'Scrubs' star Donald Faison is super excited about grilling [Exclusive Interview]

You probably know Donald Faison best as Turk on Scrubs or Murray from Clueless or Petey Jones in Remember the Titans or possibly now as Phil Chase on TV Land’s The Exes, but what about as an expert griller? How about as a puppeteer? Were you familiar with his extensive career, and love, of animation?

The man is one of many talents, and he’s here to discuss them with us. In an exclusive interview with TheCelebrityCafe.com, the actor and griller talks about the pork recipes he enjoys making the most, working with Zach Braff on Wish I Was Here, lending his voice to the Star Wars universe, whether or not he thinks Hollywood will remake Clueless and, yes, the one question every Scrubs fan has to ask. It’s a lot to talk about in six minutes, but such is the life of the ever-busy, hard-working Hollywood family man.

Check out the interview below:

Donald Faison: Will!

TheCelebrityCafe.com: Hey there. How are you doing today?

DF: I’m wonderful. How are you?

TCC: I’m okay.

DF: Just okay?

TCC: Yeah…

DF: C’mon now! Turn it up! Turn it up! Turn it up Will! Turn it up!

TCC: [ laughs ] I’m turning it up. Alright, so when did you discover your love for grilling?

DF: Oh, wow. I discovered my love for grilling when I moved out to California. I grew up in New York City in an apartment building, so grilling wasn’t necessarily something that you were allowed to do. Neighbors would complain. And I moved out to Los Angeles and, you know, was living where I could grill and I said to myself, “You know, I want to try it.” And I did, and I wasn’t really good at it. But it seemed like something I was —(or) it was something I could get — good at. So I kept grilling, and since then I’ve become a grill machine. I’ve become a grill mast… I would say grill master, but there are real grill masters. I’m more like a, you know, I’m a grill enthusiast. How about that?

So I love cooking things like, you know, BBQ ribs, or porterhouse pork chops, or New York pork chops. Today, I don’t know if you can see my spread, but today I have a sugar-and-spice New York pork chop. I have a rub right here, and what I would do is I would take this rub and I would put it in a bag, I would put my pork chops in the bag, shake them up and put it on the grill. Let it cook for a bit until the temperature inside is 145, or a medium well, or a 160 for medium.

And then I eat that bad boy with some mashed potatoes, or some succotash, or some coal slaw, and it really does the trick. (If) you want to do a quick little dinner party for your buddies when they come over I recommend cooking pork chops. It’s [snaps] simple, it’s easy, and it’s so full of flavor. And they’ll think you’re an amazing cook because you know how to do it.

TCC: Great, and are there any other recipes that you would recommend for Father’s Day?

DF: Oh there are so many recipes that I would recommend. Okay, so the National Pork Board, they have a website you can use. It’s called Pork Be Inspired/GrillCrashers, and there you can find so many wonderful recipes. My recipe for Father’s Day — as always — is my ribs, my baby backs. I like to throw some pecan rub on that bad boy, cook it up on the grill, maybe smoke it. Maybe… And then, you know, find… some French fries. Put some French fries on the side of that thing, and I’m good to go.

TCC: Great, and to switch gears a little bit, tell me what it was like working with Zach Braff again on Wish I Was Here?

DF: It was a horrible experience working with Zach Braff again. I’m going to be honest with you. He is a bit of a pain, he’s very full of himself, and so to work with my best friend again was horrible. No, I’m just joking. It was a lot of fun. We’ve always had a great time together, and so it was pretty easy to work with on Wish I Was Here. It was just us acting funny, foolish.

TCC: And what’s it like having your best friend direct you on set?

DF: Well he tries to direct me in real life too, and I have to tell him to stop. So on set, he gets his only opportunity to do it. So he’s actually really good at directing. He’s a very good director. I think he’s a better director than he is an actor, and I think he’s a really good actor.

TCC: So I found out you’re giving your voice to Star Wars: Detours…

DF: Yes!

TCC: So what’s it like being in the Star Wars universe?

DF: It’s great being in the Star Wars universe. It’s what I’ve wanted my whole life. You know, to be able to… Ever since I was three years old, I went and saw Star Wars, and one of my first memories is R2-D2 getting blasted by Jawa. And so it’s a dream come true.

TCC: And with Hollywood remaking/rebooting everything from the ‘90s right now, are you worried that a Clueless remake is around the corner?

DF: If they remake Clueless…. I mean, I think Clueless stands up on its own. I think it holds… it still holds (up). And so, if they remake it, I think they’d be doing it a little prematurely.

TCC: Definitely. And I found out that you were an uncredited puppet fabrication intern on Moral Orel. What was that about?

DF: Okay, so one of my best friends who works in Hollywood, his name is Seth Green, and he created a show called Robot Chicken. And I was interning at that show — at that studio where they used to shoot that show, while they were making Moral Orel because I told Seth that I was really into stop-motion animation. And that’s how I got credited in Moral Orel. If you look at some of the stuff, like, that Stoopid Buddy is doing now, I’ve gone back to intern at their puppet house, and I just enjoy stop-motion animation. And so that’s how that happened.

TCC: Me too man, I love stop-motion animation.

DF: It’s incredible. It’s a very hard skill, but it’s so rewarding when it’s done.

TCC: And it’s nice that Laika is bringing it back (into the mainstream).

DF: Yeah, Laika’s great. Hey, they’re telling me we have to wrap it up…..

TCCDF: Hooch is so crazy. You know Hooch is crazy.

TCC: I had to ask. [ laughs ]

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