Don’t Freak

Career and life lessons from Brooklyn 99’s Joel McKinnon Miller.

WRITTEN BY GILLIAN ARTHUR DESIGNER JENNA BOERLIN

Like most people on the planet, I’ve never had the chance to sit down with a celebrity and talk about their career. With that being said I have absolutely no idea how to act like a normal person around celebrities, no matter their level of fame. So it comes as no surprise that when I landed an interview with Joel Miller, who currently plays detective Norm Scully on Brooklyn 99, I was as equal parts nervous as I was stoked. As a longtime fan of the comedy series, I couldn’t help but freak when I heard the news (and yes, I did proudly tell all my friends and family). It’s not like I have zero sense of etiquette in these situations. I have good social skills and know enough to keep my cool but every moment before our interview was filled with “please be cool, please be cool.” After all, getting to meet the 99’s wildly hilarious, opera singing detective is now my most prestigious honor as Align’s editor in chief.

Like his character, Joel is full of surprises and sage wisdom. Not only can Joel actually sing opera, he studied it at the University of Minnesota Duluth before delving into television and film. Something of a surprise when talking to Joel as I assumed Scully’s opera talent was a comedic bit. As it turns out, it was something Andy Samburg specifically wrote into the show after the two spoke off set.

When I asked Joel where his love of opera started, he told me he remembers his father driving him from Minneapolis to Duluth to tour the university’s opera department. On the stage of the lecture hall was a grand piano. Filling the stage were students in gym clothes. There, on that stage, he saw something incredible. Joel remembers, “This wonderful pianist was playing and one of the students in the class was being slowly dragged on the floor. The students would all lift him in the air. The whole time he’s singing an aria - not missing a beat. It was an exercise in focus and being prepared for anything when performing. I just looked at my dad and said, ‘I want to do that.’ So I applied and went to school there.”

During his time at Duluth, the theater department asked Joel to audition for their summer theater. Something he didn’t exactly want to do at the time. But after a little convincing, he ended up having four main roles. “Every night I was playing a different character,” he says. “I got incredible training that summer and then I ended up getting into a company. I left college early and I went to Minneapolis and was with the Minnesota Opera and the Children’s Theater.” In the summer theater, Joel met his wife and ended up getting married just before going on tour. According to Joel, his wife’s parents didn’t want them living on a tour bus together unless they were married. So just like that, Joel and his wife spent the first three years of marriage on a bus.

Every day on tour was a grind. Doing a different Shakespeare play every night, Joel says, “They sent me to Juillard in the morning of our rehearsal when we were putting our first show

together and I was getting a cram session with the voice and diction person at Julliard to work on Shakespeare poetry and have that flow trippingly off the tongue. Like you really know what you’re talking about. Because as an actor when you’re doing a Shakespeare or something like that, that’s kind of hard to follow. If you believe and totally understand what it is that you’re saying and communicating, then the audiences will easily follow your intentions. But if you’re having trouble with the language and you aren’t clear, you’re going to lose your audience. I learned an awful lot and now I’m a Shakespeare actor.”

Going through many iterations of his career, Joel told me about his struggles as an actor, “I thought I was going to be an opera singer, then I did musical theater in college and then I thought I’d do straight plays then I went to Minneapolis and did a bit of musical theater and opera and then ended up with the acting company for three years doing Shakespeare and all the classics. I thought I was

going to be a regional theater Dactor and work at the Guthrie theater in Minneapolis and places like that. Then we stayed in New York and I was getting unemployment after three years on the road. [When having an acting gig] I thought this was the life of an actor, like ‘Wow you get a paycheck and a per diem? This is fantastic!’ But then reality hit and I’m waiting for the phone to ring and I’m trying to audition here and there.”

Eventually Joel found a bread and butter job waiting tables at an Irish pub while trying to get auditions and really loved it. Not long after, Joel’s agent opened an office in LA and encouraged him to come out. But with his wife and newborn baby he couldn’t leave them to find work on the opposite side of the country. But when his wife’s job ended they used her severance money to start a life in LA. Much like his experience in New York, Joel would bartend at night until 2am in between auditions to make ends meet for about 5 years. It wasn’t too long until Joel’s bread and butter became commercials. Unlike other acting jobs, he was way more involved on the directing side: he got to sit next to the director, talk about lenses and look at the monitor between takes. “It was an incredible experience to learn that way where I had no film or television classes and I Now with acclaimed series such as Brooklyn 99 and Big Love under his belt, Joel is helping other actors find their paths and assuring struggling students like myself that life will surely sort itself out. As a matter of fact, mere minutes before my interview with Joel I received yet another rejection email in my inbox. On top of being particularly drained that day, reading the rejection email had me breakdown in tears. I felt hopeless; that no one would hire me and that I was never good enough. No matter how much my parents consoled me I felt flustered and unprepared. I remember thinking “of course this would happen” and worrying how I’d keep it together during the interview. But within minutes of talking, it was like Joel knew exactly what I had gone through minutes prior. He talked about despite the ups and downs of his career, everything will be OK. A fact I needed to hear from someone other than my parents.

At the end of our call I explained what had happened and what a crazy coincidence it was. Never have I ever felt so optimistic after such disappointment and I have Joel to thank for that.

Joel’s advice? He says, “Don’t freak out. You’ll figure it out. Sometimes it just takes a little longer. Don’t ever stop doing the things that interest you because they might end up being the job you do or the thing you love. I feel very fortunate. When I came out here my goal was to do something that I love to do. I didn’t need to have a mansion. I didn’t need expensive cars. I didn’t need expensive stuff. I didn’t even need to be recognized. I just wanted to make a living and take care of my family. I think that’s a good way to approach just about everything. Try to do your best and go for whatever you love to do. Don’t ever stop doing it. You might not be able to make money right away but if you keep at it on the side, you’ll get there.”

Life is full of change. Some good, some bad. But in any event, just remember this: you’ll be ok. Life will be ok. Focus on the things you love, the things that make you happy, and in due time the rest will follow suit.

“ ON T ’ F REAK OUT, YOU’LL FIGUR E I T OUT”

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