Drew Tarver insists he’s not bothered that “The Other Two” only lasted for three seasons.
The Comedy Central/HBO Max sitcom, about millennial siblings Cary (Tarver) and Brooke Dubek (Heléne Yorke) dealing with their Justin Bieber-like younger brother’s worldwide fame, aired from 2019 to 2023.
“It felt like a good conclusion to those characters. I love that show,” Tarver tells me on the “Just for Variety” podcast. “I love Cary Dubek, but once he had just that really dark third season, it did feel like maybe this has come to a natural end. He’s kind of in a good place. Is he going to start bopping around and doing these storylines, trying to be an actor again? So, I was really happy with how it ended and his journey. But it was a really, really fun show.”
Scott MacArthur, Dane DiLiegro, Jay Ellis, Brenda Song, Max Greenfield, Kate Hudson, Chet Hanks, Justin Theroux, Fabrizio Guido, Scott Evans, Drew Tarver, Uche Agada and Toby Sandeman at “Running Point” premiere in Los Angeles on Feb. 13.
River Callaway
Tarver now co-stars in “Running Point,” Mindy Kaling’s new Netflix sports sitcom. Inspired by Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeannie Buss, Kate Hudson plays Isla Gordon, a former party girl (think Paris Hilton) who unexpectedly becomes the head of her family’s business — ownership of an NBA team, the Los Angeles Waves. Tarver plays Sandy Gordon, one of Isla’s three brothers and the team’s CFO. Like Tarver, Sandy is queer, and Scott Evans plays Sandy’s dog-groomer boyfriend.
Scott MacArthur plays another Gordon brother, Ness, the Waves’ general manager. Justin Theroux, meanwhile, pops up from time to time as the oldest sibling Cam, the team’s former president who is struggling with addiction.
I talked to Tarver just days before Netflix announced “Running Point” had been renewed for a second season.
“She is my favorite person,” Tarver says of Hudson. “She was so fun to work with. She has brothers, and that was quickly apparent on set. We just kind of all fell in. Scott McArthur has siblings, I have siblings. So I think the sibling dynamic happened very quickly.
“We had a welcome dinner when we first started, or right before we were about to start and me, Kate and Scott went out for drinks afterwards and Scott was telling Kate a story and she stopped him maybe a minute into the story and she said, ‘Scotty, this story’s too long. This story’s too long. You need to trim some of it. I’m about to fall asleep,’” he continues, adding, “I was kind of playing mediator, being like, ‘There’s some trims in that story for sure. I think you’re really obsessed with this one detail. And I think Kate was right. You could maybe move forward.’ We were kind of doing what we do on the show pretty quickly.”
I also talked to Tarver about working with Theroux and Chet Hanks (who plays a player on the Waves), his worst audition (it was for a Tostitos commercial), maintaining his iconic outsized hair and being openly queer in Hollywood (Tarver came out as bisexual more than a decade ago when he was 26).
I mention to Tarver how being openly queer in Hollywood can go a long way in helping LGBTQ youth who may be struggling with their sexuality. “If I can be a small part in helping anyone’s journey live authentically, that’s really important to me,” he says. “It means the world to me.”
You can listen to the full conversation on “Just for Variety” above or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
