Apple TV Officially Has a New Comedy King, and His Name Is Jake Johnson

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NEW YORK — Jake Johnson poses for a Collider portrait photographed by Yellowbelly at The Whitby Hotel on July 13, 2026, in New York City. (Photo by Yellowbelly for Collider)

Jake Johnson opens up about becoming Apple TV’s reigning comedy king with ‘The Dink,’ ‘Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,’ and what comes next.

Published Jul 23, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Taylor Gates is an Indiana native who earned her BFA in Creative Writing from the University of Evansville. She fell in love with entertainment by watching shows about chaotic families like Full House, The Nanny, Gilmore Girls, and The Fosters.

After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a writer, editor, and filmmaker. Today, she’s a sucker for dramedies — especially coming-of-age stories centering around complex female and LGBTQ+ characters. She has been with Collider since May 2022.

There’s a natural, immediate sense of familiarity I get when speaking to Jake Johnson. I’ve never met him before, but it certainly feels like I have. Perhaps that’s because high school sleepovers were characterized by binge-watching New Girl and fawning over Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick’s (Johnson) epic chemistry. Maybe it’s because I’ve just spent the entire weekend binge-watching his excellent new series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. Most likely, however, it’s that we’re both Midwesterners, and Johnson has a down-to-earth quality that never makes him feel manufactured like so much of Hollywood.

Dressed in a simple navy T-shirt and matching pants, talking to him feels less like talking to an actor from one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time and more like catching up with your favorite cousin over a beer at Thanksgiving. It’s this authenticity that has allowed him to thrive in this business, playing the relatable everyman in everything from big-budget comedies to intimate independent films.

He’s a Critics’ Choice and Gotham Award nominee, but you’d never know it just from looking at him, and I get the sense that Johnson likes it that way. He doesn’t pay attention to the awards shows anyway. “I don't know what's nominated, and I don't know what's winning, and I don't know what's currently hot,” he admits with a casual matter-of-factness devoid of any sense of pretension. “I'll find shows eventually, but I'll be like, ‘Dude, have you guys seen this? It's great.’ And they’ll be like, ‘Listen, asshole, it won an award four years ago.’”

Johnson is the kind of guy who values relationships far more than any accolades, something he learned growing up in Evanston, Illinois. His father owned a car dealership, while his mother made stained glass and owned art junk shops. "You’d see the same customers over and over, and how you treat people — how you interact — matters.” This sense of loyalty and fostering of genuine connections is something he’s taken to his own career, frequently collaborating with everyone from Anna Kendrick to director Josh Greenbaum, the latter of whom he reunites with on his newest film, The Dink.

From His Brother to Bob Odenkirk, Johnson Reveals His Comedy Inspirations

Chicago has long been thought of as one of the comedy capitals of the U.S. — something that Johnson took full advantage of. He grew up going to shows, particularly those at the famous Second City improv troupe, watching legends in the making like Chris Farley and Tina Fey perform. After graduating from the University of Iowa, Johnson found himself in New York studying in the Dramatic Writing Department of NYU's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. While in the city, he started his own sketch troupe, appropriately called The Midwesterners.

But Johnson’s love for comedy goes back even further, and he knows someone who blows Farley and Fey out of the water: his brother, Dan. “He was and still is the funniest person I’ve ever met,” Johnson says. “I truly believe he's more high-level than a lot of working professionals. My brother's hands down faster comedically, has better taste, better instincts.” Being four years younger than Dan, Johnson says he always acted as his partner-in-crime. “Even as a young boy, we were always doing the bits that we still do. My brother and I — the language he and I created comedically — is still the language of which I try to live by.”

“[My brother] was and still is the funniest person I’ve ever met.”

While Johnson might consider Dan the pinnacle of comedy, there's another early collaborator who made a large impact on him. One of his first jobs, the comedy series Derek and Simon: The Show, saw him collaborating with Bob Odenkirk — a sweet full-circle moment considering The Midwesterners was heavily influenced by HBO’s Mr. Show, which starred Odenkirk and David Cross. Johnson says being directed by Odenkirk motivated him to keep honing his craft. “When I was coming up, sometimes, you’d start watching a show or movie that wasn’t good, and you’d say, ‘Well, if that's on, I could for sure do it.’ Working with guys like Bob early on, I learned that there's two sides to it. You're also playing against guys like this, and you gotta keep getting better in this game. Bob was one of those guys where I was like, ‘Wow, he is so deeply talented that it’s crazy, man. He’s got it all in between his ears. He is so smart.’”

In terms of learning how to navigate the entertainment industry as a whole, Johnson says Aubrey Plaza — whom he worked with on Colin Trevorrow’s 2012 Sundance hit Safety Not Guaranteed and still considers a dear friend — was a big help. “What I took away from her was her ability to remain herself even when she's not feeling great. The way she plays the game of this business is like chess at times. She was a perfect person for me to meet right before New Girl got going, because she's really good at navigating the game.”

