Photo credit: Bobby Quillard.

YOUNG ADULT: What is the most interesting part of being involved in The Middle?

JOHN GAMMON: The most interesting part of working on The Middle is how much it feels like home on set. The show prides itself on being about average people in the more average part of the country. There are real solid people working there who don’t complain but get things done together. Everyone’s easy to deal with and there are no bad egos on set. Only the good kind.

YA: Describe your character Darrin. Who is he? What about him most resembles you?

JG: Darrin is Axl’s best friend along with Sean Donahue. They played football together, they’re in a band together, and are all around town with a small business called ‘Boss Co.’ He’s a dim-witted jock with a heart of gold. His inattentiveness gets him and his friends in trouble but he can get them out with a simple solution. So I guess he’s pretty complex like that. Darrin likes to dance, to get along with people, he likes to play hard but with some sportsmanship, and he really loves to take care of those that are close to him. Especially Sue Heck. If there’s anything we’ve learned this season it’s that Darrin and Sue are meant for each other and I believe they will stay together for as long as the show rolls on. I had a lot of ‘dumb Darrin’ moments in high school for sure. And I played a lot of sports. Messed around with my buddies a bunch too without collecting a criminal record. And I unfortunately fool myself into thinking the world’s full of idealistic people and circumstances. I have to re-examine situations before I move along mindlessly into a mistake. I have learned to be prudent and not paranoid.

YA: Talk to us about your adorable Romantic Karaoke scene. Do you like Karaoke in real life?

JG: Yeah karaoke is awesome. I may not always be in the mood for it but I’ll sing some now and again. I was pretty proud of the karaoke scene because I went to the table read with barely any time to read the lyrics to ‘Trash Can Kiss’. I came up with a good melody and it ended up in the final show so I was extremely pleased. It killed at the table read. I had way more time to be self-conscious actually filming it but that was all right, it still came out great.

YA: Any fun stories to happen off camera while on set?

JG: Every day there’s a funny story with everyone. Especially Eden. I tend to say weird stuff so she has to think about whether or not I’m teasing her or making fun of myself. She uses sarcasm a lot in her own style but we enjoy it as a kind of comedy game. But everybody wins. It is very good for keeping the dynamic between us alive and breathing even if it gets uncomfortable. That’s partly how you keep your performances from running flat over the audience. When you’re really engaging someone you’ve got this friendly competition of banter with off camera, it fills the screen when they yell action.

YA: What has been the best acting or professional advice you’ve received? Who are you dying to work with?

JG: The best advice I’ve gotten is to simply make the journey the destination in and of itself. Your job as an actor is to audition. You have to enjoy it; to love it would be wiser. I am personally dying to work with Danny McBride. I think to be his scene partner would be the chance of a lifetime. I do TV very well but I am more than ready for something he is a part of.

YA: If you could play any role from any film or TV show in history, who would it be and why?

JG: If 1997’s The Saint had been done well, I would have really enjoyed that sort of fun action flick. Character work is my bread and butter and Val Kilmer was a host of different people in that film. Perhaps it was doomed from the start but I always loved the fact he got to fight, run from bad guys, get bad guys and fool them too with different accents, behavior and so on. I’d say if United States of Tara were to meet the world of mixed martial arts, I would be THE GUY! But if Tom Hardy were interested I guess I would be praying it’s a comedy.

YA: What would you say is your favorite Young Adult story, book or film?

JG: I loved Breaking Bad a ton! It was my favorite thing on TV for a long time.