Glenn Howerton Talks ‘A.P. Bio’ and Leaving ‘It’s Always Sunny’

The star says he would have made some changes to the cult comedy's early seasons.

Glenn Howerton
Glenn Howerton as Jack Griffin in "A.P. Bio." (Vivian Zink/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Glenn Howerton is best known for playing Dennis Reynolds on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. As essentially the show’s main character, it was a shock to fans of the cult classic when it was announced Howerton would be stepping down from It’s Always Sunny and moving to head his own NBC sitcom, A.P. Bio, as Jack Griffin, a teacher who is more interested in destroying his Harvard nemesis than actually imparting wisdom on children. GQ sat down with Howerton to discuss this new phase of his career, as well as what he regrets about the early days of Sunny. GQ writes that Howerton is incredibly thoughtful about the roles he takes. He moved around a lot as a kid and spent a lot of his formative years constantly changing locations. He ended up at Juilliard, which helped him get great representation right out of school. It’s Always Sunny started out as one scene, one idea, Howerton said. They had so much fun they expanded it into a short film of shorts, and then realized it could be a show. Now, it has been on air for almost fourteen seasons. Howerton said that the Sunny cast was very encouraging. They were always supportive when someone wanted to go off and do other things. They want to see each other’s careers flourish. When Howerton got the script for A.P. Bio, he thought, “I want to do this. I have to do this.” Howerton told GQ that his characters are an interesting parallel to what he thinks is wrong with society in general, “which is, it’s the most extreme version of someone who is out only for themselves.” He said that when people watch the shows, you look at these guys and think, “Oh, f**k. We need to reexamine what the definition of the American Dream. Because that guy sucks.”

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