Mike & Molly's Billy Gardell Talks About Premiere Jitters, Stand-Up, and Fear of the Word 'Fat'

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Now, I'm used to your presence as a stand-up comic, where you get to say things you definitely couldn't on CBS. Is it hard to transition from self-employed comic into an eminently employed actor?

No, no, no. My stand-up is something I take great pride in. It's what brought me here. But that's my time. That's my opinion, my time, my cadence, what I want to talk about. On this show I am an employee. I work for Chuck Lorre and Mark Roberts, I take direction from Jim Burrows, and I get my paycheck from CBS and Warner Bros. So I do what they say, and they're very good at what they say. I follow that. It's that simple.

Wow, I'm kind of surprised it's that easy.

It comes with being 40. You hit it at 40 rather than 20. Suddenly you don't feel entitled, you feel grateful.

Let's say Mike & Molly makes it five years. Where do you hope your character, a cop named Mike Biggs, is at that point?

You know, I don't know and I can't wait to find out. Whatever journey they want me to take with them, for what they've done to get me as the lead of the show -- and I'm sure Melissa [McCarthy] feels this way too. Well, I can't speak for her, but I'm sure she feels this way -- for what they did to put me at the center of this show, I will take whatever journey they want me to take. They want me to lose weight? I'll lose weight. They want me to lose weight and gain weight? I'll lose and gain weight. If they want me to lose and give up, I'll lose and give up. Whatever this journey becomes, I'm willing to embrace and go with it.

You say "for what they've done" to get you on TV, What did CBS do, exactly?

I mean, look what they did: They took a 40-year-old fat guy and stuck him in the center of the show in an era where we all have to be perfect. That's balls, man. That's big balls is what that is. I don't think there are too many people in television that could do it and make it come off as well as they did. They're great at what they do.

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