You may know Darin Brooks from his 488-episode stint as Max Brady on the daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” but it’s more likely that you’ve caught him on Spike’s “Blue Mountain State,” the Animal House-meets-college-football comedy that had its second season premier on Oct. 20 on Spike.
Brooks recently discussed “Blue Mountain State” with The State Press.
The transition from soap opera acting to the comedic style featured in “Blue Mountain State” was an experience Brooks said he enjoyed.
“It’s always more fun for somebody to watch a show that’s not just all about the drama, because it’s not all about drama with people,” Brooks said. “When people are watching TV shows or movies they want to relate to them and to be able to put a little comedy [acting] into the soap opera was great training for me.”
Brooks said making “Blue Mountain State” was a change of atmosphere after being on the cast of a daytime soap.
“Moving into this show, it’s like balls-to-the-walls comedy where we really could just go as far as we wanted to go with it and then our directors could pull us back depending on if it’s too much. But nine times out of 10 it’s not too much; it’s just right,” Brooks said. “The stories are just so absurd. Drinking, sex, drugs, rock ‘n’roll, Denise Richards in a cop outfit. We go there and have a lot of fun doing it.”
Brooks, a native of Hawaii, said he sees some of himself in his character Alex Moran, the slacker back-up quarterback on the Blue Mountain State football team who sees his bench position as ideal. Brooks admited there are glaring differences between his personality and Moran’s.
“He’s got a lot of me in him,” Brooks said. “I guess I could relate on a certain level personally. What I wanted to bring to this character, too, is that he’s really a good hearted guy. He just likes to have fun.
“If any one of his brothers on the football team had a problem, he’d stand up for them or figure out a way to make it or try and save them in some way because he really does put his brothers first ... He just wants to have fun and go through life with as little effort as possible, which I guess I don’t relate to because I put 110 percent into everything I do.”
After a semester and a half of college, Brooks decided it was time to take off for the mainland and pursue his acting career. Working on “Blue Mountain State” filled the void of a missed college experience.
“I think only a couple of us out of the cast actually went to college,” Brooks said. “We sort of are experiencing college on set. The cast became a real close-knit group, almost like a little frat house of our own. We’re experiencing the fun of it while shooting it, like life imitating art at the same time.”
Brooks, who actually played the position of backup quarterback on his high school football team for a short time, said he enjoyed the training his role required.
“Before each season we had a couple of days of football practice, and since I played before it kind of just came naturally for me. As much as I don’t want to admit this, I do have a stunt double that does a lot of the big stunts, but sometimes I ask them if I can do a couple of small stunts here and there; they’ll let me do it, which is kind of fun. I love playing sports. I don’t mind getting hurt a little bit.
“Blue Mountain State” airs Wednesday nights at 11 p.m. on Spike. Its first season is currently available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Reach the reporter at pmelbour@asu.edu
