For several years now John C. Reilly has embodied a loopy, awkward character named Steve Brule. But if you ask Reilly about the character, who originated on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, as we did, he refuses to admit that they are one and the same. For Reilly, Brule is a completely different person, an elusive figure who now has his own spin-off series Check It Out!. The series has seen three seasons on Adult Swim, and now a previously unaired pilot called Bagboy will premiere tomorrow night. It's all very self-reflexive and confusing unless you're a Steve Brule superfan, and Reilly continues to make it as abstruse as possible. We spoke with the actor about Bagboy and Brule in what was probably the most fittingly awkward conversation of all time.

What's the origin of the Bagboy pilot?

Bagboy was a situational comedy pilot that was commissioned by Channel 5. Before Steve Brule had the show Check It Out! they offered him the chance to do a sitcom and he wrote and directed it based on his experiences working in Myers Superfoods as a bagboy. Pablo Myers paid for it so it's sponsored by Pablo Myers. Channel 5 looked at it, shelved it, so it's never seen the light of day.

Why is it coming out now?

Well, Check It Out! has become a pretty popular program. I guess the powers that be decided to let it be seen.

When Steve made the pilot, was he a doctor yet?

You know, I've never gotten a straight answer from him about the doctor thing. He just keeps saying he's a doctor. Some people online have speculated that his first name is actually "Doctor" and his middle name is "Steve." But that's not been confirmed.

He's very cagey about what sort of doctor he is.

Yeah. Like I said, that's a Steve question. He's very hard to get ahold of.

How do you get in touch with him?

You have to page [his cameraman] Denny and then I guess Denny faxes Steve and Steve writes back to Denny and then Denny calls you or something. It's a complicated thing.

Do you think Steve is a good actor in the Bagboy pilot?

I'm biased because I'm a producer on Check It Out! and Bagboy. So I think it's good. But some people might think there's a reason Channel 5 shelved it in the first place.

When did you first meet Steve?

That would have been around the time I met Tim and Eric, I guess. Ten years ago? I'm not sure.

What interested you about him?

He just seemed like a fresh voice in broadcasting. It seemed like he could help a lot of people.

Has he helped people?

That's what the fans of the show say.

It sounds like you're not sure though.

Well, I have tried to follow some of his advice and it's not always the best advice.

Which advice have you followed?

His eating tips. Stuff like that. You have to pick and choose. What works for him I don't think works for everybody. But he certainly is sincere.

Do you think he's learning much from Check It Out!?

You'd have to ask him that. I'm not qualified to comment.

You're not qualified?

No.

Do you know if there will be a fourth season of Check It Out! yet?

Steve says that he wants to do it as long as people want him to do it. And it seems like from the response to the tour he did with Tim and Eric people definitely want it. And they want to see Bagboy, which is the purpose of this interview today—letting people know there's this whole new thing he's done that no one has seen.

Are there any topics you'd like to see Steve tackle in the future?

Me and Tim and Eric have a pretty hands-off relationship with Steve and Denny. They pretty much do the show and they deliver the tapes and that's it. I haven't had any influence so far and I don't imagine I will. It seems like they are the drivers of the topics.

So if you're the executive producer, what is your role?

Just to try to get people to watch the show. Like most executive producers, we don't do anything. We just try to make money off of the artists.

Why is something like Check It Out! exciting to have as part of your career?

I think it's some of the most honest work I've ever been associated with. Some of the most original. Some of the most sincere. And some of the funniest. Some of the saddest. From what I've observed of the show, it's coming straight out of Steve's imagination, which is different than most work I'm associated with.

Do you think you have the same comedic sensibility as Tim and Eric?

Um, well, I don't think you can say that about anybody because people are so unique. But we certainly share a lot of things that make us laugh like most good friends, you know. I don't even know what my comic sensibility is.

Really?

No, I'm not really that self-aware. I'm just trying my best every day and going with my instincts as opposed to "This is my sensibility." There's things I like and things I don't like, you know?

You don't have a brand.

Ugh. That's gross. I should hang up the phone.

I'm not saying you have one—I'm just asking.

Brand! That is such a gross, modern thing.

What was the last thing that made you laugh?

Probably a text from Tim. I'm in constant contact with Tim via text. Sorry if I'm giving you one-word answers, but I'd rather just talk about Bagboy.

It's tough to talk to you about that because a lot of my questions are about playing Steve.

Yeah. I find the less that's said about that the better. That's true of everything, you know. People seem to respond to the fact that you can't have everything. You can't know everything.

Emily Zemler Emily Zemler is a freelance writer based in London.

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