Johnson Will Always Be ‘New Girl’s Nick Miller (and He’s Totally Fine With That)

Speaking of New Girl, the sitcom, which ran throughout the majority of the 2010s, is far and away what Johnson is recognized more for and likely always will be. The show was a cultural phenomenon, nominated for five Emmys during its seven seasons. But while some actors embrace their most popular role, others start to resent it, feeling boxed in by one part.

Johnson falls firmly in the first camp, crediting the show for the longevity of his career and opening him up to more opportunities after struggling throughout most of his twenties. “My life is a ‘before’ and ‘after’ New Girl,” he says. “I think people who hate it probably got famous a little young, and they got successful young, and they feel that somehow they were destined and deserved it. I really felt what my life would be as an actor and writer who didn't make it. New Girl started when I was 28 or 29, and I already had the thought, ‘It’s not gonna happen.’ When New Girl happened, I realized, ‘Oh, because of this show, I get to play this game for another 20 years.’ I don't think I get to do The Dink, or Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, or any of the jobs I've gotten to do and love doing without New Girl, so it's nothing but love, man.”

Despite ending nearly a decade ago, New Girl is still constantly referenced and discussed in popular culture. It’s a classic comfort watch for millennials alongside The Office and Parks and Rec, but it’s also gaining legions of new Gen Z fans thanks to its popularity on streaming. Why does the series hold up so well? “What made that show was Liz Meriwether's writing and her vision for it,” Johnson explains. “And she continues to prove what a talent she is.” (Indeed, other shows on her resume include Emmy-nominated miniseries The Dropout and Dying for Sex.)

“The chemistry of the cast in that era of life — it was magic.”

It’s rare, Johnson says, to find a true collaborator like Meriwether — someone who knows exactly what they want but is open to suggestions, too. “If you pitched something new that was different, she would know when to go, ‘I want to do that,’ and she would also know when to go, ‘We're not doing that. That's not this show.’ I’ve worked on projects where somebody doesn't have a vision, and they're like, ‘Well, what do you think?’ And I'm like, ‘I think you're the writer, and I think you need a great vision, or we're fucked.’"

In the age of new seasons of Scrubs, Malcolm in the Middle specials, and Frasier revivals, more New Girl practically seems inevitable. Would Johnson be down? Yes, but on two conditions: Liz Meriwether has a great idea, and the whole cast agrees to return. “The chemistry of the cast in that era of life — it was magic,” he says. “Whenever Liz says, ‘This is what I want to do,’ if we were all in, then I would love to get in there [again]. I'll always love that show and everybody involved in it.”

Projects like New Girl make the romantic comedy one of the most cherished genres, but lately, it also seems to be one of the most ignored. Romance author Emily Henry, known for The People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read, was recently quoted as saying, “A lot of actors think that it’s less humiliating to pretend to be a Beatle than it is to pretend to be in love.” For Johnson, this couldn’t be further from the truth, as he’s one of the rare few men in Hollywood who have welcomed the genre with open arms. “I really like working with women, and I like being in scenes that have emotions to them,” he explains. “Certain scenes that are just funny for the sake of funny are great, and I like those, but after a while, I want to do a little bit of the quote-unquote ‘acting’ part of stuff. For me, at this stage of my career, the majority of the way I get the opportunity to do that is if there's a love story.”

Johnson also believes that comedy pairs well with other genres, especially when it balances the scales with more serious moments. “There's great laughs in different energies,” he notes. “If you can ground a scene, make things that have higher stakes, and have things matter, then, when you hit a laugh, it hits harder, in my opinion.”

Between ‘The Dink’ and ‘Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,’ Johnson Is the King of Apple TV Right Now

The Dink is a comedy — there’s no doubt about that — but it combines elements from the sports and romance genres, too, to give it a unique flair. Johnson plays Dusty “The Hammer” Boyd, a former tennis pro who must learn to play pickleball to save his demanding father’s tennis club and, hopefully, finally gain his approval in the process. The movie feels nostalgic, reminiscent of mid-2000s comedies led by Will Ferrell or Adam Sandler, which makes sense, as Johnson said The Wedding Singer was a tone comp he, writer Sean Clements, and director Josh Greenbaum often pointed to during production as they set out to create “a big comedy with a lot of set pieces and some sneaky heart in the middle.”

