How does 'Abbott Elementary' cast its mind-blowing guest stars?
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Jalen Hurts. Brandon Graham. Jason Kelce. Gritty. Aside from being Philadelphia sports icons, what do these four figures have in common?
They've all guest-starred in Abbott Elementary.
The Season 3 premiere of Quinta Brunson's hit sitcom featured cameos from Eagles players Hurts, Graham, and Kelce, while Flyers mascot Gritty stole the show way back in the Season 2 premiere. Other high profile guest stars throughout the show's run include Ayo Edebiri as Janine's sister Ayesha, Taraji P. Henson as their mother Vanetta, and Leslie Odom Jr as former Abbott student and Legendary Charter Schools CEO Draemond.
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So are the Abbott Elementary creators constantly hearing from celebrities who want to join the fun?
"[Quinta] gets bothered about that a lot, I would say," co-showrunner Justin Halpern joked during an Abbott Elementary set visit during the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour.
"I think it all comes from such a place of love," Brunson, who created and stars in Abbott Elementary, explained of requests to be on the show. "That's really sweet, and I appreciate it, but we do write character first. We're not really thinking about who we can stunt cast, we're just writing characters. Then after the fact — usually after the table read — we're like, 'Oh man, you know who would be good for this?'"
"We're not really thinking about who we can stunt cast, we're just writing characters."
Take the Hurts cameo, for example. While Abbott Elementary's writers were working on Season 2, Hurts and his team reached out to say that he was a fan, and that if there was ever a place for him in the show, he'd love to be involved. Yet the Abbott Elementary team wasn't ready to just shoehorn a cameo somewhere it wouldn't make sense.
"We were already on our path, but it was nice to know that he was interested and available and was a fan of the show," Brunson said. "Then it naturally worked out from there."
Another factor in deciding who gets to be involved — especially when it comes to celebrities playing themselves — is whether they even make sense in the context of the Philadelphia-set Abbott Elementary.
"Adhering to the verisimilitude of a mockumentary series, we have to be really judicious about who we bring on the show," co-showrunner Patrick Schumacker told TCA. "If that person is playing themselves, would it make sense if they cross paths geographically with this school in West Philly? If it doesn't make sense, we have to put a stop to it."
These guidelines for casting guest stars haven't restricted Abbott Elementary coming into Season 3, though, as Brunson teased several major stars who will be appearing in the weeks ahead.
"The guest stars that we have this season have been blowing my mind," Brunson said. "They're very organic to our world, but I have had 'pinch me' moments as someone who loves comedy and who loves TV and making this show. I've had two of them in the past week, where I've had to pinch myself and be like, 'I can't believe this person is on our show.' It's been incredible."
New episodes of Abbott Elementary air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, and are available to stream on Hulu the following day.
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Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter at Mashable. She covers movies and TV with a focus on fantasy and science fiction, adaptations, animation, and more nerdy goodness. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Television Critics Association, as well as a Tomatometer-approved critic.
