Jemaine Clement 

AVC: The film hints that Chevalier is obsessed with Native American spirituality, but it’s never directly addressed. How did that factor into the character for you?

JC: I just think he romanticizes the spirit of Native Americans. Like, the idea of unity with the land and the universe.

AVC: Is that something that, as a New Zealander, you’ve had a lot of exposure to—American white men taking on Native American culture? Is that something you’ve seen New Zealanders do with Maori culture?

JC: People do it a little with Maori culture, yeah. I’m part Maori. My mum’s Maori, and she raised me. And my grandma, she’s Maori. So I’m like a spy. [Laughs.] Like, I’ve got white skin, but yeah, I’m kind of like that myself.

AVC: Chevalier is your first fully American character. Did you approach him as a parody of Americans?

JC: Well, I’m not even sure if he is American. My first idea was that he’s from England, and he’s come over here because he’s been successful here. But then also, I imagined him being from London, Ontario, and then he just stops mentioning the “Ontario” part, and he’s just become more and more pretentious, and starts speaking completely differently. What was the question? That’s my least favorite thing to hear myself say, is “What was the question?”

AVC: Whether you saw him as a parody of Americans.

JC: Ah, right. No, but the way he dresses is very American. And all the Bluetooth stuff he wears. You get on the plane here in Texas, and all the dudes seem to have those. Actually, on the way here, I heard these two strangers sitting behind me on the plane talking about their Jawbones. [Affects American accent.] “Oh, is that the Jawbone?” “Yeah, it’s pretty good. It’s the best one I’ve had.” [Laughs.] Their Bluetooths. Blueteeth? Bluetooths? What’s the plural of Bluetooth? It’s like the “mouse/mice/mouses” question.

AVC: This is your second wholly unlikeable character, after Eagle Vs. Shark. Do you find those roles easier to play?

JC: Well, on Flight Of The Conchords, sometimes the character’s pretty unlikeable. I’ve got a friend who’s a really funny actor in New Zealand that I used to work with. I remember him reading a script and going, “I’m trying to think of what’s likeable about this character.” And I said, “Why?” And he’d go, “Well, I always try to make my characters likeable.” And then something just clicked in my head, and I go, “I think I’m going to try and always think of what’s unlikeable about my characters.” I try to have a balance of things you like and things you don’t like about a character. But once you start that, all these scripts are like, “You play the douchebag friend of Ashton Kutcher.” It’s all these characters that are overconfident or hyper-masculine.

AVC: Are those the sort of parts you’re usually offered—the “wacky best friend”?

JC: I’ve been offered a couple of those, yeah. But I’ve been asked to read for so many of those, more than you can imagine. The friend of the main guy.

AVC: Is that a trajectory you’re interested in pursuing?

JC: The wacky best friend? Yeah, I’d love to corner the market on the wacky best friend. [Laughs.] Who do you think’s the best?

AVC: The best wacky best friend?

JC: I can only think of one wacky best friend who I thought was awesome: Rhys Ifans in Notting Hill. He really nailed the wacky best friend.

AVC: That’s the bar you’d have to clear, I guess.

JC: Yeah, and I don’t think I can do that.

AVC: With the Emmy nomination and this movie role, has your increased visibility affected the dynamic between you and Bret in the Conchords?

JC: What, are you serious? [Laughs.] No. A couple of years ago, we didn’t even know what the Emmys was. They said “the Emmys,” and we were like, “Oh, cool. What’s that?” I honestly mix them up with the Grammys. There’s an interview I did in New Zealand when we were nominated for a Grammy, and I said, “Yeah, it’s so great to be nominated for an Emmy.” And Bret goes, “No, a Grammy.” I didn’t know. We don’t really have a reference for them.

AVC: So there was no tension that you were nominated and he wasn’t?

JC: I felt a little embarrassed when he congratulated me for it. But man, neither of us really care about that thing—but particularly him. He doesn’t even watch TV. I don’t have a TV, but when we’ll have meetings, and they’ll talk about other shows, he’ll know Friends or Seinfeld, or something really big and famous, but he doesn’t know anything about TV. He’s barely watched it. I grew up in front of a TV.

AVC: Now that the show’s been nominated and the album’s come out, there’s probably even more pressure to do the third season of Conchords. Any movement on that?

JC: Yeah, I can’t really tell you. I don’t know. We’re thinking about it. We’re kind of on the Larry David model. The writing is just a boring job. It’s just a horrible job. And then we’re filming for like seven days a week for four or five months. It might be with an occasional day off, or like a half-day off, but it’s really grueling. Because the creative part of it, we’re doing—writing the music, recording it, playing all the instruments, either doing the scripts or the rewrites for other people’s scripts on the weekend, and then filming it in the week.

AVC: Are you still actively writing music, at least?

JC: I’m actively going out onto the porch and noodling around on my guitar.

AVC: Do you see a point where Jemaine the movie star might overshadow Jemaine from the Conchords?

JC: Oh, I don’t really think about that. If it’s something I want to do, I’ll try and do it. Both me and Bret, we think very short-term. We just go project to project, and try to motivate it with fun, rather than some creative trajectory.