video: NBC’s “Undateable” Star David Fynn Mini-Tour of Hipster Portland

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Friday, March 20, 2015

Byron Beck, GoLocalPDX Features Editor

When GoLocalPDX heard that NBC-TV’s “Undateable” star David Fynn was going to be in Portland on the same night of the launch of the NBC comedy show’s second season, we had the bright idea to take the married Irish bloke—who plays a gay British bartender on the show—on a mini tour of hipster Portland. After a quick request to the powers that be (his publicists) the young gent agreed.

The following actually happened on St. Patrick’s Day (the day everyone is Irish) between the hours of 4 pm and 5:20 pm.

4:05 pm: The Food Carts on Southwest Alder

GoLocalPDX picked up David and his two publicists outside his downtown hotel. The weather was cloudy and was starting to drizzle, but that didn’t deter David from hitting the town. “This would be considered a nice summer’s day back home,” he said. He announced, via his Twitter account, just minutes before our meeting that he “was going to eat his way through Portland.” In fact, due to the hour-longish time crunch we had only one eating spot on our itinerary: the food carts on Southwest Alder Street around 10th Avenue. We had pre-arranged for David to go to one of the most famous food carts in the world, but when we got there it was closed. Again, this did not deter dear David. We sashayed around the stalls until one caught his eye. It was Sawasdee Thai Food. “That was the name of the first hotel I stayed at in Thailand,” said Fynn about one of his several adventures around the globe. Here Fynn ordered green curry. When asked how hot he wanted his food—one being mild and ten being super hot—he ordered it at level 7. “That’s really hot,” said the woman in the cart. David replied: “bring it on.”

You get the impression that very little daunts this semi-diminutive actor with the impressive beard and resume. He’s had his share of crappy jobs (he once work at a Burger King; the worst job he says he ever had due to “toilet duty”).  But he’s also hit the heights with stage work in the U.K. His theater credits include “She Stoops to Conquer” at the National Theatre in London, for which he received an Evening Standard nomination for best newcomer. He has appeared in the top television shows in both Great Britain and the U.S., including  “Game of Thrones,” “Doctor Who” and the U.K. version of “Sherlock.” His film work includes “Look of Love,” with Steve Coogan, “Leap Year,” with Amy Adams and he will soon start work on “My Divorce” with Rupert Young.  The 32-year-old stays busy. And he’s becoming more well-known. On IMDB he’s listed as the "#1 hottest “bear”—a “bear” is a large, hairy, often gay dude who project an image of rugged masculinity—in the world of TV and film. 

4:20 pm: Clyde Common on Southwest Stark Street

Despite the time of day, we did not go to the nearest marijuana dispensary. Rather we headed straight to the center of Portland’s hipster universe, Southwest Stark Street, and saddled up to the bar at Clyde Common. David ordered a Guinness, which they didn’t stock. Instead he settled on a good Irish whiskey and settled into a lengthy talk about his role on “Undateable.” In the show he plays a gay British bartender in a Detroit bar. We didn’t focus on what it was like to be a straight guy playing a gay guy on TV; rather we focused on what it was like to be a Irish stage actor working in the world of Los Angeles-based network television. He seemed a bit incredulous when he asked if he considered himself a celebrity or (gulp!) a “star.” “No.” said David. “No. No. No. I am an actor. I work in Los Angeles with other working actors.” Although he did say he recently was star struck when he ran into film director Judd Apatow. “He’s the director who is known for funny work,” said David. “I wanted to say something funny, but nothing funny came out.”  When asked about the harsh criticism "Undateable" has received from critics he replied that critics are harsh on all multi-camera sitcoms. He implied that critics see multi-cam sitcoms as a thing of the past, not unlike cds and dial-up Internet. “(Undateable) is comfort food,” said David about his improv-friendly show. “These are characters you know and (hopefully) relationships you care about. We are just here for laughs.” David polished off his whiskey talking about how lucky he felt and how happy he was that the show was picked up for a second season. “My wife and I waited until we heard that we were renewed for a second season before deciding to finally move to the states,” said David. “I was pretty sure we were going to picked up, but for a week there we didn’t know where we were going to live.” 

4:50 pm: Scandals on SW Stark Street…and beyond.

A visit to Portland for an Irish straight guy who plays a gay Brit bartender in Detroit would not be complete without at least one stop to a gay bar. The closest was Scandal’s. It was hopping due to the fact that it was happy hour and Jake’s big St. Paddy’s day party was happening just across the street.  When GoLocalPDX tried to introduce the actor who plays a gay bartender to an actual gay bartender...well…the bartender at Scandal's was not that impressed. All he wanted to know was if we all had our i.d.’s and if we wanted to close our tab or keep it open. But David (and the rest of our group) were very impressed when we ran into "Raj," a very tall, beautifully appointed man who said that he was “an actual gay bartender” in Southeast Portland. 

Time was running out and there was so much more of Portland to see before David had to live tweet his show. “Undateable” is on Tuesday nights at 9 pm, right after “The Voice.”  As we swept down Stark Street we ran into another celebrity ("Will" of Will's Leather Goods used to be on "Welcome Back Kotter") and found out that “Undateable” will broadcast a live show for both the East and West coasts on May 5th. The live show is something this stage actor can’t wait to do. “The boys on this show are so fast,” said David, the actor, who works with a group who are perhaps best known for their stand-up comedy, including Ron Fuches, the Portland comic who is now making it big in Hollywood and on this show. 

The mini-tour of Portland was wrapping up but not before we had a chance to visit a surprisingly line-less Voodoo Doughnuts and run into one more celeb: Portland Timbers mascot, “Timber Joey,” outside Kell’s Irish Pub. David was keen to come back later in the night after a workout, a TV appearance and his tweeting. A Guinness was calling his name, and he was pretty sure he would find one there. And maybe an insult or two. “I need to be insulted every now and then,” said David. “(In the states) everyone is so sunny and polite.” That’s just how the straight married Irishman who plays a gay Brit bartender rolls.  

“Undateable,” airs at 9 pm, Tuesdays on NBC-TV.

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