In addition to playing the lead, Johnson was also heavily involved in producing the project — a role he’s come to highly value. “I love producing because I don't want to be in something that I don't believe in. Being a real, non-vanity producer means, if you give notes, they matter. If you want to package something a certain way, help adjust the tone, you can. We wanted to make a movie that just felt good — one that you could laugh at and watch twice — and I think we accomplished that. I think it’s joyful and funny. It's a movie I'm really proud of.” Working alongside longtime friends like Clements and Greenbaum (the latter of whom Johnson worked with on a few episodes of New Girl and an unaired pilot for Apple TV called Habata), as well as the “unthinkably talented DP” Carl Herse, made the process even sweeter. “It was a very easy group to lead. Everybody who came in was funny and nice, so this was a very easy one in a great way.”

Johnson was equally impressed with the talent in front of the camera. “I get to walk in and do a scene with Ed Harris. That's a dream,” he gushes. “I get to do scenes with Ben Stiller. That's a dream. I get to do scenes with Chloe Fineman, Mary Steenburgen. I think Mary is one of the nicest people in Hollywood, and when I say that, I want to make sure that doesn't take away from her talent, because she's a monster talent. But I think just being around her, the way she treats the crew, the way everybody reacts when she's around, was something I definitely learned from.”

Steenburgen plays Candace in the film, a divorced pickleball player and Dusty’s love interest… sort of… It’s complicated. Regardless, the chemistry she and Johnson have is undeniable and irresistible. “Chemistry with her is easy,” Johnson confesses. “She's so good in between action and cut, and then she's so fun and enjoyable the rest of the time. Sometimes, it's harder to build chemistry with people who you have a hard time being around, but with Mary, it's so easy.”

We wanted to make a movie that just felt good — one that you could laugh at and watch twice — and I think we accomplished that.

Working with Steenburgen may have been a breeze, but that’s not true for every aspect of the film. The role required Johnson to learn how to play tennis, which the actor says took “way more training than you would expect” and included working with Olympic bronze medalist Brad Gilbert. He also had to actually play pickleball on camera — a lot of pickleball. Johnson did have a stunt double (“he looks wildly like me — it was crazy,” he notes) who would come in for certain trick shots, but a lot of it was him. “The way Josh wanted to shoot scenes, especially that big finale with Andy [Roddick], was he wanted us to play full points. There'd be a 12-hit sequence, so you had to not only play, but be able to be where you could control the hits. He didn't want to do that thing that Challengers did where you're hitting, but there's no ball.”

While Johnson is best-known for comedy, he flexes a different set of muscles in Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed as protagonist Paula’s (Tatiana Maslany) ex-husband, Karl, who fights her for custody of their daughter as she gets caught up in the mysterious murder of a sex worker. Though there’s definitely some humor in the show, it’s a much more thrilling, intense project for Johnson. Johnson has relished the chance to show his range with a more dramatic role. “The Dink’s tone is very inclusive to the audience. It's letting everybody in. Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is not trying to let you in. What I like about Karl is he does not care if you like him or not. With a lot of characters, there's a responsibility to be likable enough to carry the story — that even if you think they're an idiot or they make bad decisions, you're welcome to go on their journey. What’s really nice is playing a character where you go, ‘I think Karl believes he is right, so fuck being likable.’"

When I ask whether drama proved more difficult for him than comedy, Johnson gives me a refreshingly grounded answer. “It’s all challenging,” he admits before quickly offering some perspective in the same breath. “But the beauty of the line of work I get to do is that none of it's really challenging. We’re making entertainment.”

With The Dink premiering just a week after Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed aired its Season 1 finale, Johnson looks poised to join Seth Rogen and Jon Hamm as one of the kings of Apple TV. “I love working with Apple,” he says. “A lot of places are just throwing stuff up, and that's cool if it has a big audience — every streamer or network has its advantages — but what's nice about Apple is it's such a curated taste. It's nice to get that brand and that stamp with it, because people know they're going to get a certain level of quality.”

‘Spider-Verse,’ ‘Sunset PI,’ and ‘Sun Never Sets’ — Here’s What’s Next for Johnson

Those who have looked forward to seeing Johnson on their screen every week with Maximum Guaranteed need not fear now that the season is over. He has a bevy of new, equally exciting projects coming down the pipe, two of which are highly anticipated animated films. The first is the epic stop-motion fantasy movie Wildwood produced by Laika, the studio known for Oscar-nominated hits like Coraline and ParaNorman. Johnson, who voices the father of a young girl trying to save her baby brother from crows in a magical forest, lights up when I tell him people are counting down the days until they can see it in October. “What they do as a studio is remarkable,” he raves. “They're saying it's their most ambitious movie to date, so it's going to deliver. The script was excellent. The story is excellent. The visuals are incredible. I haven't seen [the whole thing], but everything that I saw… if it was a stock, I'm buying.”

