Just one of the boys

Fontenot talks about his acting debut

May 28, 2009, 3:29 PM

By: Nick Friedell

Mike Fontenot

Jerry Lai/US Presswire

If you recognize this face you're either a Cubs fan or you watch "My Boys."

If you were flipping through the channels on Tuesday night you might have seen Mike Fontenot appear in an unfamiliar place -- the middle of a television show. The Cubs' second baseman was a guest star on TBS' show 'My Boys', which is centered upon a fictional Chicago sportswriter. I caught up with Fontenot recently, and we talked about a lot of TV-related topics, including: how his acting career came to be, who is the best actor on the team and who is the Cubs' version of Carlton Banks, from 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'.

Who do you think the best actor in the clubhouse is?

Mike Fontenot: (Laughs) [Ryan] Dempster. He's always quotin' different movies and things. I remember the other day on the bus, he was quotin' ... oh, what movie was it? Anyway, he was like doing the whole movie. It was unbelievable.

I know he does stand-up comedy, but do you think he would be able to do his own skit-show on television?

MF: I think so. He's unbelievable. He's always doing things like that, [imitating] people. I know he comes up with his own stuff too, you know? He's one of the funniest guys in the clubhouse.

How did your 'My Boys' appearance come about? Did they approach you?

MF: Well, yeah. Our PR guy Joe Rios just kind of mentioned to us that they were going to be shooting stuff, and they were looking for a guy, or a couple of guys that would do the show, and he offered it to me and I was like, "Yeah, I'll do it. I think that would be pretty cool." I enjoy doing different things like that.

Did anything about the entire experience surprise you?

MF: It was just cool to see how they put together films and TV shows and stuff. You don't really know how it works and things like that, but it's just all the different takes ... just the whole project that goes into it, you don't even realize. It was cool to get to see it, from a behind-the-scenes [perspective]; get to see the actors, how they do their job every day.

I heard you say Tuesday night that a few of your family members sent you messages right after the show aired, who else have you heard from?

MF: Obviously, my family. My girlfriend, I remember she told everyone, was e-mailing all her friends, like, "Oh, It's coming on tonight," or whatever. Of course, they were all texting her and getting back to me so it was funny getting texts from [all the] different people about, "Oh, you're on TV, on TBS, and on the baseball game." It was pretty funny.

Have you taken any grief from any of the guys in the clubhouse?

MF: Not really. They all knew what was going on. We haven't heard any grief or anything.

What are the shows that you followed growing up and/or still watch now?

MF: I like Seinfeld. Entourage is one I like to watch. I'm a TV guy; I'll watch anything, like in the off-season during the day I'll watch ... put on whatever, watch sitcoms all day sometimes, movies and things like that. [There's] a wide variety of things I like to watch.

Is there a particular guy in this clubhouse who reminds you of a character from any one of those shows?

MF: [Pauses] I don't know. I'm trying to think of something for Reed [Johnson] so I can throw him under the bus. [Laughs] Not really, I can't really think of anything right now off the top of my head. You kind of stumped me.

Did you ever watch 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'?

MF: Oh yeah, that's another one, I used to laugh butt of at that. D-Lee [who is walking right by us at this point], he kind of reminds me of Will Smith a little bit sometimes. Just from being a tall big guy; I remember thinking that, I don't know where that came from, but he reminds me of Will Smith. I'm not gonna go and say he's as funny as him ...

Is there a Carlton in Major League Baseball or on this team?

MF: Carlton ... oh, Carlton's awesome! I would say a Carlton in here would be ... [looks around the clubhouse] HA! I would have [Joey] Gathright, but he's not here anymore. Carlton? I'm gonna say Reed -- Johnson is the Carlton of the team.

Do you think he can do the Carlton Dance?

MF: I think he could do the dance. I think I've seen it before actually. We might need to get him to show it. I think he could do the dance. I think he could. I've seen him do something like that before actually.

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