From Broadway to ‘Bridgerton,’ Kevin James And The Cast Of ‘The Crew’ Make For A Talented Ensemble

Netflix’s new workplace comedy The Crew finds Kevin James doing what he does best: leading a talented ensemble of comedic actors through often well-worn sitcom tropes, but still managing to breathe new life into the genre. James stars as Kevin Gibson, a NASCAR crew chief for the fictional Bobby Spencer Racing Team, whose close-knit coworkers are thrown into disarray when their beloved owner Bobby Spencer, played by veteran actor Bruce McGill, decides to retire and hand the reins over to his daughter Catherine (Jillian Mueller), whose only work experience comes from time in Silicon Valley.

While many of the show’s stars come from comedy backgrounds, like improviser Gary Anthony Williams who has numerous sitcom credits to his name, but may be best-known for his recurring appearances in Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and Dan Adhoot, who has most recently been seen kicking the competition at the LaRusso Auto Group on Cobra Kai, they managed to bring in talent from less predictable sources. Bridgerton‘s Freddie Stroma plays the clueless but lovable (and also very cut – listen, it plays into the plot sometimes, I’m just trying to paint a clear picture for you) team driver, and Broadway actresses Sarah Stiles and Mueller lend their talents to the cast as well. After speaking with the cast and James, who also serves as an executive producer on the show, it’s clear that he runs a set where the most important question that must be asked each day is, “Is it funny?”

James explains that when they looked for actors for the show, they cast a wide net. Freddie Stroma had just come off of filming Bridgerton when he was announced as dim-witted driver Jake. “Freddie is an amazing actor. I just found out this morning that he’s British,” James joked. “We just saw people that were great fits. We found Sarah [Stiles] and Jillian [Mueller] on Broadway and they’d never done [sitcoms] before and they’re amazing. It almost annoys me that people can come in and make the transition and they’re so great at it.”

Mueller explained that sitcoms and live theater aren’t all that different, and The Crew would film live in front of an audience every week. “That element of it actually ties in really well to theater which has been kind of great for us, it feels like the two of us get the best of both worlds.” The transition from the Great White Way was probably also aided by the fact that series director Andy Fickman is “a big old theater nerd,” Mueller explains. (Fickman’s theater credits include directing Heathers: The Musical, Jewtopia, and Reefer Madness!.) On the show, Stiles portrays Beth, the office manager of the racing team. She says that the theater and sports worlds are not so different, explaining that she often found herself managing morale and a range of personalities as part of a theatre ensemble on Broadway in shows like Avenue Q. “We can all relate to being in a work situation with a group of people and building toward something. Backstage at theater it’s a lot like that, I think there are people with the business manager personality, which I’ve been at times, building people up and making sure they’re doing the best they can, so I can totally relate to Beth in that way.”

Actor and comedian Gary Anthony Williams has an improv background and adds that, unlike some shows where the scripts are locked and there’s little room to experiment, James and the show’s head writer Jeff Lowell were open to playing around. “I hate to pump too much sunshine up Kevin James’ skirt because Lord knows he’s getting warm around the thighs,” Williams jokes. “He made it 100% clear before we shot the first episode that we could loosen it up and play with it. The scripts are already funny. Jeff Lowell, the writing team, they did a fantastic job, but Kevin allowed us all to improvise. We were encouraged to do that. They were going for funny. We got to throw in some things, sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn’t.”

James says that he realized the cast had gelled early on, which may explain the level of trust he has for them and their choices. “We were a tight knit group from the beginning,” he explains. “When you’re shooting those first few episodes and you feel like you’re in season three and you’re already hitting your stride, that’s when you know you’ve got a good thing.”

Much like a NASCAR vehicle, the show is plastered with branding and loads of integrated marketing, but for all the details about driving and race culture that pepper the show (Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon are among the celebrity drivers who make cameos at various points during the season), James emphasizes that this is not necessarily a racing show. “People who love NASCAR are gonna love it, and people who don’t know NASCAR can learn about it, it doesn’t matter. It’s a workplace comedy, it’s a sports comedy. It really is all about character, which most good sitcoms are.”

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Brooklyn. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.

Watch The Crew on Netflix