ShareThisBy TERRY MORROW
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Playing a nice guy has its downside for "My Name Is Earl" star Jason Lee.
For one, the man on the street may mistake him for his Karma-revering character, Earl Hickey.
They yell out to Lee on the street by referring to him as "Earl," a consequence Lee suspected might happen when he took the role a year ago. Yet he's not always in the mood to be called by the wrong name.
"On a day when I haven't eaten or I am hot and I am tired and I need to get to my car because I need to go see my son ... occasionally it can rub me the wrong way," says Lee, whose films include "Mallrats" and "Clerks II."
"Hey, it's only that impulsive, distinctive thing where I want to tell the person, 'Hey, I'm not just Earl.' But it goes away once I've had a sandwich."
Regardless, Lee, a Golden Globe nominee this year for "Earl," says he can understand why fans are so drawn to the character.
"It's an American show, for the people," he says. "... It doesn't make fun of anyone. It's not mean spirited. People can relate to it. I don't want to deny them that."
Certainly the country is embracing "Earl." With NBC moving it to 8 p.m. Thursdays this fall, "Earl" is performing even stronger than it did last season.
According to NBC statistics, "Earl" has been holding its own with the coveted network demographic of ages 18 to 34 against powerhouses CBS's "Survivor" and ABC's "Ugly Betty."
A year ago, Lee said he wanted to avoid the typecasting that comes with playing a successful character on television. Now, he says, he has come to accept Earl's popularity.
"It would be different if they were heckling me when they called me 'Earl,'" he says. "But that doesn't happen. My hat's off to this fine country for loving Earl. When they say, 'Hey, Earl,' they don't mean to be obnoxious or heckling."
Lee says he's hearing the "Earl" calls from around the world now, too. Fans from Turkey approached him at the airport recently to applaud the show. He's also heard from "Earl" lovers in Sweden.
"They are saying, 'We can identify with him. We're part of the family,' " Lee says. "There's nothing wrong with that."