The other is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the final film in the critically acclaimed Spider-Verse trilogy. (The first film sits at an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, the second at 95%.) Johnson voices the iconic Peter B. Parker, Miles Morales’ mentor. While Johnson can’t tell me much about the film, which is set to release next year, he assures me that it will be characterized by the same excellent writing that defined the first two installments. “It’s coming together in a very exciting way.”

Johnson also has several live-action projects on the horizon, both in TV and film. He’s set to begin filming a comedy series for NBC called Sunset P.I. next month alongside Jane Levy, where he will play a brilliant yet cynical cop-turned-private investigator in LA. Hailing from Luke Del Tredici and Dan Goor, who have worked on everything from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and 30 Rock to Parks and Rec and Loot, it has all the makings of a successful sitcom. “While I was on the plane, Luke and Dan pitched to me the first five episodes’ stories,” Johnson shares. “They were so funny. I was like, ‘All we can do is not fuck this up.’”

He will be seen next in romantic drama The Sun Never Sets, where he plays the older, divorced boyfriend of Dakota Fanning’s character. The film, which goes wide in early September, reunites Johnson with longtime collaborator Joe Swanberg, whom he previously worked with on indie films Drinking Buddies and Win It All. “I think they are so good, and grounded, and real, and about something, and small,” Johnson says of Swanberg’s films. “It's something that's very personal, and it almost feels like a little novel — you get intimate into it, and then it ends, and you feel like you know all the characters. He's such a good director, so everything feels consistent within that world. I wish more people watched movies like that so we could make more of those, because those are my favorite to make.”

I like an actor who really commits in between action and cut, so whoever is doing that, I'm very excited to work with.

As far as bucket list collaborations go, Johnson doesn’t have too many in mind. “Honestly, at this point, I don't know anymore. I think I used to probably have better answers. When I was coming up, I really wanted to work with Michael Keaton, Jeff Bridges, Bill Murray. I don't know if any of that's still accurate. I don't really care anymore.” Lately, Johnson has been finding joy in kismet and new discoveries. “I hadn't seen Orphan Black before I did Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, so I didn't know Tatiana, and I loved working with her. She's an amazing talent. There are so many shows and movies right now that I haven't seen that are great, so really, who I'm excited to work with is somebody who you probably know and are excited about but who I've yet to hear of personally. I like an actor who really commits in between action and cut, so whoever is doing that, I'm very excited to work with.”

One place you shouldn’t expect to see Johnson anytime soon is back in the director’s chair. Despite his 2023 debut getting solid reviews (Self Reliance, which he also wrote, produced, and starred in, is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), Johnson says he isn’t necessarily champing at the bit to do it again anytime soon. “I think I needed to, for my ego, try on every hat just to see every job, but I do not feel — at this point in my life — a big pull to do it again.” While Johnson appreciated the experience and is glad he tried it, he admits that the extra responsibilities kept him from being as present as he’d like to be as a performer. “The biggest thing that I learned from that was how much I loved the acting in it and how much I've appreciated having directors and writers on set since and the distribution of jobs. I realized that, if there's a problem in the scene for later today, I'm writing it as they're lighting this scene. I want to focus on the acting. I don't want to be thinking about anything else that day besides the scene.”

Wearing so many hats also made it more difficult for Johnson to be as present as he’d like to be with his family — something that’s deeply important to him. Johnson has been married to artist Erin Payne for 20 years now, and together, they have twin 12-year-old daughters. “One thing I love about production is you start at 6 a.m., and you're done by 6 p.m. It's still a 12-hour day, but you're home at 6.”

Johnson isn’t afraid of hard work or long hours, but spending quality time with his children takes priority over everything, which is why — as of right now — he’s uninterested in doing stand-up or theatre, which require working at night. But Johnson isn’t ruling out the latter once his kids go off to college. Theatre, after all, was his first love. He got into Tisch thanks to a play he wrote at the University of Iowa, and one of his scripts was produced off-Broadway before he made the choice to move to LA. “I loved Sam Shepard, and David Mamet, and John Patrick Shanley, and I wanted to be one of those,” he recalls. “But realistically, I'm not spending my weeknights away from home.”

From a sarcastic bartender to a bitter tennis pro, a hero of the multiverse to an informatician in a dinosaur park, Johnson has played many roles over the years, but it’s clear that ‘real-life dad’ is by far his favorite. Luckily, he’s seemed to have found a pretty good balance between being an involved husband and father and being one of Hollywood’s most dependable actors, writers, and producers. Between prestige drama series, comforting comedies, and anticipated animated movies, Johnson’s portfolio is one of the most intriguing in Hollywood right now, and it’s set to continue growing and expanding with his eager, open attitude. “Honestly,” he says, “for each project, I just try to kind of take it as it comes.”

Photographer: Yellowbelly | Groomer: Rheanne White | Stylist: Annie Psaltiras | Location: The Whitby Hotel, NYC