For a moment, Barinholtz can only smile, revealing the trademark gap in his teeth.
The live wire is at a rare loss for words.
Finally, he musters, Do you think I am?
The question hangs over grocery shopping with Barinholtz.
Barinholtz, however, is a gourmet interrupted.
Im going to send it to my husband, she says.
If youre famous, he would know.
A ruling would come as a relief to Barinholtz.
Or that Mark Wahlberg got doughy.
One makes a beeline and bro-hugs him.
Barinholtz stars alongside the shows co-creatorSeth Rogenas Sal Saperstein, a hot-mess studio exec prone to excess.
Barinholtzs own vice is filling a half-dozen grocery bags and counting.
I have an eating problem.
I do, he says.
I take Ozempic but cut it with french fries.
Shopping without a list, Barinholtz is exacting, however.
He bypasses baguettes in favor of Italian loaves, pushes aside Little Gem lettuce (Too fancy.
This aint gonna be no woke chopped cheese) and squeezes one avocado after another.
Bad news, he announces.
Much like my ass, these are a little too firm, you know?
He might as well be.
Barinholtz cooks dinner five times a week for his wife and kids.
He says hell be making Chicago-style Italian beef hoagies for an upcoming Super Bowl party.
He wasnt asked to make or bring anything he told the host what would be served.
It made Barinholtz invaluable inThe Studio.
Sorry, Rogen says with a laugh.
COMEDY AND COOKING have always gone hand in hand for Barinholtz.
The movies comedic edge struck him.
I just remember laughing and being blown away, Barinholtz says.
Cut to thirty-what years later…
I was like, Oh, shit Im one of those guys.
Luckily, self-abasement comes easily to Barinholtz.
After Sal delivers the bootlicking line, Scorsese responds: Whothe fuckare you?!
Isaac Barinholtz was born in Chicago and raised in the Lakeview section of the city.
He attended Hebrew day school, the Latin School of Chicago, and Boston University, albeit briefly.
Increasingly busy, Barinholtz is beginning to limit his multitasking, at least professionally.
Because of the competing demands on his time, simply acting inThe Studiowas a welcome change.
He found himself in good company.
Barinholtz was a calming presence on a challenging shoot.
Everyone likes Ike, its true, says Rogen.
Marty thought Ike was so funny.
He loved working with him.
All these people did.
Although the project took ages to get into production, Barinholtz was part of the vision from the start.
Seth approached me years ago and soft-pitched the show, Barinholtz recalls.
He was like, Im writing this part for you.
And I was like, yes!
Diarrhea-spewing zombies!).
Thats what our dynamic is on the show.
And maybe off it.
We like stupid people saying stupid things in nine seconds.
We just want hard jokes.
BARINHOLTZ SETS A BUTCHER board on his dining table with avoilaflourish.
The Barinholtz bodega is open.
Heres a napkin, Barinholtz says.
More recently, their father, erstwhile attorney Alan Barinholtz, has joined his sons in the family business.
That prompted Barinholtz to write a project for Jon, Alan, and him.
The emergence of my dad as Hollywoods hottest starlet has been great, Barinholtz says.
It allows us actually to do stuff together.
SAG card in hand, Alan and his wife have become Los Angeles residents like their sons.
Hes living his best life, Barinholtz says of his father.
I love that for him, Barinholtz recalls with a laughing shrug.
