Ike Barinholtz is one of 10 acting nominees from “The Studio” this year, and one of the 23 total nominations Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s comedy received. In the raucous inside-Hollywood romp, he plays Sal Saperstein, an ambitious VP who’s mostly in it to party with celebrities — and who, in an episode set at the Golden Globes, inexplicably gets thanked onstage by almost every winner all night long, much to the dismay of his under-appreciated boss, Matt Remick (Rogen).
When The Studio was nominated for all those Emmys, I looked at the reaction statements from all the nominees. I don’t understand why nobody thanked Sal Saperstein.
It’s really disrespectful. I was obviously let down by the lack of mention. I can only assume that they’re gonna save that for when they eventually win.
You should probably talk to them before the show.
Yeah. We’re gonna do an awards-campaign thing where I’m gonna personally visit every nominee and tell them what’s at stake if they forget to mention Sal.
Have you compared notes with your fellow acting nominees Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard?
I have not checked in with those guys yet. But I did see Marty’s reaction on Instagram and he seemed to be genuinely flattered. I just hope those guys get a break. It’s been tough for them in show business, and I think it would just be nice for Ron and Marty to have some kind of recognition in this industry at some point.
It’s kind of crazy, because The Studio got five of the six nominees in guest actor and one in guest actress, and yet I didn’t think, “Oh, wow, that’s a lot.” I thought, “Why didn’t Sarah Polley and Olivia Wilde get in too?”
Honestly, truly, yes. Like, I’m thrilled for everyone. Zoë is incredible — she gave it her all. But those two in particular, Sarah and Olivia, I thought were arguably the two best guests we had all year. So they’ll have to come back in Season 2.
Do you have a wish list for Season 2?
In terms of actors, I think Leo would be very funny. I know he doesn’t like to do a ton of stuff, but he is the biggest movie star around, still. Timmy C. would be great. Get some Chal going, Chal in the chat.
And then, you know, I do love the directors we have on. So let’s keep that train going. Would love to see Steven Spielberg on there. Would love to see the Coen brothers. Bigelow, PTA. Quentin!
Come on, QT, get on here!
You’re aiming high. But I guess when you start with Scorsese in the first episode, why not?
Literally, we have Scorsese, Charlize and Steve Buscemi in the last [scene]. So it’s like, we have to heighten, which is tough.
Making the show, it must be a kick to have this endless cycle of people coming through and doing these killer guest spots.
Oh, yeah. Season 1, because it’s a new show, sometimes you have to pull a little bit harder to persuade people, but hopefully now people will see that if you come on the show, you’re gonna have fun. You’re gonna look cool or look like you have a good sense of humor about yourself. So hopefully it’ll be even easier to get some of the folks for Season 2.
Plus they might get an Emmy nomination.
The odds are you will get an Emmy nomination, so why not? And we give you your own half-trailer. And the craft table’s great.
When you got the scripts, did you have a sense of “OK, I know who Sal is” from the start?
Yeah. I love the way that (Rogen and Goldberg) write, and I love the way in one or two lines early on, you can tell what this character is all about. The first time you meet him, he’s like, “Hey, do I smell like vodka? I was out partying with Pedro Pascal all night.”
Right away, that said to me, “You know this guy. You’ve had drinks with this guy. This guy made an inappropriate joke when he came to the set to visit.” This is a party guy who loves his job, who has maybe overstayed his welcome a little bit.
Have people in the business told you, “Oh, yeah, I know lots of Sals”?
Oh, yes. And I’ve heard from some guys who are Sals who are like, “Hey, man, that was so funny, really great character.” And I’m like, “Yeah, it’s kind of based on you a little bit.” (Laughs)
You’ve already won “Celebrity Jeopardy!“and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” How would winning an Emmy compare in terms of satisfaction?
I mean, winning those was incredible. Being able to give that money to charity was a dream. They’re different levels of happiness, but I’m humbled and honored to even be in the conversation. Also, I could sell the Emmy and use that money for charity, so it would be like being on one of those shows.
I wonder if maybe we should start a new EGOT-style acronym for Emmy, “Jeopardy!” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.“
I would call it EGOG. Replace the T in Tony, which is tough. I’m not doing Broadway right now and I don’t see it happening in the foreseeable future. But, you know, Emmy, Grammy — ’cause I have my collection of spoken-word poetry that’s coming out — Oscar and then game show. So EGOG is what I’m trying to get started.
I was thinking of being more specific and doing something like JEM for “Jeopardy!,” Emmy and “Millionaire.“
Oh, that is good. So “Jeopardy!,” Emmy, “Millionaire” and then we need one more. I think these are both very viable.
This story first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the issue here.
