{"id":730530,"date":"2026-05-30T21:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T18:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/jeff-hiller-won-an-emmy-so-why-isnt-hollywood-calling\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T21:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T18:10:15","slug":"jeff-hiller-won-an-emmy-so-why-isnt-hollywood-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/jeff-hiller-won-an-emmy-so-why-isnt-hollywood-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Hiller Won an Emmy. So Why Isn\u2019t Hollywood Calling?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tAbout 20 years ago, Jeff Hiller auditioned to play Kenneth Parcell, the demonically sunny NBC page ultimately portrayed by Jack McBrayer, in the pilot of 30 Rock<\/em>. As things tended to go for Hiller back then, he did not get the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe all knew it was written for Jack, so I never even pretended that I was going to get it,\u201d Hiller says now. But then, a surprise silver lining: \u201cTina Fey called me back and was like, \u2018You\u2019ve got really good timing\u2019 \u2014 which kept me going for several years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFey went on to cast Hiller as a hotel clerk in 30 Rock<\/em>\u2019s third season \u2014 and, in a true rarity for any actor not named Rachel Dratch, brought him back years later to play a completely different character.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThat second role, as a flight attendant, came as an offer \u2014 no audition needed. \u201cThat had never happ<\/a>ened in my entire career and has only happened two or three times since,\u201d Hiller says. \u201cIt was a huge surprise, and it made me feel so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Upright Citizens Brigade alum credits that experience with sustaining him and keeping him motivated amid several slow periods before, during and after. Indeed, it would be another decade before Hiller secured his first regular role on a TV series<\/a>, HBO\u2019s indie comedy Somebody Somewhere<\/em> \u2014 a naturalistic, moving three-season performance that culminated in a shocking Emmy win for best supporting actor last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was the dream all along,\u201d he says. \u201cAfter our first season, when no one really had heard of the show or paid attention, I still was like, \u2018I don\u2019t care \u2014 I\u202fget to be on that set.\u2019\u202f\u201d Now he\u2019s back on the guest-star circuit with a slew of standout performances in acclaimed shows this past season, including Pluribus<\/em>, Elsbeth<\/em>, Stumble<\/em>, Ghosts<\/em> and Widow\u2019s Bay<\/em>. \u201cI feel like I get more respect,\u201d says Hiller of what\u2019s changed since that Emmy triumph. Case in point: \u201cI had been offered a role of the Not Murderer on Elsbeth<\/em>, and then when I won an Emmy, I got the Murderer role,\u201d he says \u2014 putting him in iconic company among Elsbeth<\/em>\u2019s season\u202fthree killers: Dianne Wiest, Patti LuPone, J. Smith-Cameron, Julia Fox, Steve Buscemi and more.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI murdered someone with a curling iron,\u201d Hiller cheers.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo recent performance of Hiller\u2019s looms as large, though, as his warmly cryptic episodic turn on Pluribus <\/em>as Larry the friendly biker (complete with fabulous bike shorts). As she realizes the scope of what she\u2019s up against with the smiley Hive Mind surrounding her, Carol (Rhea Seehorn) summons one such member, Larry, to ask for his opinion \u2014 and then, for her deceased wife\u2019s opinions, since he can access them \u2014 about the books she wrote before an alien virus upended the planet. His answers are bizarrely indirect, which leads Carol to the crucial discovery that the Hive cannot lie to her. But Larry also shares a story about how her work touched people, resonating in large part due to Hiller\u2019s sensitive touch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHiller believes he got the part because one of creator Vince Gilligan\u2019s employees was a Somebody Somewhere<\/em> fan: \u201cHe saw my audition and was like, \u2018Oh, I like this guy!\u2019\u202f\u201d He had little information when he first put himself up for the gig and knew nothing of Pluribus<\/em>\u2019 mythology, only given the direction that \u201cyou are her father and you\u2019re talking to her about her dead mother\u201d (yeah, not exactly). Once he got the job, he still had to fill in plenty of blanks. Seehorn proved a key resource to lean on: \u201cShe does not get many days off. She\u2019s in every scene, so her time off is precious. But she generously invited me over and we rehearsed the scene.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe big thing that they kept telling me was, \u2018You love her so much, her work means so much to you,\u2019 so I tried to hit that,\u201d he continues. \u201cBut I also didn\u2019t know that they eat bones!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the show finally started airing, Hiller found himself in a strange spot. \u201cI kept forgetting that I was in it,\u201d he says. \u201cThen I was like, \u2018Wait, I\u2019m in episode four! I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m a part of a zeitgeist moment.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, it\u2019s not the first time Hiller has appeared on a hit show. Beyond 30 Rock<\/em>, he\u2019s made the most of small appearances on Broad City<\/em>, Ugly Betty<\/em>, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend<\/em> and American Horror Story<\/em>. He\u2019s currently recurring on Widow\u2019s Bay<\/em> \u2014 Apple TV\u2019s horror comedy gaining steam with critics and audiences \u2014 as one of the aloof employees in the office of the mayor (Matthew Rhys). \u201cThat came through my friend Lexy Perez Katie Dippold,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I would\u2019ve done if I didn\u2019t start at the UCB. I guess I\u2019d just be unemployed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYet while Hiller has been seemingly everywhere on TV lately, appearances in this industry can be deceiving. \u201cI haven\u2019t worked in 2026 at all, and that\u2019s scary, like, \u2018But I have an Emmy; I don\u2019t get to work now?\u2019 \u201d Hiller says with a knowing laugh, adding that he\u2019s at least had some voiceover opportunities. \u201cIt\u2019s a rough time. It\u2019s not like business be booming. It\u2019s disheartening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce he won the Emmy, Hiller admits, \u201cI felt like I would immedia<\/a>tely get a new TV show.\u201d As Hollywood wades through a fresh era of mergers and contraction, that has not happened. But bopping around different series, fighting for roles wherever they open up, is something Hiller is used to \u2014 and, to anyone watching his stuff lately, damn good at. \u201cI\u2019m a really good guest star \u2014 I wear what you want me to wear, I sit where you want me to sit, I don\u2019t ask questions, I can take notes very well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for the drier periods \u2014 like right now? \u201cI\u2019m uniquely qualified for them because I have spent 30 years with the ebbs and the flows of a career,\u201d he says. And, hey, at least now when new character descriptions come up, it\u2019s less \u201chotel clerk,\u201d more \u201cmurderer with a curling iron.\u201d That\u2019s hard-earned progress<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About 20 years ago, Jeff Hiller auditioned to play Kenneth Parcell, the demonically sunny NBC page ultimately portrayed by Jack McBrayer, in the pilot of 30 Rock. As things tended to go for Hiller back then, he did not get the job.\u00a0 \u201cWe all knew it was written for Jack, so I never even pretended…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":730531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9Afea_guestacting_image-SPLASH-2026.jpg?w=1440&h=810&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[5519,22333,162523,162528],"class_list":["post-730530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-awards","tag-emmy-awards","tag-emmys-2026","tag-jeff-hiller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}