Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.

Thomas Lennon on Reno 911, The State, and playing doctors in Christopher Nolan movies

It’s been a while since we’ve talked with Thomas Lennon, best known for his work in front of the camera on Reno 911! and The State, and his work as a screenwriter with long-time writing partner Robert Ben Garant. In honor of his newest film, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, The A.V. Club sat down with the actor for a video version of our interview series Random Roles.

Lennon opened up about his very first film role, in Row Your Boat, opposite Jon Bon Jovi, and what it was like to spend a day on set with Terrence Malick for only one line of (off-screen) dialogue. He also tells us how Christopher Nolan convinced him to play a doctor in both Memento and The Dark Knight Rises, and how tough the break-up of The State was for him.

Thomas Lennon on Reno 911, The State, and playing doctors in Christopher Nolan movies

Latest on The A.V. Club

Here’s your exclusive look inside The Last Duel’s absolutely brutal final showdown

Trick that truck: How Liam Neeson would customize his own big rig

Physical's creator on the show's dark and deeply personal origins

Ilana Glazer and her False Positive co-stars on the horrors of WebMD, "mommy brain"

Jim Gaffigan on Luca, parenting, and mountains of pasta

Gugu Mbatha-Raw says Loki acts as an "origin story" for Ravonna Renslayer

Lisey's Story's Dane DeHaan reveals he, too, was a victim of the "'90s yo-yo craze"

Luca's director on sea monsters, cliques, and gelato vs. ice cream

Rose Byrne doesn't want Physical viewers to feel bad about themselves

Owen Wilson isn't quite as into jet skis as his Loki character, Mobius

Loki's Wunmi Mosaku isn't really sure how time and space work either

Edgar Wright never thought he'd make a rockumentary

The Rick And Morty cast talks character evolution, Space Beth, at-home-recording sessions

Luca's Jacob Tremblay has strong feelings on gelato vs. ice cream

Rick & Morty and Tuca & Bertie's creators on the Roomba-like feeling of working from home

Loki's director on retro-futuristic computers and the significance of Mobius' soda choices

Most Popular

Steve Harvey says Kenan Thompson "owes him 5 percent of his total earnings"

Army Of The Dead's cast on "sexy AF" Tig Notaro and why zombie horses are the worst

John Krasinski on A Quiet Place: Part II and that sad little box baby

Lin-Manuel Miranda takes over AVQ&A, asks In The Heights’ cast about their most tiring on-set moments

Why Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong never gave up on Tuca & Bertie

Constance Wu dove headfirst into tragedy for Amazon Prime's Solos

Tom Hiddleston on Loki's "glorious purpose," quest for power

Mark Strong on the joys of Emma Thompson, Cruella's recreation of a "punky" '70s London

M.O.D.O.K.'s showrunner walks us through the show's violently silly supervillain duel

The only people Dan Stevens hugged last year were his family and Morgan Freeman

Julianne Moore fearlessly faced freezing weather and dead crows for Lisey's Story

Nicole Beharie brought the reality of childbirth to Solos

Melissa Fumero on the perks and pitfalls of being M.O.D.O.K.'s teenage daughter

Sweet Tooth's stars on family, fear, and the joys of sour candy

Drag Race's Priyanka still hasn't met Ru, but she's ready to take over the world regardless

Flatbush Misdemeanors depicts a side of Brooklyn not yet seen on television