The actor known for his viral sketches eviscerating midtown bros is now playing one in Mindy Kaling’s hot new Hulu show, Not Suitable For Work. 

On Filmtok, a dominant cultural commentator with over three million followers regularly dissects modern releases. Known for interviewing talent like Emily Blunt and Colman Domingo, he recently attended the Obsession press junket, all while doggedly documenting upcoming projects. A few months ago, he dedicated a nearly three-minute video to a beat-by-beat breakdown of a scene he called “one of the best scenes in a comedy this year.” The film in question was college stoner comedy Pizza Movie, and the actor was Jack Martin.

Martin is instantly believable as a power-hungry resident assistant performing a chilling Christoph Waltz impression in Pizza Movie. For years, Martin has dissolved into his characters, whether as Murray Hill-residing nepo baby Josh Teitelbaum in Mindy Kaling’s Not Suitable For Work, or in his own TikTok creations. From the oblivious finance bro to overearnest Riverdale extras, each of his online portrayals is as fleshed out as if it had been endlessly worked over by a writers’ room. As the views ticked into the millions, Jack Martin became “that guy”: so good at aggregating human behaviour, and distilling it into one brilliant 30-second clip, that you can’t help but watch, like, and share. You know, that guy. The funny one. 

Much of this, he says, should be credited to his education. His exploration into modern male archetypes began during his undergraduate degree at Georgetown, before he was accepted into the legendary NYU Tisch School of the Arts – a pipeline to prestigious agents, should an actor have what it takes. Evidently, Jack did – and does – as proven both by word-perfect reenactments of Girls scenes with girlfriend Lili Reinhart, and an upcoming appearance in Katie Holmes’ latest project.

Below, Jack Martin talks about what it means to make it, and where the road leads from here.

Coming a little from left field, I’d love to know whether your undergraduate degree in government has informed the way you navigate the politics of Hollywood. Have any of those lessons shaped the way you approach the industry?

My education ended up coming in handy in ways I didn’t expect. I minored in Spanish and became fluent when I was 16 – a lot of language skills come into play all the time with acting, such as memorising lines quickly, and picking up accents and pronunciation. A lot of people I met at university moved to Murray Hill after graduation, which is exactly the setting of Not Suitable for Work. But the most helpful thing was definitely the summer I spent during my third year at NYU Tisch training in acting. That was actually where I got my first agent, during an ‘industry night’ they hosted where we could audition for representatives. It was such a brilliant foundation for digging into the craft and becoming a better actor.

When did you first notice your sketches building momentum? Which character or concept felt like the biggest tipping point?

Luckily, I saw momentum build up pretty quickly – it was about two weeks after I started posting that they began gaining traction. My first sketches covered very similar subject matter to Not Suitable for Work – finance bros, LinkedIn, motivational gurus, that kind of thing. Putting on the ‘Midtown uniform’ (a Patagonia gilet) just seemed to resonate with people somehow.

Much has been said about how social media success can hurt or help a career in traditional entertainment. How has that journey been for you? Did you notice a stigma in the early days?

I didn’t notice a stigma outside of my own head, but I definitely worried about it. I only started on social media out of necessity during the pandemic, having already graduated and begun pursuing an acting career full-time. I wanted to work on proper productions and didn’t want social media to get in the way of that. Luckily, if anything, it did the exact opposite. Making sketches online helped me get noticed; my current manager reached out to sign me in 2020 after seeing some of my first videos, back when I only had about 8,000 followers. I had an acting showreel online with some clips from drama school, which hopefully made a difference.

I’m sure you’ve seen online movie buffs claim your chilling monologue in Pizza Movie references Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds. How did you approach that role, and did the response surprise you?

That performance was a huge inspiration for Nick and Brian when they were writing the character of Blake in the first place, which is an absolutely hilarious choice for a villain in a college drug comedy. There were a few other inspirations too – Gary Oldman in Léon: The Professional and Javier Bardem in Skyfall, to name a couple. I studied those actors and their processes as much as I could. Mind you, I knew I was doing something completely different in a movie that was meant to be silly and fun, so I didn’t want to just do a cheap parody of them. 

My main focus was leaning as hard as possible into the serious conviction of the character, playing him as though I were genuinely in a high-stakes drama, because I thought that would make it funnier and more absurd. I was definitely surprised by the reaction in a good way. I’m so glad people like the film – I adore it and had a blast making it.

It’s so obvious from your content that you’re a fan first. What impresses you most about Hollywood’s current output? What do you wish there was more of?

It’s exciting to see young filmmakers making original films that really land, like Obsession and Backrooms. I’ve been a fan of Curry and Cooper for a while, so seeing them hit the big time with a phenomenal horror film feels both exciting and inspiring for my generation. I hope to see a lot more of that going forward.

What was it like working with veteran TV showrunners like Mindy and Charlie?

It was phenomenal. They’re both geniuses with an unbelievable wealth of experience in television and comedy, and you can feel that on set all the time. When you’re first getting into comedy, the only thing you worry about is being funny. They’re obviously brilliant at that, but there’s so much more they have to consider – character motivations, romantic arcs, plot lines, balancing an ensemble cast, and a thousand other things I wouldn’t even think of. They manage all of that while being incredibly kind, humble, generous, and approachable. It really is a dream to work with them.

You have such a talent for creating characters; can you see your career transitioning beyond acting? How have your ambitions evolved since you started?

I would love to write and direct. I’ve always loved writing, particularly comedy and satire. Those haven’t been as much of a focus for me previously, as I’ve been pouring all my energy into being the best actor I can be and constantly improving. I am still doing that, of course, but it would be wonderful to put a bit more energy into creating more of my own work, if I’m lucky enough to get the opportunity.

Words – Beatrice Hazlehurst