Jason Burkey Talks ‘Ordinary Joe’ and Why Working on the NBC Series is an “Absolute Joy” [Interview]

When Jason Burkey got the audition for the role of Darren on Ordinary Joe, he wasn’t quite sure what he was getting himself into. 

He was told the character was “married to Jenny in one of the storylines,” without being told exactly what that meant.

“When you get an audition, especially if it’s a brand new show, you don’t have a full script. You don’t really have a whole a lot to go off of. And so I’m like, ‘In one of the storylines? What is this show?'” Burkey told me in a recent interview about the NBC series.

Burkey described his audition scene, where Darren meets Joe and is just excited to have a rock star in his home. He’s oblivious to why Joe is really there to see Jenny. 

But that’s just one of three timelines on Ordinary Joe. The series follows Joe Kimbreau (James Wolk) across three possibilities of how his life might have turned out based on one decision he made after graduating from college. Jason Burkey’s Darren exists in the timeline where Joe became a rock star.

“I think it’s such a unique concept, and the people involved are all incredible too,” Burkey said.

In the “Music Joe” timeline (or the red timeline, if you’re focused on color), Darren is completely unaware that his wife had a child with Joe. The way things are going, though, it’s hard to believe they’ll be able to keep that secret for much longer.

“They’re consistently building it up to where it’s like, surely this is going to have a boiling point and it’s all going to explode,” Burkey said. “But things are going to be revealed.”

“I know that’s super vague, but the next episode I appear in is Episode 10, and I will say that it was a really fun episode to shoot. [We] get to see a different side of Darren,” he hinted.

Seeing how the story is unfolding across the multiple timelines is just as fun for the cast as it is for the audience. “Everyone involved really enjoys being there and [they] are so committed to these three stories,” Burkey said.

“I’m amazed by the writing team and even the regulars like James [Wolk], and Elizabeth [Lail], and Natalie [Martinez], who are having to keep up with not just one character, but three characters that they’re playing and juggling,” he continued. “It’s a bit of a roller coaster, and fun for the audience to follow along with.”

Speaking of juggling the different timelines and the subtleties of each, Burkey explained the way these were filmed — which sounds like quite a feat for everyone involved.

“They actually do it by location. So if there is a scene that they’re shooting — let’s say in the cop world at a certain location and they use that same location in the music world or the nurse world, then they’re going to shoot those in chunks together and they’ll just change James out of his wardrobe. So he’s jumping around becoming Cop Joe or Music Joe or Nurse Joe.”

“Fortunately for me, I’m just in one storyline I’m like, okay, I know what’s happening, I know our characters. There’s no, like, Music Darren. There’s just Darren and he gets to follow this one track.”

Burkey also discussed why he feels Ordinary Joe’s concept is so relatable.

“I know this was a dream project that had been in the works for a long time — for years. And I think very relatable to a lot of people. We all have that question of ‘What if? And gosh if I made a different choice at this point in my life, how would that affect where I am today?'”

“I know I’m always thinking that way,” he continued. “So it’s fun for an audience to watch these three different potential lives that Joe could have, because we all could have three or more potential lives based on our decisions.”

“There’s a ripple effect because the people closest to him their lives take on a different shape and form. In the music world, his uncle is then his bodyguard. Whereas when he’s a cop, he’s also a cop; he’s in charge of Joe. Even his mom looks different. Even the way she dresses when she has a son who’s a rock star as opposed to a son who’s a nurse or a cop,” Burkey noted. “His decisions affect all the relationships surrounding him.”

For Burkey, the best thing about working on Ordinary Joe is the people.

“It’s just been an absolute joy to work with everyone here because everyone’s so laid back. And it really helps you settle into your character too when you have such quality actors on a show that really know their characters as well.”

“My scenes have mainly been with James Wolk and Elizabeth Lail, and in between takes they’re having fun. They’re joking and we’re just chatting it up, and then action is called, a switch is turned on, and I’m watching them do an emotional scene together,” he said. “It’s just such authentic performances coming from both of them, and I love that.”

“Being able to connect with both James and Elizabeth on a personal level, but also the authenticity of their performances affecting me and how I perform as well has been just an amazing experience for me.”

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*Featured image credit: Sebastien Bicard

Ordinary Joe airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.

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