T.J. Miller Was A Mess On The Set Of “Silicon Valley”

March 8, 2018 / Posted by:

Last year it was revealed that T.J. Miller had been written out of his role as Erlich Bachman on HBO’s Silicon Valley because he just didn’t want to do it anymore. Around the time the news broke of his departure, T.J. gave an interview in which he pulled back the curtain and let everyone know he really didn’t want to be on Silicon Valley anymore. He hated on executive producer Alec Berg and his co-star Thomas Middleditch, and generally bragged that he was better than the show.

Silicon Valley creator Mike Judge, as well as Thomas, Martin Starr, Zach Woods, and Kumail Nanjiani recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter to promote the T.J. Miller-less 5th season of Silicon Valley. THR’s piece confirmed everyone’s suspicions that T.J. Miller was a nightmare on set.

Mike Judge reaffirmed his stance that T.J. didn’t want to be on the show anymore, so it was an easy decision to write him out. But even if he was super stoked to be there every day, he probably would have found his character off in a Tibetan opium den eventually. T.J. routinely showed up late, and sometimes not at all. When he did decide to come to work, there was a good chance he was drunk or “on other substances.” He reportedly often fell asleep during table reads. One insider tells THR that T.J. was “explosive,” which sometimes worked on set and sometimes didn’t. In the end, everyone involved decided it was best that he leave.

THR reached out to T.J. Miller for comment regarding the allegations. He claims he was just working hard.

“In real life, I’m not always high like Erlich is. And this will blow your readers’ minds, but I’m not high when I work because it gets in the way of the comedy. I also am not a guy who’s blackout-drunk, bumping into things on set. What was occurring was I was out doing stand-up all the time, even if it meant I only got three hours of sleep. So, the thing I have a problem with? It’s pushing myself to do too much.”

That last line just took me back to every group job interview I’ve ever been in. T.J. Miller is totally that person who answers “Well, I work too much, I’m too ambitious, and I guess you could say I’m a bit of a perfectionist” when asked to name three weaknesses.

T.J.’s former co-stars didn’t chime in with their thoughts, possibly because they don’t want to incur the wrath of T.J. if they run into him on a red carpet. But I really wish they did, because you know they’ve got stories, like “Someone took a dump in the driver’s side seat of the Aviato vehicle, and I’m not saying it was T.J. Miller, but…

Pic: Sami Drasin/The Hollywood Reporter

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