What Louie Anderson was like on the set of Baskets

Variety

"Louie bought the entire crew Arby’s one night," Baskets co-creator and showrunner Jonathan Krisel writes in Variety. "He had already filmed his scenes for the day, but he wanted to spoil us. He even brought the manager from the Arby’s to help pass out all the food. He was just like that. He knew everyone on the crew so well. When we’d be setting up a shot and the cinematographer and I would be discussing if we wanted the shot “dirty” — meaning in a close-up you see a piece of the off-camera actor — if Louie heard that, he’d immediately start singing 'Ridin’ Dirty' by Nelly. It was like clockwork, and it was always extremely loud and somehow always funny. I remember in Season 2 we filmed a scene where Christine’s mother’s death finally gets to her, even though she’s been trying to carry on. I knew Louie had it in him to do a great performance, but on the first take (he) was feeling a little scattered. I was telling him, 'This is a big moment,' and he kept saying, 'Oh yeah, don’t worry, I know.' But I wasn’t sure he was in the right emotional space. I thought, maybe by take four we might get close. The first take was the one. I was so caught off guard by the depth of his performance that I just started crying watching it there live. He nailed it. And only seconds before, we were just chatting — like, there was no run-up where he needed to get there. It blew me away."