined for Jacob.
“I’ve never expected to, or really dreamed about, being with a character for four years, and at this point, there are 10 experts in a room — our writers — who are also dreaming about and know Jacob kind of just as well as I do,” Perfetti told TheWrap. “I … meet what their version of Jacob’s family is and how different, or perhaps similar, that is to the what I had given myself and how I had imagined it to be.”
While Jacob struggles to work through his jealousy of Caleb throughout the episode — and even snaps at him to the extent that Caleb decides to stay with a friend for the holidays — the brothers make up as Jacob tries to “grow up a little bit,” according to Perfetti, who points to Jacob working with children who frequently misbehave and are naive.
“It was so nice to be a part of the the pathos of the show,” Perfetti said. “I feel like Jacob’s function in ‘Abbott Elementary’ as a story is usually to be funny and to sort of propel conflict, and I rarely get to be the heartfelt moment.”
Below, Perfetti breaks down why Janine and Gregory’s relationship is Jacob’s “heaven” and shares that he broke “a few times” filming the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” crossover.
TheWrap: What has been your favorite thing about Jacob’s arc this season?
We were sort of thrown for a loop [last year] with the different schedule, and this year we had a good, healthy break. We knew, coming into it, that we were going to do 22 episodes. I feel like we got to sort of pick up some of the darlings that we had to kill last year just because of the nature of the shortened season, so … there was a lot of confidence coming into this season. Quinta [Brunson] and I were talking about, early on, our excitement about digging into Jacob — who he is as an educator and getting to meet some of his family. I feel like there’s been a real commitment from the writers, from the jump, to sort of peel back the layers of who these people are. I feel like at this point we’ve really created a cast of superheroes — people who are really leaning on each other and have different strengths and weaknesses, and who really enjoy each other at times and are really annoyed by each other at other times … the show is just feeling like a well-oiled machine.
It’s been fun to see Janine and Gregory fully in a relationship this season. What’s that been like this season and how has it impacted Jacob?
Jacob is like a dog with a bone. This is his version of heaven. There’s a lot of pressure on the situation. Jacob possibly wants it to work out even more than they do. I don’t want to give away too much about the end of the season, but it’s been really nice to finally explore what this version of their relationship. I think Quinta is really invested in and interested in subverting people’s expectations … [and] really showing every complicated side of what Janine and Gregory finally getting together could be like.
What do you imagine Jacob and Melissa’s home life looks like?
It’s a testament to, honestly, Quinta that I do really feel like any of these characters could be roommates, and it would be a real recipe for comedy — but particularly Melissa and Jacob, they are each other’s foil, in a way. I think Jacob really gets on Melissa’s nerves, and vice versa. But there’s a lot of common ground there. I think at this point, Jacob is probably not very seriously looking for a new place to live. I think they watch “Real Housewives” together, but it’s Melissa’s house, so what Melissa says, goes. I think there’s a more of a mother-son dynamic happening than there is a roommate dynamic happening.
The Christmas episode is also very fun to see into Melissa’s home during the holidays. What was it like to film that one?
When we read that episode in particular, I knew the outline that we were going to be sort of jockeying between Melissa’s Christmas dinner and Janine and Gregory’s first Christmas Eve, and I just thought that the structure of the episode and the kind of controlled chaos of it all was … where our show really comes alive. Insert ring worm or give us a dead body — how can you go wrong with that? It’s always fun to leave Abbott — I feel like the characters really come alive when we see them in places that we’re not used to seeing them. We’ve set up from the beginning that Melissa’s family is equally difficult and interesting, and so it was so nice to have them all at the same time.
What was it like to film the crossover episode with “It’s Always Sunny?” What can you tease about the episode?
I stand by being somebody who rarely breaks on camera, but jamming with those folks over at “Always Sunny” definitely broke me a few times. I hope it’s not visible on screen. They’re so fabulous. They are consummate pros, and they have a real tight-knit ensemble. It’s so nice to be with actors that you trust and that you are inspired by, because I feel like magic can happen.
I’m so excited for people to see their episode of our show and our episode of their show, I think it’s safe to say that their episode, which we just shot, is sort of their perspective of what happened when they came to Abbott. It’s sort of a behind-the-scenes, R-rated version of our show. I’m sure Quinta has said this before, [but] I just I think there are two ensembles that I feel like because they are so different, different and so similar, they want to be in the same place and they just really activate each other. They are like the R-rated version, and we are the PG-rated version of a lot of the same dynamics. It was a blast.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of “Abbott Elementary” premiere on Wednesdays from 9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
The post ‘Abbott Elementary’ Star Chris Perfetti Unpacks Jacob’s Family Reunion in Christmas Episode: ‘I Rarely Get to Be the Heartfelt Moment’ appeared first on TheWrap.
