Some actors are just so likable. Peri Gilpin is one of those, and she’s just as warm and welcoming in person as we consistently find her on screen. Stopping by to chat at NBC Universal’s Fall Press Tour, Peri said she’d really had great fun with her role on NBC’s Mr. Robinson, which concluded six episodes on August 19. It’s totally watchable online right here so please don’t miss it for a great mini-binge.
In this multicamera series, Peri teams with Craig Robinson of The Office. In Mr. Robinson he plays a high school music teacher who’s also lead singer and keyboard player in a funk band called Nasty Delicious—go ahead and read between those lines. Like so many, he knows he has to earn a living while waiting for fame and fortune in the music business, so he chooses substitute high school music teacher as his intermediary job. Craig was reportedly a real substitute music teacher, and actually played tunes in Chicago.
Peri, now 54, is the school’s principal, Eileen Taylor. Peri has said previously that in a former life Taylor was a groupie. She also confided to Access Hollywood that she went to school at Skyline High in Dallas, Texas, and that she was on the drill team doing the “high kicks.”
How Peri stays balanced
We knew and loved Peri on Frasier, in which she costarred as radio producer Roz Doyle with Kelsey Grammer in the lead. And whatdayaknow? Kelsey’s daughter, Spencer Grammer, plays Ashleigh Willows on Mr. Robinson. Peri also played Kim Keeler in ABC’s Make It or Break It, and has done a host of TV and voiceover roles.
Peri radiates happiness and “centeredness.” She tells me about the joys of working on the show, which she’s called a party that has all the right people. She also shares here how she keeps herself balanced with yoga.
An informal poll shows that Mr. Robinson is a strong candidate for renewal. Check out the season online now and let’s cross fingers that this series returns for another tuneful season. A-one-and-a-two-and-a…