RED Talk: UW grad Anders Holm speaks at UW-Madison
The co-creator and star of “Workaholics” recaps his journey from being a Badger to writing and acting for Comedy Central
In order to kickoff homecoming week, UW grad Anders Holm spoke at Mills Concert Hall to a packed crowd of Madison students.
Anders is the co-creator and star of the Comedy Central sitcom Workaholics, and also plays Casey Peerson in The Mindy Project. Anders has also made guest appearances in Modern Family, Arrested Development, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and has had roles in movies including How to be Single, The Intern, and The Interview.
In this RED Talk, Anders shared hilarious memories from his UW-Madison college experience and recapped his journey from being a Badger to becoming a writer on Comedy Central.
Anders began his RED Talk with a funny yet pivotal moment from his experience at UW. “My sophomore year I was taking a class I knew I wasn’t going to pass…and here’s how you know why. I went to the classroom to take an exam, and the exam wasn’t even there. I was thinking to myself ‘you don’t even know where the exam is, and you wouldn’t even pass it if you did know.’ Then, I just took off my backpack and laid in the snow, looked up at the sky, and was like ‘you shouldn’t be here, you’re not smart, you’re a loser.'” Anders, we feel you. He’s obviously come a long way since then.
He also talked about his life at UW, and what it was like to be on the swim team. He recalls that because he signed late, he was assigned to live in the 6th floor den of Witte Residence Hall. “My three roommates and I pushed all of our beds to one side, so we had a living room. It was awesome.”
When discussing his college experience, he said, “As an athlete it’s not all high-fives and letter jackets…cause you’re on the swim team.” He also said his experience was different than many other students’ because of his athletics. “When you gotta be up at 5:30 in the morning and jump in the pool for two hours before class, you can’t go out at night…unless you’re a mess like I was.”
Next, Anders discussed his transition from living in Madison to California. “The first thing you realize when you move from Madison to LA and you go out for drinks is that you’re a full-blown alcoholic.” This comment, of course, sparked a large applause from the crowd. “Also, I have so many fleeces in my closet, and I never get to wear them.”
With regards to acting and breaking into the industry, Anders also revealed his childhood neighbor connected him to a filmmaker, and arranged a phone call in order to learn about the business.
The advice Anders received was this: get a job at an agency mailroom. Although he was skeptical of this advice at first, he expressed getting a mundane job like this helps to demystify the industry. He said, “you’re looking at peoples’ mail and you hear agents make fun of actors straight up and you realize, oh these are just human people that are trying to make things.”
Anders originally moved to California to be a writer, but ended up taking up acting. “My friends were like, ‘hey you don’t shut up, why don’t you take an acting class’. Good friends.”
He then revealed that he met his future co-stars, Adam and Blake, and they began to film YouTube videos about three friends who lived and worked together, similar to the plot of Workaholics. Eventually, Comedy Central proposed they come in and pitch a TV show, and were given the opportunity to create a pilot episode. About six months after the pilot was created, the guys were called back and given the opportunity to make 10 more episodes. The show has since took off and been wildly popular on Comedy Central, and it is currently on its seventh and final season.
On a more serious note, Anders was asked how being a Badger has influenced his life after school. He responded, “when you drop that you went to Wisconsin, people say, ‘I hear it’s awesome,’ and you’re not lying when you say it is. It feels easy to brag about. There’s stuff that happens here that you don’t even realize, like character building. The friends I’ve made here will be my friends for life…you’re not gonna believe the connection that you have with each other that you’ll have for years to come. It’s crazy. It’s something special that I don’t take for granted.”