A
ADAM DEVINE STILL CAN’T
believe he gets to play
Green Eggs and Ham’s
Sam I Am. “I grew up read-
ing the book, so this
is a dream come true,”
the comedian says of
voicing the eager eater on
Netflix’s adaptation of
the Dr. Seuss classic
(Nov. 8), which also fea-
tures the voices of Michael
Douglas, Diane Keaton,
Ilana Glazer, and Tracy
Morgan. Season 1’s 13 epi-
sodes follow Sam and
Guy (Douglas) as they work
to free the endangered
Chickeraffe. But will
Guy ever love green grub
as much as Sam does?!
—Rosy Cordero
What was it like working with such
a star-studded cast?
I lost my mind when they told me
who I’d be working with. Michael
Douglas and Diane Keaton are
living legends. So even though we
recorded our audio separately,
it was so incredible. I hope to meet
them at the premiere, especially
Michael so that Sam and Guy can
really get to hang out.
As you went on this journey of self-
exploration with Sam and Guy, did
you learn anything about yourself?
The initial kernel of Green Eggs
and Ham, the service-level lesson,
is to not be afraid to try new things.
So I think this project helped me
be more open to trying new things
that I may have passed on other-
wise. I do a lot of R-rated movies
and TV shows, so working on
something so pure and innocent—
that’s also really funny—took me
back to my childhood. I love think-
ing about how proud 8-year-old
me would be of me. I hope those
watching are inspired by it too.
First Take
The show took four years to make.
How excited are you for people to
finally see it?
I worked on this project for years. I’d
go in for a few hours a week to
record my audio, then there’d be a
gap where other work was being
done on the animation and other
things—there were so many tal-
ented people putting in hard work
in different departments. It’s a
really smart show, and so funny.
I think adults will like it as much as
kids. It’s just a really fun ride going
into this world that Dr. Seuss built.
Netflix is calling this series a
postmodern Planes, Trains and
Automobiles. Were you inspired
by John Candy when creating Sam?
I’m a huge fan of that movie and
have seen it many times. John
Candy was so funny, but you also
felt for him. He brought this
empathy and kindness to his char-
acters. He made viewers want to
root for that guy. That’s what I
tried to do with Sam, and hopefully
some of that has come through.
↑ Guy (Michael
Douglas) and Sam
(Adam Devine)
take a ride with a
Chickeraffe (center)
Green Eggs and Ham
Adam Devine
EW ● COM NOVEMBER 2019 25
NETFLIX
