ShareThisSean Maguire could be the first actor in history to read a script, hoping it would be awful.
"I read it, and it was good," says Maguire of the script for Comedy Central's new series "Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire," debuting 10 p.m. EDT Thursday, April 9. "I was hoping I'd go in to meet with the producers and hate them ... but I didn't."
At first, Maguire was dead set against "Krod" because the concept sounded too much like his big-screen comedy, "Meet The Spartans," a spoof of "300" and other epic movies of recent years. But, there he was, reluctantly loving what he read and willing to do it.
So he got into a leather vest and tights, sword in hand and a mouth full of quips.
"Krod" is a first for Comedy Central: a genre comedy that combines slapstick with swords and sorcery. It was shot in Eastern Europe a year ago. The series is a far cry from the contemporary and topical programs the network is known for, such as "The Daily Show" and "South Park."
Maguire plays Krod Mandoon, an easily offended and confident-lacking warrior who is the last hope against an evil ruler, Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas). Krod is joined by beautiful Aneka (India de Beaufort), warlock Zezelryck (Kevin Hart), the oafish Loquasto (Steve Speirs) and flamboyant Bruce (Marques Ray) in his quest to stop the chancellor's plots. Somehow, Krod and company succeed, though they're even surprised by how they do it.
"I was hoping to do something a bit more serious and a bit less genre," Maguire says of his work after "Spartans." "I don't want to be pigeonholed in just doing comedy. Comedy is a joy to do, for obvious reasons. But when a good script comes along, whether it's comedy or drama, you know it's a good thing, and you should jump on it."
Maguire, 32, certainly doesn't fit the comedy-star mold. The British bachelor is handsome and muscular, breaking the traditional idea that comedians need to be plain or out of shape to be funny. Maguire says handsome people aren't traditional comics because they can rely on their looks to get by. He also says he's rather plain-looking himself.
"I'm not being self-effacing," he says. "I'm not a bad-looking guy, but I'm not your typical leading man. When I was growing up, I was quite short.
"I was sometimes called cute, but I wasn't considered handsome. Like anyone else, I worked on being funny to get girls."
He goes to auditions and sees other men whom he considers better-looking. "And I think to myself, 'Well, there's your guy for this (role). There's a handsome guy. I won't get this,' " he says. "I've always worked my career from another (way).
"I've always tried to be the funny one to see what develops."
(E-mail Terry Morrow of The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Tennessee at morrow2(at)knews.com.)
