Jerry O’Connell recently signed on to play Herman Munster in NBC’s “Mockingbird Lane” and the actor said his new show isn’t a retelling of the black and white television classic, “The Munsters.”
“It’s gonna be completely different,” Jerry told AccessHollywood.com’s Laura Saltman as she visited him while he worked on Disney Junior’s “Jake and the Never Land Pirates.”
The cast and crew of “Mockingbird Lane” are preparing to shoot a pilot for NBC and Jerry said the new show, also starring British comedian/actor Eddie Izzard as Grandpa, is heavy.
“It’s a little darker than the original. It really is,” he said.
“It’s a great project,” Jerry continued. “It was written by Bryan Fuller, who brought ‘Pushing Daisies’ to everyone… and Bryan Singer, who directed two of the ‘X-Men’ films.”
Jerry said the new Munsters show will include “a lot of cool, special effects.”
“I can’t wait for people to see it,” he added.
In the meantime, fans with younger children in the household may want to tune in for Jerry’s role in “Jake and the Never Land Pirates,” an animated project he jumped on thanks to the interests of his twin daughters, Dolly and Charlie.
“It’s so fun doing these kids things when you do have kids,” Jerry told Laura. “My kids watch a lot of television and it’s so fun to do because your kids get to see you up there. It’s really one of the perks of being in the entertainment business.”
And the actor and dad said he even used his children to get the voice of his character, Pip, the Pirate Genie, just right.
“I’ve been practicing with them to see what they react to and what they like better,” he said. “They’re like, my focus group.”
In addition to reaching a higher register in his voice for the animated character, Jerry also had to string some notes together to play Pip.
“I have a few songs. Bruno Mars, I am not. Bieber, I am not,” Jerry said. “When they said, ‘Do you want to sing?’ I said, ‘I’m not One Direction here. You might want to call someone who’s a professional.’ And they said, ‘Let’s try you out.’ And they did. And they say it worked out.
“Listen, I’ve won a karaoke competition in my time, won close to 100 dollars, so I have that in my musical background, but I did not go to Berkelee School of Music,” he added.
Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.