NEW YORK (AP) — By page two of the pilot script for NBC’s " Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,"
Skylar Astin knew he wanted the role of Max Richman.
The NBC musical series, now airing season two on Tuesdays, stars Jane Levy as Zoey Clarke, a woman who
realizes people’s inner-most feelings by elaborate song and dance numbers that only she can see. Astin’s
Max is best friends with Zoey, and also in love with her.
Astin was just coming off the final season of The CW’s "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," also a musical
series, where he took over in the final season as a love interest for Rachel Bloom’s character. He
wasn’t looking for more of the same. Then came the enthusiastic pitches about "Zoey’s."
"My agent, Jacob, and my manager, Mike, called me and said, ‘Hey, you’ve got an offer, You’re going
to like it," recalled Astin, who was speaking over Zoom from Vancouver while in quarantine before
resuming production on "Zoey’s" after holiday break. "My manager — who especially during
pilot season is a little jaded — he’s like, ‘I’m embarrassed to say this script made me cry.’"
Sure, the job might seem like a piece of cake for Astin, 33, who was in the original production of
Broadway’s "Spring Awakening" and found stardom in the smash-hit films "Pitch
Perfect" and "Pitch Perfect 2," but he describes it more as "familiar."
"I know what to expect. I know things change. I know the camera changes things. I know not to get my
hopes up about a specific song or choreographer. I know how to conserve while filming one of these
numbers and I know the kind of focus and intensity and energy it takes. And I’m always really careful
about safety."
Astin says he has two musical personalities on the series. There’s "Magical Max" who gives it
his all when Zoey’s witnessing him belt out his true feelings. And then there’s Max as is, who isn’t
quite as polished. He consciously sang to Zoey in season one in a flash mob and Astin says "we had
to establish that he’s not tone deaf or else it would be very unpleasant for the viewer," so he
describes that version of Max’s musicality as "a good passing grade."
The show’s creator, Austin Winsberg, summed it up in an e-mail as "Skylar does his best to sound
average or kind of flat, but as I’ve learned, even him performing at a 2 is better than me (or most
people) are at a 10."
Astin has a number of projects he’s working on in his downtime. He’s writing and recording an album he
says has a Top 40 feel. Astin invested in a home studio while in quarantine at home in Los Angeles so he
could record safely. "There’s one that sounds like a Sean Mendes song. There’s one that sounds like
a male Taylor Swift song. I call it "Male-or Swift." There’s one that my friends and family
say is the best driving song they’ve ever heard. Another one has some falsetto in it that almost sounds
like The Weeknd.
"I really invested in this and it’s been 100% independent." He says he has seven or eight songs
completed and will maybe add one or two more, but the goal is to release it this year. "I can’t
hold onto it any longer. That will drive me crazy."
Astin also co-wrote a Hanukkah holiday movie with Danny Jolles that he describes as, "my favorite
thing I’ve ever written. It’s live-action, it’s clean, it would be rated PG and it made me cry writing
it. It was such a pleasure."