"Arrested Development" is host to some of the funniest oddball characters on television. Among those characters, David Cross and Michael Cera's are two of the most beloved. Cross's role as an ambiguously gay psychiatrist turned wannabe actor and Cera's as an unconfident, awkward teen make for the perfect comedic duo. To their fans' delight, the pair sat down earlier this week at the 92nd Street Y in New York where Cera interviewed Cross about the upcoming season of "Arrested Development" and his long career.
Cera appeared a bit stiff on stage at first, but as the crowd warmed up and he and Cross cracked into a bottle of wine, things smoothed over. The first topic on the agenda was to address the handful of hardcore "Arrested Development" fans in the audience. Cera asked Cross about the upcoming season four release on Netflix and any rumors of a subsequent movie.
"I don't know if there's going to be a movie," Cross said. "The next season of the show will air, sorry, will stream in May. They were shooting for earlier but that got extended because of editing. So let's just say early to middle of May. There will be 14 to 15 episodes. There was going to be 10, but then everything got stretched out for your enjoyment. Because why not? At least this time we don't have to worry about selling jeans on Fox TV."
Although it may have been on everyone's mind, "Arrested Development" wasn't the only topic of discussion. The two also talked about Cross's childhood moving across the country before settling down in Atlanta as an outcast.
"I was always different... I was brought up in a hippie-ish household. I remember there was a double-album in my home, some peace concert with Joan Baez and it's where I learned to loathe that music. To hate anything kind of earnest, soulful, or simplistic that just said 'let's not be mean.'"
The focus then turned to Cross's career as a comedian and how it evolved from performing absurdist comedy to starring in Hollywood productions.
"Where my comedy really solidified was when Bush was elected. I couldn't understand how craven and crass he was, and how dumb other people were for electing him. I come from a blue city in a red region, and I think the sense of 'how can you not see what's happening' really drove me... and that was when I was becoming more of a responsible guy as well. But my comedy took a turn when Bush was elected... so many people went to the Right during that time. Dennis Miller said he woke up on 9/11 and said, well, 'enough's enough'. I woke up on 9/11 and I was scared... and I was way more to the Left. I was like, 'This is crazy-I know why this happened, I'm not condoning it, but I know why this happened.' And it turned out saying that then was not so popular."
Cera and Cross can both be seen in the upcoming fourth season of "Arrested Development" set to premiere on Netflix in May.