For actor Taran Killam, ‘Stumble’ arrived at exactly the moment he needed a new chapter—and it quickly became one of the most joyful experiences of his career.
“I’m trying to learn that there are hills and valleys in life and life takes, but life also gives,” Killam says.
In our conversation, Taran Killam opens up with Awards Focus about what drew him to ‘Stumble,’ from his love of mockumentary comedies to the personal connection he felt with Coach Boon Potter. He reflects on navigating a devastating year after losing his home, the comfort of returning to NBC, and the joy and stability the series has brought him. Killam also talks about diving into ‘Cheer’ for the first time, the lessons he brings to the role, and the influence of mentors like his great-uncle Robert Stack and high school teacher Norman Cohen.
NBC airs new episodes of ‘Stumble’ on Friday nights at 8:30 PM ET/PT and streaming the next day on Peacock. Following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the next new episode will air on December 5.
Awards Focus: It’s so nice to meet you today. How are you doing?
Taran Killam: I’m wonderful. How are you?
AF: I’m doing well.
Killam: Good. Good, good, good. I love your Obi-Wan Kenobi poster.
AF: Thank you.
Killam: Love. I mean, he’s perfect.
Do you know the behind the scenes shot? I’m a huge ‘Star Wars’ nerd. In ‘The Making of The Phantom Menace’ documentary, there’s a moment where he gets knocked off the platform in the reactor room with Darth Maul, and they yell cut and he’s in the crash pad. Ewan McGregor goes to the stunt coordinator. He’s like, “They asked me if I wanted to do a ‘Star Wars.’ I said, ‘You’re bloody right, I do.’” He’s just so happy, and you’re like, they got the perfect guy for that role. They got the perfect actor.
AF: Yeah. What was it about the script for Stumble that drew your interest to Coach Boon Potter?
Killam: I was a big fan of ‘Trial and Error’—Jeff Astrof’s previous show—and one of my favorite shows in history is ‘The Office UK.’ I had never done a mockumentary style show before so I was pretty excited about that. I’m also a huge football fan. Los Angeles Rams. We’re now eight and two. Number one, NFC West.
But playing a football coach, there was just a lot of elements about the character of Boon that I just connected to personally—from the football culture, from a loving relationship, a loving positive relationship, loving his wife. I can very much relate to that in my own life. The second that I got in the room with Jenn and we were able to do our chemistry read, it just felt very right. It just felt like it was working.
AF: I know this year started out rather rough, but were you actively looking for a series when you received the script?
Killam: It’s a wonderful question. Yes, for multiple reasons. After losing our house in the fire, I’d say, the whole first half of 2025 is a bit of a blur, and, I think it goes without saying, quite traumatic. So in terms of looking for work, in terms of jumping back into a series, I really think the bigger reason was distraction. You know what I mean? Looking for a positive shakeup, looking for new energy, new momentum, something to focus on.
I love being back on NBC. That felt sort of kismet to me, felt a little bashert, if you will, to be back on the network that really kind of helped launch me. And then, as I said, being a fan of ‘Trial and Error,’ really trusting the Astrofs and their level of writing. And then, of course, you gotta work. If you lose a house, you gotta work because you gotta pay for a new house, so there’s a little bit of that too, for sure.
But it was really about kind of starting a new chapter and it’s been such a joyful chapter. It’s such a tale of two different years, really. The first half, one of the worst experiences of my life. I don’t mean to be hyperbolic, but working on this show with this cast, this crew, these showrunners has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’m trying to learn the right lesson. I’m trying to learn that there are hills and valleys in life and life takes, but life also gives.
If you keep working hard and you stay prepared, something really special can be around the corner. I think ‘Stumble’ is very special.
AF: Yeah. I bet it’s different having substantially different working hours.
Killam: Yes, I like daytime working, for sure. (Laughs) Because I’m a good sleeper. Going home every day and sleeping in my own bed and not on the office floor of my 30 Rock office is certainly a lifestyle improvement.
AF: Were you familiar with ‘Cheer’ before signing onto the show?
Killam: I wasn’t, Danielle, I wasn’t. It wasn’t until we went and filmed the pilot in Atlanta, and there was this big cast dinner where they had everybody gathering, and everybody started losing their minds because they’re like, Monica’s coming, Monica’s gonna be here, Monica. I was like, “Guys, who is Monica? Because she was not in the room when I auditioned.” Ryan Pinkston was like, “Monica’s the reason all of us have a job.”
