Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Spoilers forThe Afterpartyfinale, Maggie,below.
Heres how he prepared for his big confession and kept his girlfriend from finding out Yasper was the murderer.
When did you learn Yasper was the murderer?Chris emailed me.
He said, I had you in mind for this character while I was writing it.
And Im like, I love murder mysteries.
He said, Its a different genre every episode.
Yours is a musical.
And I go, This is going to be the most fun.
And he goes, Even more fun, youre the killer.
Nobody knows this but you, and this email is the only time Im telling anybody.
You know in all those movies, when theyre like, Its him!
And hes like, Okay, I did it!
I love that moment.
I was like, I get to domyversionof that.
So much of the series and the finale hinges on that moment.
If she was in the house, I wouldneverrehearse that scene.
I didnt want to spoil that for her.
I was watching Zoe Chao while confessing, and she was tearing up every take.
She would look at me like, His life is over.
Hes going to jail for the rest of his life.
It would make me cry.
I tried to let that fuel the whole performance.
Now do one where youre a little unhinged.
He found a way to merge them all together.
It was so tiring, and it was a blast.
Theres a real sadness to Yasper.
He has this disappointment about his life not turning out how he thought it should have.
Even though he killed someone, that feeling is very relatable.
In my head, when Im acting, its all justified:I birthed Xavier into the world.
He stole my song.
He wouldnt let me back in.
My last way of trying to get this is begging him: yo help me out.
Just be on a track.
And then being so turned down, so pushed away?
In his head, Yasper is like,Come on man.
You screwed me over.
I have nothing and you have everything and you cant do this?
Theres this balancing act of Yasper trying to prove Aniqs innocence while also covering up his own crime.
When I waslistening to the earphones, it played comedically.
Zoes like, Can I hear?
And Im like, I actually want to listen.
Then Aniqs like, Come on, man.
Yasper cant make a big deal of it or else theyll know.
I was trying to play all that stuff.
When you watch it again, youll see these little things.
Its like,Oh my God.
Oh wait, I dont want anybody to know I just thought that.
Theres 55 minutes of me thinking of Walts names.
Theres 20 different versions of me singing in the shower.
Wed find room to play because then you dont suspect me as much.
Chris is such a good director it feels like youre collaborating.
He would steer you in or he would let you go.
He would tell you, Come here or dont go there.
Or I love that.
Or Try this or that one.
You listen to him because hes theHomelandperson connecting all the wires on the wall.
You just have to hope that what youre doing is helping.
All I kept thinking about is,How can I make the show better?
Thats an improv-y point of view: Im always trying to make my teammate look better.
Also to know that when Im doing things, I just fucking killed somebody.
Sammentioned your real-life friendshipmade your on-screen friendship feel natural and familiar.
How long have you known Sam?Literally, I didnt meet him until the first day we filmed.
!I tried to work with him before but I hadnt met him yet.
Because were from improv backgrounds, we worked so well together.
It was immediate friendship.
Hes playing the straight man in the show and hes still so funny.
I used to watch Shitty Jobs and Hot Sauce back in the day.
Now Im touringBen Schwartz and Friends.
My shows when I started were 99 people in small black-box theaters.
WithMiddleditch and Schwartz, it got bigger.
And then withBen Schwartz and Friends, I sold out the Beacon Theater.
My family gets to see me perform at the Beacon Theater.
For someone whos from New York, thats such a big deal.
I was really like, Are we going to be any good?
There was me, Drew Tarver, a bunch of my friends.
It was a blast.
Its a release I really need.
