Sam Lerner Talks ABC’s ‘The Goldbergs’ and If There’s Hope for Geoff and Erica [Exclusive Interview]

It’s no secret that I find The Goldbergs to be one of the funniest and most heartwarming sitcoms on television. I recently had the opportunity to speak with actor, Sam Lerner, about his role as Geoff Schwartz on the show.

According to Lerner, the cast and crew have just as much fun as their characters do!

Lerner got into acting at the young age of nine, following in his father’s footsteps, and has been in love with the craft ever since. “I kind of just fell into it. I was a goofy kid who was always trying to make people laugh, and I was like class clown,” Lerner mused.

Ever the comedian, it’s no wonder that he is having the time of his life working on The Goldbergs. As a fellow millennial, I had some questions for Lerner about working on a show set in a decade neither of us were alive for, and he had a lot to say.

Once passed on for the role of Barry, Lerner now plays his best friend who’s long been in love with Barry’s older sister Erica.

“I was just excited to go up for an ABC show. I knew it was on before Modern Family. And then I ended up getting it, and the two other guys who are in the group with me, in the JTP? We were all just instantly friends, and we all liked each other.” said Lerner.

“It’s been kind of an amazing job so far. You know, it doesn’t feel like work at all. We have so much fun.”

The cast and crew know how to have fun both on the show and behind the scenes.

“We all have such a good time!” Lerner laughed. “We had one shoot one night until like 3 o’clock in the morning, and we were all just playing Cards Against Humanity ,and even Jeff Garland came and joined the game with us.”

Though the age difference doesn’t affect the amount of fun to be had between cast members, Lerner and his fellow youngsters are constantly learning new things about life in the 1980s. “It’s kind of funny, you know, there’s so many times when there’s a reference that comes up that none of the guys get, or the girls — none of the kids get it,” Lerner joked. “We’re all just playing catch up sometimes.”

“What’s really fun is when we do one of those cool homage episodes where it’s like The Breakfast Club, or Dirty Dancing or something. I had never seen Dirty Dancing before we did that episode last year, so it was so much fun to go and watch that film, which is kind of a classic, and for that to be my homework technically,” Lerner said.

“All the producers and writers are always telling us about stuff that was big back then and specific things that were key to the 80’s demographic. We constantly are learning about it. It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty exciting.”

For many fans the back and forth romance between Lerner’s character, Geoff, and Erica who’s played by Hayley Orrantia, has been an emotional roller coaster. Lerner’s character spent much of the previous season pining over his best friend’s sister. Unfortunately, it took him moving on for Erica to realize her own feelings.

I asked Lerner if there was any hope for the two of them to finally have good timing.

“You know what? There is a lot of hope! I don’t know specifics, but you know, they’ve been teasing it for so long.”

Geoff and Erica’s relationship has become a fan favorite, and Lerner said they even have a ship name. “We get so many tweets from people. They made a ship name, we’re called #Gerica.  Someone even tweeted me, ‘if Gerica doesn’t happen I’m going to die,’” he continued. “He loved her forever, so I feel like it would be an amazing payoff if it were to happen!”

One of the things that makes this relationship such a popular ship among fans is the balance between comedy and the tenderness that is woven between the lighter moments.

The audience roots for Erica and Geoff because their feelings for each other come off as earnest and genuine.

“There’s been a lot more moments where Geoff has to show an earnest side, you know a sweet side, and there’s a little more drama that hasn’t been shown since I started on the show,” Lerner shared. “So those scenes are a little more challenging, because I want to come off very real and authentic, and I pride myself on trying my best to do that.”

Aside from The Goldbergs you can catch Lerner in the upcoming indie comedy Fun Mom Dinner with Molly Shannon and Toni Colette.

“The Goldbergs has been taking up a lot of my time, but I did do this movie over the summer. I did a small part in a comedy called Fun Mom Dinner, and it’s really cool. It’s produced by Paul Rudd and Adam Scott.”

“I think it’ll be super funny,” said Lerner.

When he’s not acting, Lerner loves to watch TV just like the rest of us. He shared a few of his current favorite shows to binge and obsess over.

“My favorite show right now is Westworld. I’m absolutely loving it! I’m super, super into it.” Westworld is HBO’s futuristic AI-Western theme park drama, that makes us question our own morality in a world of infinite possibilities. 

“I’m so confused, but me and my girlfriend are always like going back and forth discussing what our theories are. It’s just so exciting. I love that show. I think it’s so good!”

On the lighter side Lerner shared one of his favorite comedies as well. “I love to watch Parks and [Recreation]! I try to watch an episode of Parks before I go to sleep every night. I just think that it’s such a good show, with some of my comedy heroes, so I love watching that.”

And if you’re looking for a Netflix show to binge, Lerner said his favorites include House of Cards, Narcos, and Bloodline.

You can catch Sam Lerner on The Goldbergs airing Wednesdays at 8/7c on ABC.

Featured image credit: Sami Drasin