Richard Kind is quite happy being just a little famous

If you turn on a TV or sit in a movie theater, it’s likely you’ll see one particular actor … and there’s also a good chance you won’t know his name: “I’m walking from the subway to the theater and a woman – I was in Times Square, so she’s obviously a tourist – she goes, ‘Oh, my God, there’s, hey, hey, hey, hey…’ Didn’t even know the name!”

His name is Richard Kind, and he’s quite happy being just a little famous.

“I’ll walk down the street and somebody will go, ‘Oh, you’re a national treasure.’ And then I pass 250 people who don’t know who I am, and yet that person thinks I’m a national treasure!” he said.

National treasure Richard Kind has made a lot of people laugh, and sometimes, nap. I asked, “When you’re on the stage, do you ever look down and see somebody asleep?”

“Sure!”

“What’s that feel like?”

“I say, I don’t blame you!” he laughed.  

Over the years, Kind has shown up everywhere. Maybe you’ve seen him on “Poker Face,” or “Mid-Century Modern,” or “Only Murders in the Building.” He’s also the announcer and sidekick on the Netflix talk show “Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney.”

For 45 years, he’s worked on Broadway (earning a Tony nomination for “The Big Knife”), and in movies and television, to become a respected actor. But that wasn’t always his goal. “When I was young, lying in bed, dreaming of stardom, I wanted stardom,” he said. “I didn’t wanna be a good actor; I wanted stardom.”

Kind thought he’d follow his father into his Princeton, N.J., jewelry business. “That I’m an actor is so wrong,” he said. “I should have gone into my dad’s store. I should be in business. I should have been a lawyer. I should have done what is expected of a suburban middle-class kid.”

He said growing up he was teased more than most: “I was a fat kid. I bet I was a loser. I’d might have made fun of me!”

But at summer camp, a friend gave him what became an essential life lesson: “He taught me how to laugh at myself,” Kind said.

“Was that laugh-at-yourself-before-other-people-do a defense mechanism?” I asked.

“Yes, absolutely. Absolutely, absolutely. He was a fat kid, too, who then lost weight. I eventually lost weight. Still a fat kid even to this day. I’ll never be a thin person…. In my head, I’m a fat, fat person.”

In the 1970s, self-assurance developed on stage at Northwestern University, and at Chicago’s legendary improv theater, the Second City. “Six nights a week at Second City, that is my Harvard of acting,” Kind said. “Some people would say it’s the Harvard of comedy. It’s not. It was my Harvard of acting.”

Even with that on his résumé, there were still doubts: “My dad used to ask my professors at school or my directors, and these were his exact words: ‘Does he have it? Is he any good?’ He would not trust himself to say, ‘Oh, my son is a good actor.’ He would ask somebody else, ‘Is he a good actor?’ What the hell? Look at me, I’m a good actor!“

Possibly his most memorable role to date: Bing Bong, an imaginary creature who ultimately sacrifices himself to save his young friend, Riley/Joy, in the Pixar film “Inside Out.” “I died for her,” Kind said. “I died so that she might have a great life.”

According to John Mulaney, that moment – letting let go of the past, but remaining child-like – says a lot about Richard Kind. “In many ways, by having him as our announcer, we’ve given our imaginary friend a place at a podium,” Mulaney said. “He’s incredibly sweet, incredibly childlike, and a real man and a powerful actor, and a great father.”

And here’s another of his many roles you may have missed: the science fiction comedy “Sharknado 2: The Second One,” in which tornadoes hurl sharks at New York City – and New York City doesn’t take it lying down. “I hit a shark out of the ballpark. Now that’s something I don’t think a lot of people have that on their résumés. I do!”

It seems like almost every place you go, you’ll bump into Kind. Here we are at a recent New York Mets charity poker event. “I used to be very good at this,” he said. “Then, I had children and moved to New York. Children can ruin a poker game … Every time I bet, I’m like this, thinking, Well, how will I pay for my kids’ college?”

In some ways, Kind’s success is all about the risks he’s taken. “This business is very cruel to actors,” he said. “Truly, it’s very cruel. Some people call it insulting. I don’t call it insulting, but I do say it is cruel. How much did I make my first episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’? How much did I make?”

“Not a clue,” I said.

“Take a guess.”

“First episode? $2,500?”

“That’s a good guess. $700!” Kind said. “You go in with the attitude that everybody who’s casting this product wants to make ‘Seinfeld money.’ They wanna make a lot of money. I walk in saying, ‘I can help you make this great. I am the right guy for this.'”

And with a flourishing career built on being exactly the right guy, Richard Kind is grateful just to be at the same table with other actors. “I am parsley on a plate of meat and potatoes,” he said. “Now, I’m good. I look great there. I’m the freshest parsley! But they’re meat and potatoes. What do I do? I help make the plate look great. That’s fine. That’s what I usually do. But I can be cut out. I’m just not necessary all the time. And I’m fine, fine, fine with that. I’ve made a career of it, haven’t I?”

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Extended interview – Richard Kind

      
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Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: George Pozderec.