HAPPY ENDINGS: Eliza Coupe & Damon Wayans, Jr. Get R-Rated

Happy Endings  is must see viewing for this Nice Girl, and part of the reason is the awesome couple played by Eliza Coupe and Damon Wayans, Jr. The pair play Jane and Brad, a couple who are in love, neurotic, silly, and sexy at the same time. It’s a terrifically dimensional on-screen relationship, one you’d expect to see several seasons down the road, not after just a few episodes. Sitting in on a call with the two actors, it quickly becomes clear that they’re comedy soulmates. It also quickly becomes clear that Happy Endings  is heavily edited for broadcast.

On Whether They Thought the Show Would Get a Second Season
Eliza was hopeful. Mostly. “Given the fact that all the odds seemed against us at the beginning of [season 1], I did think it would go. But I also chopped off all my hair thinking it wouldn’t go. Maybe that helped!”

On Techniques for Keeping a Straight Face During Filming
“We try to make each other break,” Damon reveals. “Nobody’s mastered the technique on not laughing.”

Eliza deadpans, “I keep a knife in my pocket at all times and stab myself to keep from laughing. It gets a little bloody. I’m stabbing myself during most of the show. I’ve developed gangrene in my right leg, but it’s all fine.”

On How Brad & Jane Met
Damon has thought about it and shares his take on their first encounter. “I feel like we met at some frat party. She had hooked up with at least 3 or 4 guys before me.”

“Yeah,” Eliza cuts in, “that night.”

Quickly picking up the thread, Damon agrees. “I walked in on her with 3 dudes and I was like, ‘Her. I want to marry that one.'” By the end of this question, the pair are in fits of giggles and have fully demonstrated why they say the show they film is so much different than what airs on ABC.

On Network Restrictions
Network restrictions are tough for Eliza. “I show up naked for rehearsal because I feel like Jane wants to be naked, but they don’t go for it,” she laments.

Damon spells it out for us: “We shoot a rated R show, then you get to see [the edited version]. It’s actually nowhere near what we shoot.” The two of them proceed to give us an example, which is so raunchy, I can’t retell it here.

On Siblings and Assumptions
Eliza’s Jane is sister to Elisha Cuthburt’s Alex on Happy Endings, but the two couldn’t be more different. Where Jane is a Type-A, pulled-together bundle of energy, Alex is somewhat flighty, pretty laid back, and just a little naive. Eliza posits that if we ever meet their parents, we’ll probably understand why they turned out the way that they did. She also warns,  “Don’t assume Jane is older than Alex.” That has never been stated on the show, although I assumed it was true, as did Damon. I’ve now been tasked to sketch out why I reached that conclusion, and send it to her via Twitter. Challenge accepted.

Although we’ve only met his father so far, Damon thinks Brad has siblings. “More of my family members could guest star. ‘Man, how many Wayans are there?!?'” Except he says it in a weird high-pitched voice, and versatile impression he uses for white people and Asians.

On Family Members Appearing on the Show
Last season Damon Wayans guest starred as Brad’s father. Damon isn’t sure if he’ll be back. “I put a call out to my dad’s assistant, but I haven’t had a call back yet,” he sighs.

Eliza is doing her part as well: “My dad’s almost locked in, I have a call in, but he’s in New Hampshire so we gotta get him out here.” (Note: she’s joking. Her dad isn’t an actor.)

On Non-Family Member Guest Stars
Familiar faces showing up in the first half of the season include Rob Riggles, who shot a scene in which Damon is laughing in every single take. “I don’t know how they’re going to use that,” Damon chuckles. “I just broke every time.” Also appearing are Megan Mullally as Penny’s mom (“She hits on all the characters. Not like that.”), Fred Savage, and David Walton.

On What Brad & Jane Should Do In Future Episodes
“I wanna see Brad be a badass,” Damon promptly answers. “Not necessarily thugged out, like Mr. T’d out. Like a leather jacket and feathered earrings.”

Eliza has a more long-term plan. “I think Jane could enter the Army, or we find out that she’s a secret agent, or she just kills somebody. Did that just get weird?”

Happy Endings airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.