The Hollywood Reporter
When T.J. Miller buried the role of Erlich Bachman and left Silicon Valley after four seasons, viewers were left with a feeling that a lot remained unsaid.
Miller said that he wanted to focus on other projects like The Gorburger Show (canceled), The Emoji Movie (the worst movie of 2017) and Deadpool 2 (who was nearly recast after sexual assault allegations), but then turn around and bash people involved with the show. He alluded to showrunner Alec Berg as a Harvard-educated “idiot” and threw barbs at main character Thomas Middleditch by saying he “always wanted to be the star of the show.”
The Hollywood Reporter recently went on set with Silicon Valley as they shoot their fifth season and gained some clarity on the breakup with Mike Judge, the show’s creator.
The piece mentions that everyone involved with the show is hesitant to talk about the events leading to Miller’s exit but “several make veiled references to his ‘demons’ and the fact that he’s been known to self-medicate with alcohol and other substances.”
“There are a lot of different ways you can find out somebody doesn’t want to do the show anymore,” Judge said. “And it’s not fun to work with someone who doesn’t want to be there, [especially when] they’re one of the main people and you’ve got however many crew members and extras and people who are [not paid as well] and they’re all showing up before 7 a.m, and then are just like, ‘Oh, OK, we’re not shooting today.'”
Numerous sources say that it was like Jekyll and Hyde with Miller–at times he appeared to have things under control and others when he’d show up under the influence, if he even showed up at all.
Table reads would start late as the cast and crew waited on the untamable actor, and when he did arrive he typically hadn’t cracked open the script. Schedules would regularly have to be rejiggered, and sources from the set recount tales of Miller falling asleep between takes, leaving cast and crew to nudge him awake.
Showrunner Alec Berg, who Miller claims he ‘didn’t like,’ praised the remaining cast of Silicon Valley while delivering a subtle-but-not shot at Miller.
“These guys are the Golden State Warriors of comedy. So, it’s like, yeah, we’ve lost Andre Iguodala but we still have Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson and some other guy on the Warriors whose name I don’t know. But I don’t feel like we can’t win championships anymore because we’ve lost …T.J. wasn’t LeBron.”
Miller, who was reached by The Hollywood Reporter by phone in Alabama, was notified of Berg’s comments and asked the reporter to repeat what he said twice before laughing uncontrollably.
“Oh, that’s great,” he says. “And it makes me like him more [because] he’s so good at being an asshole.”
I think it’s safe to say that the breakup may have been best for everyone. It was probably best they return each other’s sweatshirts, clean out their drawers, delete each other from social media, and move on.
[h/t The Hollywood Reporter]