IN CONVERSATION WITH MEKKI LEEPER

interview by JANA LETONJA

Emmy Award nominated comedian Mekki Leeper is starring in NBC’s latest workplace comedy ‘St. Denis Medical’, a mockumentary-style sitcom, premiering on 12th November. Most recently, Mekki starred and wrote for the immensely popular ‘Jury Duty’ for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. He is also known for his supporting role on ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls.

Mekki, you’ll be starring in NBC’s ‘St. Denis Medical’. What can you share with us about this mockumentary-style sitcom?

The short answer is it’s like ‘The Office’, but in a hospital. My favorite thing about sitcoms like this is how much time you get to hang out with characters you love. NBC fortunately gave us 18 episodes to play around in the world that Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin built with our brilliant writers.

How has his experience and style influenced the show and your performance?

I love the way we shoot the show. The pilot was shot in a real, closed, hospital in Los Angeles, and when NBC ordered the show, they built a replica of it at Universal Studios. All the lights are in the ceiling so we’re free to move around the set, improvise, and make choices as an actor that aren’t always technically possible. Also, the talking head interviews feel like stand up, which is so fun for me. Getting to look into the camera at all is really rare, but this show is so special because the style enhances the comedy and the characters. I’m not just in the scene with my cast mates, the viewers are also right there with me and I can look at them. It’s really fun to play around with that.

You recently received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for your work on ‘Jury Duty’. What was the most rewarding aspect of working on that series, and how did it feel to be recognized with an Emmy Award nomination?

‘Jury Duty’ was the most wild experience of my life. I think the most rewarding part was seeing people connect with the show on TikTok. We never expected people to love the show the way that they did. Honestly, we weren’t sure if anyone would see it. The fact that we had no expectations freed us to make a weirder show that made our little crew laugh. So to see people appreciate our bizarre idea was very beautiful. Working on it from the ground up as a writer, then seeing the crazy process as an actor was such a privilege. It’s really rare to be allowed to touch so many parts of a project creatively, and I was so honored that they trusted me to be a part of that. 

And the Emmy nomination was extremely humbling. Having my name next to those other nominees, who I’ve looked up to my whole life was so special to me. I do wish that they would just nominate the whole staff. My episode was nominated, but writers rooms come up with the ideas for these episodes together and then one writer goes off and hammers out the details. I think everybody deserves equal credit for that. Andrew Weinberg, one of our executive producers, did so much work to improve my episode, and Kerry O’Neill wrote all the scenes for Ronald and James’s audition tape bit. It was always a group effort.

You also had a supporting role on ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’. How did that role differ from your other projects?

It was my first show. I was really nervous. I guess I’m nervous on every show, but I grew up such a fan of Mindy Kaling, so I couldn’t believe I got to work on one of her projects. I think it gave me a lot of confidence that one of my heroes believed in me enough to let me try that part. It was so helpful for me. I’ve been lucky to work on sitcoms that have really fantastic writers, and that show in particular is a tight, joke dense show, where you really want to honor the writers’ work. It’s not as loose and improvisational at ‘St. Denis Medical’ or ‘Jury Duty’, so it’s a fun challenge to perform really great dialogue and keep up with that super talented cast.

Your stand-up has been featured on ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’ and ‘Comedy Central’. How do you balance your stand-up career with your acting and writing work?

I started as a stand-up, I’ve always loved it so much, and I’ll never stop doing it. It’s really fun to film during the week, then leave set on Friday, race to the airport, do a show on the road, and make it back before filming on Monday. I think that’s always been a fantasy and it’s very surreal to get to live that. Also, the fans of ‘Jury Duty’ and ‘The Sex lives of College Girls’ are the kindest, most generous, sweet people, and it means the world that they come to my shows now. Getting to write and act and do stand-up at the same time makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

What topics or themes do you find yourself drawn to in your stand-up routines, and how do you keep your material fresh and relevant?

I talk about growing up a lot, and in my new hour, I’m talking more about mental health and my family. I love when I watch a comedian do their hour and I feel like I know them. Or when I think back to their material, I can kind of see it in my head like a movie, not a person on stage. So that’s the dream, to write material that feels like that.

Who or what are your biggest influences in comedy, and how have they shaped your work and style over the years?

I really look up to people who wear a lot of hats. Donald Glover, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Rob McElhenny. I think they’re all geniuses. I don’t know that I’m overflowing with creativity like they are, but I’m easily distracted, so it’s nice to switch hats sometimes.

How do you envision your career evolving over the next few years, and what are your long-term goals in comedy and acting?

My next big goal is to make a sitcom that I’m in with my friends. But I also have to point out how weird it feels to say “I want more,” when everything I’m doing right now is more than I ever dreamed would happen. I have a ton of ridiculously talented friends who the world is going to love so much as soon as they get the right role. So that’s the goal, make really good stuff with people I love.

Outside of acting and comedy, what are your biggest passions in life?

I started this stuff so young that most of my main hobbies and stuff overlap with work. I love collecting camcorders and shooting stuff on my own. I think there’s another world where I’m like a passionate, but not very good cinematographer. Also, I’m so fascinated by reality television. ‘Vanderpump Rules’, ‘Jersey Shore’, ‘The Hills’, ‘Survivor’, ‘Below Deck’, ‘Summer House’. There are so many layers happening at once. Trying to figure out what the producers are making people do, watching the cast try to control their narrative, watching editors push back against the cast and reshape the story. You can also track the stories on social media while they’re filming, then contrast it with the way the episodes come out months later. It’s compelling storytelling.

What can you share with us about your exciting upcoming projects, after ‘St. Denis Medical’?

I’m developing some stuff, and hopefully those sitcoms with my friends are a real possibility. Last year I wrote, directed and starred in a pilot with my friends, Zack Fox, Holmes Holmes, Chad Damani, and Rachel Kaly. I self-financed it, which was really scary, but it was so rewarding to screen it in 20 cities on a tour. Certainly going to be doing more of that. Also maybe a stand-up special soon. I like this hour.

photographer SELA SHILONI