And so, fortunately, I was able to kind of quickly do my homework back in the hotel room and binged all seasons of it during my time, when I wasn’t working on the pilot. It’s incredible, and she’s so impressive.
We just went and saw Queen of Versailles yesterday with Chenoweth, who’s just—her talent is not of this world. I got to ride with Monica and Ryan, and she was kind of giving us more backstory, more context for her experience with that documentary. I was asking her who started the tradition of jumping in the ocean if you win in Daytona and getting all these details. I went from like zero to a hundred on never heard of ‘Cheer,’ don’t know what it is to having full access to the subject of the documentary and wanting to know as much as possible.
AF: What do you feel that you bring to the character that wasn’t in the script?
Killam: Oh, I think that there’s the familiarity of Boon. I think he’s a lovable goof. He’s like your fun uncle. He’s the guy. My hope is that the very fortunate career that I’ve had before this brings a familiarity to an audience before you even really get to know him. You kind of go, Oh, I know that guy. Oh, I’ve liked him in stuff.
So you’re kind of leaning in because Boon is all heart, leans with his heart. He’s loyal to a fault. He is full of unconditional love and that’s also something really—that’s a positive headspace going back to how our year began. It’s like, let’s put some joy into the world. I find Boon to be a very joyful character to play.
I think my intention of let’s find—not to be so Pollyanna, but let’s play the glad game with life a little bit. That’s kind of his foundation for me as a character is he wants all things to be full of love, family, community, and just really, really good food. And I love really good food.
AF: Really good food is nice.
Killam: It kind of can make or break your day, in my opinion.
AF: Yeah. I was looking on your Wikipedia page and was surprised to see that you’re related to Robert Stack.
Killam: Yeah, yeah, he’s my great Uncle Bob.
AF: I’m curious if he ever offered you any acting advice as you were beginning to break into the industry.
Killam: He did. He did indeed. My dad was a contractor for most of my life. That’s what my dad did professionally. He built houses and did remodels, and he did a lot of work on on Bob and Rosemary’s house. I would go with my dad into work. Uncle Bob would treat me to lunch and tell me stories about shooting ‘The Untouchables, ‘his best friend being Judy Garland and all these great—and all I wanted to know about was him doing a voiceover on ‘Beavis and Butthead Do America.’ (Laughs)
He was always quite generous with me. When I was applying to colleges, he wrote letters of recommendation for me. He was a USC Trojan, and I really wanted to go there. I thought that my grade point average was good enough for USC because UCLA was my other top choice, and I was like, my grades aren’t good enough, there’s no way. But I ended up getting to UCLA and I couldn’t believe it, and I got rejected from USC. So thanks for nothing, Uncle Bob.
But my mom likes to tell the story of one of my first jobs. I was in a guest star on—I think it was a ‘Touched by an Angel’ guest star, and Uncle Bob watched it live when it aired, and he said to my mom, he’s like, “Chris, I’m sorry, but he’s gonna make it.” Meaning that he felt I had a future in showbiz, and that was something he had to apologize for because it’s a feast and famine career.
AF: Is there an acting teacher or mentor that has had the most meaningful impact in your career?
Killam: Gosh, yes. Yeah. Norman Cohen started as my theater teacher at LACHS. I went to the LA County High School for the Arts and he was my favorite teacher I ever had. One of my favorite classes I took with him on Fridays, you’d do an elective afternoon class so it’d be a specialty-focused class.
I did a stand-up class that Mr. Cohen taught and is still to this day is one of my favorite and kind of was my first real training for comedy. I was always going to be an actor. I was going to do musical theater. That was the first time where I was like, Oh yeah, comedy is a profession. That’d be cool. And then Mr. Cohen ended up being my TV/film teacher as well in high school.
My older sister, Erin, hosted a surprise birthday party for my 19th birthday. So I’d already graduated, and she got Mr. Cohen to come to my surprise party. That meant a lot. That was very cool. But he was he was really special. He’s passed away since, unfortunately.
But his big lesson to me was never stop asking why. If you’re working on a character like, Why, Boon? I mean, very much to your question, Danielle: what is it about Boon? Why is he in this situation? Why does he love her? Why is he saying this? It sounds like a simple thing, but I use it every day when I work.
AF: It was a pleasure chatting with you. Thank you so much.
Killam: May the force be with you.
AF: You, too.