Brian Stepanek is no stranger to working with kids and teenagers. He directed musical theater for children and high school productions in college, landed his first major role as janitor Arwin on Disney Channel's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and now stars as the father of Nickelodeon's "Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn."
"I naturally came full circle to it," Stepanek tells Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview. "These networks are kind of like musical theater. It's the same sensibilities. Everything's a little bigger. All the turns are a little sharper. That's what I'm good at so I found myself back in the kids' world."
The 44-year-old actor also lends his voice to animated features like "Over the Hedge," "Bolt" and the new Dreamworks movie "Home," which premieres in theaters on March 27. Working on these projects, he interacts frequently with the people he considers to be the "greatest fans on the planet" - kids.
"They are so genuine and so excited to see you," he says.
Stepanek spoke with HNGN about the pride his own three children show in his work, how he got his alien character in "Home" named after him and that time he fainted meeting Hannah Montana (a.k.a. Miley Cyrus) on "The Suite Life."
Headlines & Global News: Do your kids watch your shows and movies?
Brian Stepanek: I never know how to answer that question. They watch it. It's very cute to see my 10-year-old be very proud of me. When we're out in public, and kids recognize me, he gets very proud. We don't talk about it a whole lot. It's totally normal to them. They just grew up with it.
When I was a kid, growing up near Cleveland, Ohio, I would have died if John Ritter walked in the room. He was my idol. My kids, they're just used to it.
HNGN: How is working with four child actors and all their energy on the set of "Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn?"
Stepanek: It is a blast. Last season, we were just starting, they were pretty green. They hadn't done a whole lot, so they were learning as we went. Everybody knew that and we built it into the schedule. There's something really fun about working with kids on set because they're wide-eyed. They're learning and we get to help teach them. It's really been a blast.
They have a very good sensibility and when they don't, if they ever miss anything and you correct them, they go, 'Oh yeah, I got it.' They hear the music.
HNGN: Working alongside kids for so long, do you feel a sense of responsibility to keep them grounded and humble?
Stepanek: Before shooting each episode, we always huddle up and the one thing I always say to them is, 'It's a privilege, not a right. We're all very, very lucky to be here.' I literally say that to them once a week, so they remember how lucky, all of us, are to be a regular on a TV show. It's like winning the lottery. Because they're so young, I want them to really understand how lucky they are.
HNGN: What can fans of the show look forward when season two premieres later this year?
Stepanek: You'll see me in so many different hair styles. I've worn so many wigs, like I was Amish today. I've been in an '80s costume, like Jon Cryer from "Pretty in Pink."
HNGN: Speaking of "Pretty in Pink," do you notice the writers sneaking in references for parents watching the show with their kids?
Stepanek: Oh yes, but think about it, the writers grew up in the '80s. Their references are genius. I love going up to the writers' room because it's like walking into a looney bin. They are hilarious. There are a lot of flashbacks with the mom (Allison Munn) and dad because our history is that we used to be ice dancers. So there's an episode with me with Bon Jovi curly blonde hair. Like the old Bugs Bunny cartoons, they always refer to stuff that the adults would get.
HNGN: Do the kids understand that sometimes they're reenacting iconic scenes from TV and movie history?
Stepanek: They have no idea. We have to show it to them on set. We shoot on the same studio that "Happy Days" shot. We have to show them, "This was 'Happy Days.'' They don't know what "Happy Days" was.
We always encourage them to watch Lucille Ball and Dick Van Dyke because all the terms, all the performances, it's all the same. [Ball and Van Dyke] are great people to learn from, the best there ever was.
HNGN: The show also got nominated for its first Kids Choice Award. What was everyone's reaction?
Stepanek: Everybody was very excited. Especially in our first year, it's really an honor. That's why we do it, it's for our audience. If they tell us we're doing a good job, we're doing the right thing.
HNGN: Will you be attending the awards show?
Stepanek: I will be. I'm going to be a huge draw. That Jonas kid will be there but everybody will be there for me. [Note: Nick Jonas will be hosting the Kids' Choice Awards 2015.]
HNGN: You and Nick Jonas have both moved over to Nickelodeon after starring on Disney Channel. Wasn't "The Suite Life" airing about the same time the Jonas Brothers were hitting it big?
Stepanek: Yes, but what I remember most is when Miley Cyrus came on our show, as Hannah Montana. [My character Arwin] was the first to greet her on our Disney Channel show. She walked into the Tipton [Hotel] and I see her and go, 'You're Hannah Montana!' and I passed out. When I think back I'm like, "Oh my gosh! I was there the first time she appeared as Hannah Montana."
HNGN: Is it bizarre to see her now, considering everything that has transpired in the last 10 years?
Stepanek: Yes, she's all grown up now.
HNGN: You were originally brought in to record just the scratch tracks on "Home." How did you get that job?
Stepanek: Tim Johnson, the director, and I worked together on a movie called "Over the Hedge"(starring Bruce Willis and Garry Shandling). I came in early because originally it was Jim Carrey as the lead and I came in about a year and a half prior to Jim Carrey. I would come in and improvise. Things didn't work out with Jim so they brought in Bruce Willis and I would always read opposite Bruce Willis and Garry Shandling, I'd read all the other roles.
So I got to know Tim really well. Whenever he has a project, he always brings me in early to help put things to storyboard and have a voice. I came in and did a lot of the voices for the Jim Parsons character and the Steve Martin character [in "Home"] before they were even cast.
I think they cast brilliantly. Steve Martin in that role, it's such a touch of genius to have him in that role. What they did was I ended up playing another alien named Brian. Then there's this big bad alien that comes at the end of the movie called The Gorg and I'm the voice of The Gorg.
HNGN: What takes place during a scratch track recording? Do you put your own on the characters or is it straight line reading?
Stepanek: It's a combination. It's [the writers and director] trying to find it. Once you bring in Jim Parsons and Steve Martin, it's theirs. I was just doing preliminary stuff, whatever I could come up with and helping them try different lines and different directions so they could hear it out loud. Once they hear it out loud, they go, "Oh you know what, let's try this this way," to guide the film.
HNGN: Was your character Brian originally in the movie or did the writers add him later in production?
Stepanek: What's funny is these aliens are goofballs. When they come to Earth, in order to make themselves more accessible to Earthlings, they take Earthlings' names. That was much more evident in an earlier version of the movie. They were trying to figure out, because I was this alien that kept popping up with these little one-liners, and they were like, "What are we going to call him? What are we going to call him?" and then they went, "Why don't we just name him Brian?" That's how I ended up as Brian the alien.
"Home" opens in theaters on March 27. "Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn" will return for season two later this year on Nickelodeon.
