Julian Stern Knows His Audience

Julian Stern didn’t think he’d be all that good at acting. But after his high school production of The Laramie Project, his Emmy-winning mother, Lisa Kudrow, made him realize otherwise. “When I left the theater, my mom and dad were in tears just going like, ‘It was great.’ I thought I did nothing. I'm like, ‘I sat down in a chair and gave a monologue. That's it,’” he tells Bustle over Zoom, cradling his black cat asleep in his lap. (“Pebbles is very busy and tired,” he notes.)

Over a decade later, Stern, 27, has come full circle. He currently stars opposite Kudrow on her cult-classic Hollywood mockumentary series The Comeback, which debuted in 2005, was revived for a season in 2014, and is now airing its third and final outing. And yes, he’s fully aware his nepo baby advantage got him the job. “I asked, ‘Can we make this an audition just so it’s totally fair?’ And she's like, “No, we wrote this role for you. Take it. This is an offer,’” he recalls.

This isn’t the first time a role has been written for him, per se. After Kudrow got pregnant with Stern while filming the fourth season of Friends, it was written into the scripts, with Phoebe becoming her brother’s surrogate to carry triplets. Later, Stern spent his early years on the set of Friends, but growing up, he watched animated shows like The Simpsons (which he knows he shouldn’t have at 9) and Jim Carrey in Liar Liar.

As he did more theater, he realized he had the acting bug, eventually attending the University of Southern California to study cinematic arts. “When I first got on stage, I thought I was going to vomit, but then I didn't,” he recalls with childlike wonder. “And I actually got to say my words, and I got to make more friends and talk with more people. It's like, ‘Wait, I haven't done this before. This is actually very fun and interesting.’”

Kudrow encouraged his pursuit of acting. “The one piece of advice my mom gave me before any performance was know your audience and stay in the moment,” he says.

Stern enters The Comeback halfway through the season as Evan, who’s in charge of maintaining the studio’s AI writing program on How’s That?, the newest project of Kudrow’s sitcom legend Valerie Cherish, but has comedic writing aspirations of his own. “I look like a nerdy, geeky, introverted, awkward guy,” he says. “Evan is all of those things.”

Before arriving on set, Kudrow instructed Stern to watch her character’s zany antics on The Comeback. “Honestly, I had to pause a lot,” he recalls. “Sometimes it's cringey. Sometimes it's just upsetting because I don’t see Valerie Cherish when I’m watching the show, I see my mom.”

Once the cameras rolled, he got over it. “I talked to my therapist about it, I was nervous,” he says. “She makes Valerie such a clear, distinct person that is not my mom. And I was like, ‘Oh, this is actually really easy because she's doing such a good job.’”

In theory, Stern could’ve traded notes with his co-star Ella Stiller over their shared experience with famous parents — except there was one snag. “This is going to be embarrassing. I didn't know Ella Stiller was related to Ben Stiller,” he says, laughing. “She’s super nice, but we never bonded on that. If you're a nepo baby, and you meet another nepo baby, there’s not really much to talk about.”

After The Comeback, Stern says he has dream roles, especially in the superhero world, but he also wants to get behind the camera, working on an animated series, Goblin Girlfriend, with his partner, and planning to release his first short film, The Voiceless Man. “I just want to create, entertain and make life a little more fun for people if possible,” he says.

In the Bustle Booth

What’s your coffee order?

Simple black coffee. Anyone who orders anything more complex, I don't trust them.

What are the saved weather locations on your phone?

I have London, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, the Santa Fe Recreational Dam area, Santa Monica, Paris, Malibu, and Salt Lake City. I need to get rid of some of those. That doesn't make any sense.

What is your star sign?

Taurus. Someone once told me that to be a Taurus is to be stubborn. And I told that person you’re objectively incorrect. So I don't think I’m much of a Taurus.

What's your favorite overused movie quote?

Oh yeah, it’s [adopts Shrek accent] “Ogres are like onions.” Terrible impression, but you get the idea.

What was your favorite cartoon as a kid?

It was The Simpsons. You know how in schools, you have to flip over from green card to yellow to red card? I was always in yellow because I was quoting The Simpsons, and I thought it was fitting because I was like, “That's the color of the characters on the show... Oh, I'm in trouble again.”

What's one movie or TV show that you're currently obsessed with?

Have you watched The Pitt? I can't watch it on my own. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. I have to watch it with my girlfriend because she calms me down, and that’s the only way. We can pause a show, and she can be like, “Do you want to talk about what just happened?” I'm like, “Yeah, why did they intubate that guy? I don't think it was necessary.”

Who is your celebrity idol?

I was focused a lot on YouTube, people like ForrestFire101, Ryan Higa, Ian Hecox, Anthony Padilla, Jaiden Animations, Freddie Wong, and the crew from Corridor Digital. They're always going to be celebrities to me because they made me realize, “Oh, I can tell stories. It doesn't matter if I have a studio, producer, or budget. These guys did it, so I don't have an excuse anymore.”

If you had to go on a reality TV show, which one would it be?

I was going to say Survivor, but I think Wipe Out would be really funny because you’re just going to see a 6’2” tall, lanky guy get blown into smithereens into the water.

What’s your go-to karaoke song?

With my girlfriend, we sing “Say My Name” by Beetlejuice. It's an absolute banger.

What's something that's been inspiring you lately?

To be sappy, my girlfriend’s very inspiring to me. She’s worried about AI in the industry and how it’s affecting her as an animator. You need people to come up with original ideas, characters, concepts, things you've never thought of before. What's inspiring for me is to watch her knowing all of this, still work, still put in the time, handling her craft, taking on new jobs. If she can do it, I can do it.

What is something that you would want people to say about you?

I want people to say, “You know what? I don't find him as annoying as I originally thought I would.”