Entertainment
Jake Gyllenhaal Might Be The Best Reason To Watch John Mulaney's Netflix Special
As a former writer for Saturday Night Live, John Mulaney knows a thing or two about celebrity guest stars. For his children's musical show on Netflix, he put this experience to good use. The guest stars in John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch include fellow comedians, Tony winners, and even Mulaney's wife. The real stars of the show are, of course, the Sack Lunch Bunch themselves — Jacob, Lexi, Tyler, Jake, Oriah, Isabella, Linder, Camille, Orson, Zell, Alex, Cordelia, Suri, Ava, and Jonah. But watching these 8- to 13-year-old kids interact with beloved celebrities makes Mulaney's ridiculous throwback experiment all the more endearing.
The theme song for John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch claims that there's only one guest star — Richard Kind. Mulaney's Big Mouth costar was most likely singled out since his name conveniently rhymes with lines like, "Let's see what's on his mind" and "What adventures will we find." But the song is misleading since Kind is joined by some major A-listers (looking at you, Jake Gyllenhaal) in John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch.
As for missed opportunities, Mulaney expressed to his pal Seth Meyers that he was disappointed he couldn't land former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. But the comic did get a consolation prize in his wife appearing on the show. As Mulaney told Entertainment Weekly, his wife Annamarie appropriately plays "some guy's wife" during the David Byrne segment. Here's everyone else who pops up to get existential through silly songs with Mulaney and crew.
David Byrne
The former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne is currently on Broadway in his show American Utopia. If his social media is to be believed, Mulaney has been a fan of Byrne's for years. Mulaney tweeted jokes about him back in 2011 and hung out with Byrne at Mulaney's show with Nick Kroll, Oh, Hello on Broadway. The Twitter account for American Utopia even tweeted an endorsement from Mulaney, who had attended opening night and posted on Instagram, "David Byrne means too much to me to say here."
Andre De Shields
André De Shields can teach the Sack Lunch Bunch a thing or two about stage performing since he recently won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the Best Musical of the year, Hadestown. He has also appeared on television and won an Emmy for his performance in Ain't Misbehavin' on NBC. He's also currently nominated for the Best Musical Theater Album Grammy for Hadestown. So if he wins that, De Shields will be just an Oscar away from an EGOT.
Natasha Lyonne
The Russian Doll and Orange Is the New Black star is no stranger to Netflix and has popped up on Big Mouth with Mulaney as Suzette. She's also appeared on Documentary Now!, which Mulaney is a producer on and was created by Lyonne's real-life partner, Fred Armisen.
Shereen Pimentel
Shereen Pimentel may not be a household name right now, but she will be soon as she's starring in the upcoming Broadway revival of West Side Story as Maria. The young artist knows a thing or two about being in a musical as a kid since she made her Broadway debut at 9 years old as Young Nala in The Lion King.
Richard Kind
Mulaney enlisted the help of his Big Mouth dad to do a segment called "Girl Talk with Richard Kind." As Kind was also hilariously in Mulaney's Documentary Now! musical "Original Cast Album: Co-Op," is there really anything else you need to know about his Sack Lunch Bunch appearance?
Annaleigh Ashford
Annaleigh Ashford has starred in Broadway shows like Legally Blonde, Kinky Boots, and Wicked (as Glinda) and won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play. The Broadway star has some experience with TV as she was a lead role in Masters of Sex and will star as Paula Jones in Impeachment: American Crime Story. In a photo from the premiere that she posted on Instagram, Ashford wrote that the show is "magical" and "truly special stuff." Her Instagram also shows that the guest stars run in similar social circles since she was at the premiere of Byrne's Broadway show in October.
Jake Gyllenhaal
Gyllenhaal may be the only bonafide movie star in the guest stars, but he's got a connection to the Broadway world as well. With Ashford, they'll be reprising their Sunday in the Park with George roles in London following their Broadway run together in 2017. The Spider-Man: Far From Home star gets particular zany as the persona Mr. Music in The Sack Lunch Bunch and he's already offered his apologies to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for his parody.
The first season seems to just be the beginning of the comedian's foray into children's musicals, so look out for more major players to appear in future installments of John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch.
