GLOW big or GLOW home. The girls are back in town June 29th. / Netflix
Stand-up comedian-turned-actor Marc Maron, 54, who stars as Sam Sylvia in Glow, is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
"I like this guy Sam" Marc Maron says. "He's sad, beat up, addicted to drugs, and delusional. He also didn't know anything about wrestling. So, I thought, 'I can do those things!'"
Maron's character is a washed-up, B movie director-turned-wrestling-coach of 1985's all-female ensemble Glow, aka the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, in Netflix's comedy-drama of the same name.
"I always wanted to do a show where I didn't have to play myself specifically," he continues, referencing his successful sitcom Maron. "In terms of acting, I'm glad that I'm getting the hang of it. I didn't grow up loving pro wrestling, but it wasn't totally new to me. I think the generation after me grew up loving it, but when I was a kid, wrestling was a little different."
Since 2009 Maron has hosted the podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, interviewing artists, comedians, and athletes.
"I've interviewed several professional wrestlers over the years just to understand what it is they do, the nature of the entertainment, and the nature of the physicality. Through that, I've gained some respect for wrestling. I didn't know much about the original Glow, but I knew about the spectacle aspect."
Much of Glow has been centred on Maron's combative relationship with lead actress Alison Brie's character, Ruth Wilder. In his tough love approach, he's upping her game. Did Maron have a mentor who tried to provoke the best out of him?
"Yeah, the guy inside of me is constantly riding me," he smiles. "What was always driving me, I think for the first 15, 20 years of my career, was spite - spite for other comics, spite for show business, and I was sort of an anger-centric comic. And although that started to ease up, I never had anyone really making me better."
Much of his stand-up, as well as his former TV series, is a no-holds-barred revelation of his personal life as a twice-divorced comedian who struggles with sobriety.
"There were a couple of women in my life who you could say have mentored me. One got me sober and that was good, but then she left me, which was bad. But I think the fact that she got me sober before she left me made me deal with it in a different way than I would have before. And I did get some good material out of that. So that's sort of a unique approach to mentoring," he laughs.
Scene from the new season of GLOW on Netflix
Candid about his former addictions, he says, "I've been sober for almost 19 years. When I look back on footage of me performing stoned, it was silly. I was laughing at myself - not great," he says, shaking his head. "Performing on coke, I was always moving too fast, sweaty, and my eyes were bugged-out - not entertaining. With booze, you just get messy and sloppy."
Now in a healthy three-year relationship with Sarah Cain, an abstract painter, and with an escalating career in television, life couldn't look better for this self-described "anger-centric" comedian.
"Yes, you're right. I can't say I have too many regrets."
LOWDOWN Who: Marc Maron What: GLOW When: Season 2 hits Netflix tomorrow
