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TJ Miller: I want to distract people from the tragedy of their lives

TJ Miller’s ambition is to "distract people from the tragedy of the impermanence of everyday life".
The 36-year-old actor, who has starred in movies such as ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Office Christmas Party’, has been criticised by some of his fans for quitting the widely acclaimed TV comedy series ‘Silicon Valley’ to focus his attention on Hollywood – but TJ is convinced he made the right career move.
He shared: "My goal is to distract people from the tragedy of the impermanence of everyday life. And I can do that best by over-saturating the market.
"Statistically, I give people a better chance of laughing if I do film, stand-up, improv, podcasts, TV, advertising than if I just say ‘What’s a bigger TV show I can be on?’ I’m not making things for wannabe intellectual hipsters complaining on Reddit."
TJ wants to make movies that appeal to a broad range of people, and has claimed there is "no Zeitgeist" in America at the moment.
Speaking to New York Magazine, he explained: "I’m doing ‘The Emoji Movie’ and ‘Deadpool 2’ for people en masse.
"In the American Zeitgeist, you have to recognise that there is no Zeitgeist."
Despite this, TJ insisted he doesn’t obsess about his TV and movie career because stand-up comedy remains his central passion.
As a result, the American funnyman wouldn’t be too fussed if he never worked in the industry again.
He said: "I know it’s hard for people to understand, but I don’t really care about movies or TV.
"Stand-up is always going to be the foundation of what I do. If Hollywood fired me tomorrow, I would be like, ‘Finally, I can relax.’"