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Peacock's Ted series is a hilarious romp. Of course, Seth MacFarlane's foul-mouthed teddy bear steals the show, but so do Max Burkholder and Giorgia Whigham.
For Burkholder, he has huge shoes to fill. He plays a young John Bennett, a role previously held down by the one and only Mark Wahlberg. That said, he stands up to the challenge, channeling enough Wahlberg but enough of his own take on the character. He shares a brotherly bond with Ted that's impossible to not root for.
Whigham, on the other hand, plays John's older cousin, Blaire. A college student with plenty to teach the Bennett family, Blaire is a firecracker in the household. Whigham plays the part with a sensitivity as an older sister-like role for John that's endearing.
ClutchPoints caught up with the two during the junket for Peacock's Ted series. It's a prequel to MacFarlane's two films and follows John's journey during his junior year of high school. Burkholder and Whigham, full of energy, did their best Boston accents, talked about the best homages to the films, and what they hope for in an eventual Season 2.
Max Burkholder, Giorgia Whigham-Ted interview
ClutchPoints: The show has a lot of references to the movies, and I'm curious: were you both fans of the movies? And if so, was there any bit that you were hoping would get some sort of payoff or reference in the show?
Max Burkholder: Sure, yeah, I mean I've been [a] fan of both movies for a long time. I actually was at the table read for the first Ted movie way back when. I was playing like the creepy child's character and they decided I wasn't creepy enough for the for the role… thankfully.
But I'm I'm a big fan of the movies. I'm glad we're hitting some some solid points. We're hitting weed, we're hitting “Thunder Buddies,” we're hitting Flash Gordon — we're seeing the origin of all of this stuff. I think people who are fans of the movies are really gonna appreciate that.
Giorgia Whigham: Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing. I mean I've been a fan of Seth [MacFarlane's] work forever and the original movies and yeah, I think those are the main kind of things that I think all the fans are gonna hope and be excited for.
We hit Flash Gordon and we hit the delinquency of juvenile delinquency craziness. It's awesome.
CP: Max, can you still channel the Boston accent on command, and also do you have any tips for getting that down?
MB: [in a Boston accent] Oh, yeah, dude. A hundred percent. It's like flipping a switch at this point.
[in his normal voice] I don't know. It gets intuitive at a certain point. Like the D's have Z's in them. That was a sticking point in the beginning.
GW: Also, your physicality gives a lot to it.
MB: Sure, yeah — it demands a lot of movement. For sure.
CP: Giorgia, can you give your best take at the Boston accent?
GW: Oh, god.
MB: Let's go!
GW: [in her best Boston accent] Dude, wait, no, I can't, I can't. [laughs]
MB: That was good!
GW: [in a Boston accent that sounds more New York] Dude, dude what are you doing?
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It's not remotely as good as Max's. I thankfully didn't have to channel that as hard. I did have to kind of lose my Valley Girl accent a little bit because, she's (Blaire) still from Boston, but I do tend to have a little bit more Valley in me. So it was a little harder.
CP: Well, A for effort. I appreciate you at least indulging.
GW: Thanks. [smiles]
CP: This is open to both of you, but Giorgia, I want to start with you. You have a different kind of relationship with Ted in the series, so I was curious what is it like acting opposite him. I don't know if there's actually a teddy bear on set or whatever the case is, but you're acting as if you're talking to a teddy bear. What's that experience like?
GW: The first day was really difficult because you are quite literally looking at nothing. You are looking at blank space. So that was really difficult.
But then after the first day or two, I would say you literally start to see him run around the room and jump on a chair or if I look at a chair or something right now, I can see his eyes. I can see where he would be in space.
MB: You get really used to estimating his physicality.
GW: And with Seth there at all times doing the voice, it was really easy to just kind of channel that, you know what I mean? Like, it didn't feel like we were just talking to some guy behind a camera doing a voice.
MB: A lot of the times if you're working with something CGI like that, you don't have the benefit of the actual voice actor right there on set.
And that was a game-changer, especially [when] playing around [with] improv stuff having him there to bounce stuff off of. Yeah, was a godsend.
CP: I know that we don't know what the future holds and if there will be a second season, but I'm curious for both of you guys, for your characters individually, is there anything you'd love to see happen in a second season or whatever?
GW: Oh, that's a good question.
MB: Get laid.
GW: [laughs] Stop!
MB: 100%. John's gotta get laid.
GW: [laughs] It's about time, dude.
MB: It's truly about time, dude. It's about time, dude.
GW: [in her Boston accent] It's about time, dude.
MB: Yeah, no, there you go — you get it.
GW: For Blaire, I hope that she and Matty (Scotty Grimes) find some more common ground. I hope she continues to teach him a more proper way of living. [laughs] How do I word this?
I think just her continuing to impart her wisdom upon the family, because I think she has a lot of cool stuff to say.
Ted will premiere on January 11 on Peaocck.
