OnlyOnAOL: Ben Feldman shares shocking truth about 'Superstore'
BY: DONNA FREYDKIN
You know him from "Silicon Valley," "Drop Dead Diva" and "Mad Men." And now, Ben Feldman clocks in as one of the employees on NBC's "Superstore," co-starring America Ferrera as the astute assistant manager of a big-box behemoth. Feldman plays business school dropout Jonah on the show, airing Thursdays on NBC.
"From the table read, everyone got along as though we'd known each other for a long time. There's not a bad egg. We go to Vegas together. When we wrapped last year, we went to Vegas and partied. Everyone equally partied," says Feldman.
Ummmm, even Ferrera, the serious and focused activist who spoke at the Democratic National Convention?
"America is a lot of fun. She's a big dancer. Don't let that DNC stuff fool you. She can party," says Feldman.
Feldman himself is no slouch. He studied acting at Ithaca College, and went on to star in "The Graduate" on Broadway and earned an Emmy nomination for his time on "Mad Men" as a smart-mouthed copywriter hired by Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
In reality, says Feldman, he's had his share of challenging jobs. Right around high school, he says, "I was getting fired from Baskin-Robbins" for giving out free ice cream.
He also spent time as a server. "I loved waiting tables so much. I'm a narcissist and it's a chance for me to have the floor. I worked at a couple of restaurants in college when I was studying acting because I assumed I'd be waiting tables for the rest of my life," he says.
And even though "Superstore" was renewed for another season, Feldman still doesn't feel like he's made it.
"I'm waiting on that. I mean this genuinely – I just feel like I've got everyone fooled. When did I feel secure, when I could make a living at this? I was spoiled. The time in my life when I should have thought that, I was too young to realize how lucky I was. A bunch of things happened in short succession. Later on, there were a couple of years I wasn't getting anything I wanted and that's when I started to freak out. I had taken things for granted," he says.
