Enrico Colantoni On Grant’s Unspoken Dedication in FX’s ‘English Teacher’

Enrico Colantoni delivers a line in the season finale of FX’s English Teacher that tells us so much about his character, Principal Grant Moretti. To his mortification, all of the teachers have come together to surprise Evan (series creator/genius Brian Jordan Alvarez) at a local gay bar for his birthday. Grant informs Evan that since there are more than three educators present, it’s technically a school function before adding, ‘There’s fisting porn on three of the televisions.’ He says this with his hands clasped in front of him, his tweed jacket snugly buttoned but his eyes darting around the bar to see if he has to make any other adjustments. That moment is something of a theme for Grant Moretti. He has to deal with a lot of new, unexpected shit, but he has no choice but to dive in and experience it all.

Colantoni is a performer who knows the value of working in a strong, comedic ensemble. He explains that he first responds to the words on a page, but also knows that respect must be paid to them. There are actors that instinctively hear that music as it pertains to the linked up strength of an ensemble, and he reveals how he became a part of the orchestra.

“It always starts with them hiring me,” Colantoni jokes. “That’s very key. Once you land in their universe or their world, you have to change your game a little bit. I am a traditionalist. I am a classically trained actor who likes the words on that page, and the writers on English Teacher are so exceptional. I have such respect for what Brian [Jordan Alvarez] has created, and I am blown away by what they have crafted. Once that’s established, Brian will tell us to play and suddently I am part of a jazz quintet with Brian, Stephanie [Koenig], Dave [King] and that writer’s room. I know who Grant Moretti is–he is the voice of, ‘What the fuck is going on?’ He is part of my generation, one hundred percent.”

Colantoni and I acknowledge over and over again that teaching has to be one of the most difficult jobs out there. Surely, it has changes vastly since both of us were in high school, but Alvarez’s series shows how the job isn’t just hard but it tests educators over and over again with unnecessary interferences. In episode six, “Linda,” Evan goes head-to-head with a parent who uses her charm, influence, and money to make his life a living hell after he fails her son.

“Money, money, money,” he says. “Money talks in a modern educational system. That episode was so beautiful to me, because it really gave Brian that space to really expand his chops not only as a comedian, but as an actor. It was so beautiful. Those scenes between Evan and Linda outside the school were just wow. There’s more to this show than just the yuks. There’s also more than tugging on policial diversity, and there’s a lot of heart to the show that is a secret weapon.”

Episode seven, “Convention,” takes the staff to a retreat that they look forward to every year, and the tone unexpectedly shifts. Evan is always annoyed by Sean Patten’s Markie or Carmen Christopher’s stoner Rick, but different dynamics reveal themsevles as the staff tries to sway Grant from making too many jokes in his speech. It’s like when you fight with your brother at home but when you’re outside with your friends, you will stand up for him if someone tries to give them any guff.

“Watching it was weird, to be honest, because we love being in the school so much,” Colantino admits.” There’s so much fodder in the school that is ground zero for the comedy, but taking us out of that environment shows what really binds real teachers. They’re fighting the fight. I am a hockey fan and I am following the Toronto Maple Leafs, and they were talking about how they are taking three days as a sort of bonding trip. They play games and get to golf and get to know each other better. That convention episode really shows Grant in a light where he expresses what it is to be a teacher and how yet, in spite of the difficulty and resistance and being vilified, good people make good teachers. It’s actually a line in the script, and I think that will always be the case. The idea of vocation doesn’t really exist anymore. When I went to school, my teachers had signed up for life–that’s what they wanted to do. And they love doing it. I know a lot of young teachers who have to now supplement their income and they work construction or other jobs.”

Evan tells Grant early in the season. ‘I need a job that means something to me,’ and I kept wondering what pulled Mr. Moretti into the world of education. Some might misconstrue his frustrations as hating his job or wanting to find anything else to do, but Colantoni reminds us that some people are called into these noble professions.

“Grant is an example of a lifer,” he says. “He’s the kind of person who wants to become management and rotate towards being a principal and haing a bit more power and control. He does still think he’s making a different, and he wouldn’t be doing it if he was really burned out. It’s that old adage of saving one life or affecting one kid means it’s worth the trouble. That’s true of firemen, policemen, nurses, doctors, and journalists. There are those that still come from integrity, and Grant is one of those. He sees that in Evan, because he’s dedicated.

Everything becomes a statistic, right? And then you look at that to find how many kids actually learn because they want to learn and how many kids actually go off and don’t remember anything about their high school educations or want to continie. Everybody will do exactly what they want to do. Grant has become a fatalist in terms of what people can actually retain, and he’s hoping on the one or two or small percentage of people that will come back thirty years later and say, ‘Hey, man, you really changed my life. I needed you in my life at that time.’ Grant isn’t glib just to be glib. He is of that generation that wonders why we are subjecting ourselves to the whims of four or five people. A lot of people reconsider why they are catering to the voice of the minority, and that feels new. That’s not old school thinking which makes it funny.”

If a teacher was called away in an emergency, would Grant’s biggest fear come true in the form of standing in front of all those impressionable, opinionated teens?

“If you have ever had a substitute teacher? You don’t know them, they don’t know you. They put on a movie, right? Or ask you what you are supposed to be reading and then tell you to read it. They are a babysitter or break up fights. Grant would let them bounce off the walls, and, as long as there’s no blood, it’ll be fine.”

Colantoni is also featured in Caden Douglas’ Mother Father Sister Brother Frank which was just picked up by Gravitas Ventures. It’s a bloody, madcap dark comedy that shows that family can sometimes bring out the best and worst in us. The film has been featured in festivals like Out On Film, ImageOut, and the Palm Springs International Comedy Festival.

“I’m just in awe of how you can create something with such a limited budget but with a lot of heart,” Colantoni says. “Mindy Cohn is lovely, and we had a lot of fun. Caden [Douglas], our director and writer, really allowed us to play, and it captures something that doesn’t often happen in bigger budget films and that is that you have to rely on a wide shot. You have to rely on actors, because sometimes you don’t have time to cover things to death. The film is pretty farcical and funny and warm.”

English Teacher is streaming now on Hulu.