South Bend Tribune, 9/19/2008
Here is a feature on Kyle Bornheimer just before his new television series “Worst Week” aired nationwide.

Best and ‘Worst’ of times

By Jeremy D. Bonfiglio
Tribune Staff Writer

Source: features
Friday, September 19, 2008
Edition: mich, Page D1

Sam Briggs is having a bad week. Whenever he tries to win over his girlfriend’s parents, disaster strikes.

It could be fire. It could be his own urine. It could be showing up late for dinner wearing nothing more than a makeshift plastic diaper.

That’s the premise of “Worst Week,” the new CBS comedy premiering at 9:30 p.m. Monday that stars Mishawaka native Kyle Bornheimer as the affable, yet constantly bumbling Sam.

“Sam is kind of fearless in his optimism, but he doesn’t have the greatest tools for every situation,” Bornheimer says by telephone from the Los Angeles set. “The more he tries, the more he kind of falls over himself.”

When the series begins, Sam and longtime girlfriend Melanie (Erinn Hayes) are expecting a child and planning to get married, but first, they must break the news to her conservative parents (Nancy Lenehan and Kurtwood Smith). Sam’s past missteps, however, haven’t exactly made him the ideal son-in-law, and the harder he tries to make amends, the worse it gets.

“He’s a genuinely decent guy who wants to do well,” says Matt Tarses, the executive producer who adapted the series from the British comedy “The Worst Week of My Life.” “British audiences are more forgiving about a character’s likability, so (adapting the series) all depended on finding a guy who’s just a mess who the audience can still love.”

When Bornheimer first auditioned for “Worst Week” last fall, it was so early in the process that Tarses wasn’t prepared to offer him the role. Then came the Writer’s Guild of America strike, which put a halt to everything.

“During the break he was in that T-Mobile Super Bowl commercial that was on all the time,” Tarses says. “I got a call from Wendy Trilling, (CBS’ executive vice president of comedy development) and she said, ‘Did you see that commercial? He’s the guy.’ ” When Tarses saw Bornheimer a second time, he agreed.

“There were a lot of self-loathing, a lot of Woody Allen types coming in, partially because of how it was written,” Tarses says. “Kyle had this great buoyancy about him, this great confidence that the character had no reason to have. It was a great choice. I think it’s what makes the show work.”

Bornheimer, who graduated from Marian High School in 1994, spent a year at Purdue University before heading to Los Angeles with dreams of writing and directing films.

“I knew I wanted to be involved in television and movies,” he says. “I took any kind of job I could get. I worked as a production assistant on a short film. I remember not getting a job and begging to be an unpaid intern.”

Bornheimer then took an acting class and decided to change direction. He was soon auditioning for everything.

“If someone needed an actor for a play or a student film, even if it was unpaid, I’d do it,” he says. “I’d do showcases, anything to get agents to see me. I just never said no.”

Bornheimer, who had worked at a video store and Tower Records, took a day job in a commercial casting office. He eventually let his bosses know he also could act.

“I sort of let my presence be known,” he says. “Once they knew me, there was a little momentum there.”

Bornheimer was suddenly everywhere. He jousted with a Stanley tape measure as a sword, mocked the boss during a presentation for Geico, worked in mission control in a man’s troubled bowel for Imodium, triggered an ink-cartridge shower by sitting on the Easy button for Staples, and took a fish in the face for Coors Light.

Such exposure led to guest appearances on shows including “Jericho,” “Weeds,” “Will & Grace,” “Medium” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Monk” and “Breaking Bad.” He also appeared in the film “Blades of Glory.”

The spot that led to his second audition for Tarses, however, was the T-Mobile ad in which he repeatedly says the wrong thing to a woman the day after their date.

Bornheimer brings that same uncomfortable goofiness to “Worst Week.”

“We want stuff to happen to this guy and let the audience find the joke,” he says. “Life throws things at you that you just can’t avoid, but can you find grace under pressure?”

Since production began in August, Tarses, who also was a producer on “Sports Night” and “Scrubs,” has done nothing but praise Bornheimer’s commitment to the role.

“Kyle is the most introspective and thorough actor I’ve ever worked with,” Tarses says. “I mean Kyle is just a good guy and I think it’s that goodness that comes through in his character.”

Tarses isn’t the only one praising Bornheimer’s work. Television critics already have anointed him as one of the faces to watch this fall, and CBS is clearly high on the comedy, awarding it a plum time slot following its popular “Two and a Half Men.”

Still, Bornheimer hasn’t quite gotten used to the idea that he’s now a leading man.

“It’s getting fun for me now,” he says. “I’m seeing a glimpse of where they’re going with him. As far as the bigger picture, I don’t know. I just go where they tell me.”