Mayne Street Interview
With only three episodes left, the first season of ESPN's Mayne Street is winding down. So, as a wrap up, here is an interview Tilzy.tv's Josh Cohen conducted with me before the show started as well as a picture of me and Jesus Shuttlesworth.
Ben Schwartz: Mayne Street is a heightened version of Kenny Mayne working at ESPN with a splash of hijinks and coworkers.
Tilzy.TV: How’d you get involved?
Schwartz: I was sent out on an audition for a smaller role in the web series and after I auditioned, the guys pulled me to the side and asked me to audition for a different character that ended up being Mintz. Mintz was originally supposed to be 30 or older (I forget) but in the end they liked the way I played it, so the writers re-worked the character a bit to make him younger for me. The writers/directors and producers of this piece were so much fun to work with. They let us play around and have fun with the characters.
Tilzy.TV: Tell me about Evan Mintz.
Schwartz: Evan Mintz is the Senior VP of ESPN. A title that is usually held by a far older man. He is one of the big men on campus and holds the futures of a lot of anchors in his hands. He is constantly on a bluetooth headset and although sometimes he can come across as a douche, he works his ass off to stay on top and truly wants to succeed. (Also, in one of the episodes I think I added that he takes miniature horse back riding lessons. Unsure if that’ll be in the final cut.)

Schwartz: I’ve never seen the movie In Good Company, so i’m going to assume Topher Grace’s role was very similar to his role of Venom in Spiderman 3…and if that’s the case, then Evan Mintz is nothing like venom and that’s a stupid question.
Tilzy.TV: What’s it like working with Mayne?
Schwartz: Kenny was great. He really is a funny, nice, genuine guy. The whole cast was hilarious and fun. I hope that some TV station picks the show up or ESPN.com wants to make more webisodes so we all get to mess around some more.
Tilzy.TV: Do you think if Mayne could do whatever he wanted that ESPN would look a helluva like Mayne Street?
Schwartz: I think if Kenny Mayne could do whatever he wanted, he would make himself fly or give himself the power of invisibility. Worrying about work would be way further down on the list.
Tilzy.TV: There are a ton of cameos in the series. Which one was the coolest for you?
Schwartz: There are 15 episodes in total and I think i’m in 5 or 6, so I missed out on all the Sopranos guys coming in, etc. The coolest cameo for me was doing a scene with Ray Allen. I am a huge fan of the NBA and although the Knicks are my team, it was a great feeling to do a scene with a guy who just won the championship and played Jesus Shuttlesworth.

