5 Questions With Dan Schawbel Episode 44: Kevin Pollak
An interview with Kevin Pollak about how he’s been on the leading edge when it comes to media, having a sustainable career, his early mentor, how doing standup comedy prepared him for TV shows and his best career advice.
Welcome to the 44th episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.
This episodes guest:
My guest today is actor and comedian Kevin Pollak. Born in San Francisco, California, he’s had a multi-decade career in both film and TV, spanning over 80 movies and over 40 TV shows since I was born back in 1983. His most notable movie roles in the 90s include A Few Good Men, End of Days and The Wedding Planner. As a standup comic, he’s had his own HBO and Showtime specials and Comedy Central named him one of the Top 100 Comedians of All Time. In 2009, he started Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, a podcast where he interviews his friends in the entertainment business. In 2017, Kevin joined the cast of the original series from Amazon called The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The show will be in its third season and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2017 and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2018. We sat down on the set of the show at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York, to talk how what he’s learned throughout his career.
Video interview from the set of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in Brooklyn, New York:
The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode:
- What draws you to new mediums, like podcasting, and how do you know what to do next?
- You’ve been in over 80 movies. What do think the key is to having a sustainability career like you’ve had?
- Who was an early mentor to you?
- How did your career as a standup comedian prepare you for doing TV shows? What skills transferred over?
- What’s your best piece of career advice?
Follow Kevin’s journey: