Pop-Culturalist.com

For over two decades, Max Adler has captivated audiences with the complex characters he’s brought to life in projects including Glee, Believe Me, The Young and the Restless, and The Flash.

This February, he stars opposite Constance Brenneman and Cathy DeBuono in Along Came Wanda. The must-see dramedy follows Mary Beth Higgins along with her newfound friend Wanda on a life-changing road trip to self-discovery.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Max about his career, Along Came Wanda, and being a new father.

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling and the arts?
Max: Wow, that’s a cool question. It’s been part of my whole life. I remember my dad having a video camera when I was ten. I enjoyed being in front of it and playing different characters and performing. He was encouraging of it.

Then I signed up for a community theater. I did a production of Jesus Christ Superstar. I got cast in the ensemble as a little ten-year-old. I was like, “This is awesome. I love doing this.”

From there, I did summer camp for singing actors. I did all the plays and musicals in high school. I remember doing the curtain calls my senior year. I was like, “I don’t want to do anything else. Nothing else is going to make me this happy and this fulfilled.”

I left for LA after high school to pursue it professionally. It was much harder than I thought. I thought it was just open calls everywhere and you could go in and audition for a Spielberg movie. Then I realized, “Oh no, you have to be union and get an agent and the whole thing.” But yeah, I did a couple of little jobs here and there in between valeting and restaurant work.

Then I got Glee when I was twenty-two after being out here for four years. Since Glee, I’ve had a career. I love doing it and I always have.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Max: Great question. There are two names that come to mind. The first is Ryan Gosling. I saw him very early on in a film called The Believer where he played a guy that was raised Jewish and then became a Nazi. It was one of the most complex characters I’d ever seen on film and one of the most nuanced performances. I was like, “Wow, that’s amazing.” That’s something I would love to strive for—to be able to be as good and believable as him.

Weirdly enough, there’s an actor I went to high school with named Garrett Hedlund. We were in choir together. He left high school earlier and booked Troy, where he played Brad Pitt’s little cousin. I was like, “Whoa. We were just doing a chorus concert together in Arizona and now you’re in Malta shooting with Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom. This might be more possible than I’d thought, instead of just an unattainable dream. I was like, “Maybe I should move to LA and consider giving it a go.” Those were two major influences.

PC: Can you tell us about Along Came Wanda and your character in the film?
Max: Along Came Wanda came about because of Jan Miller Corran, who was the writer, director, and producer. She also wrote and produced another movie that I was in called Snapshots. We met and jived. I loved her soul, her energy, her creative spirit, and her love for humanity and telling good stories. She called me up and said that she has this movie that she’s doing and it’s during the pandemic. She said she knows I have a little baby, but she would love if I could play this role that’s small—one day of filming but a very important role. It kicks off Constance Brenneman’s journey of going to find herself and live out her dream and pursue her passions. Our characters split, and we’ve both given each other permission to live the life we want now as these new people in this new world.

I found it really interesting because I feel like a lot of times when I see a breakup or a divorce on camera it’s very mean and vicious. Bottles are being thrown. There are slaps thrown around. This was very interesting because it’s an amicable split. There is a love for the other person. There is a care for them. We have a kid together. We have this house together. But we’re just not in it anymore. You want this. I want this. Let’s call it. It’s so hard to do that. I just wanted to be a part of telling that story, especially in these days when all of our priorities are shifting and our dreams and goals are changing.

I would do anything that Jan writes. I thought the story was impactful. I thought it was about finding yourself and discovering who you are and what you want, which is probably something we’re all waking up and thinking about as this world is just rapidly changing. I just wanted to be a part of that and see what it was like filming in a pandemic, which is crazy. But again, it’s a testament to Jan. Because what I love is the camaraderie of a cast and crew. All these strangers come together and there’s this magic of telling a story together. I was like, “Oh no, that’s going to go away when we’re all distanced and masked.” But Jan, somehow, created this intimacy and this warmth, even though everyone was distanced, masked, and tested. But there was safety that allowed us to play and escape in between “action” and “cut.”

It was very fulfilling and rewarding. I’m glad it’s finally coming out on Valentine’s Day. It’s great because couples can watch it, but also, if you don’t have a love on Valentine’s Day, the film is all about your own self-discovery and your own journey. It’s a perfect Valentine’s movie because it hits all the marks.

PC: You’ve done it all throughout your career. What was it about this particular character that stood out to you? What was that preparation like?
Max: A lot of my career has been playing younger high school or college roles or frat boys or cops. This was just what I am now: a husband and a father. It deals with complex issues about where he wants to go and where this marriage is going. It was something I had never played before and had never been given the opportunity to play. My marriage is great. Ten years ago, all my friends were getting married. Now, we’re at the phase where people are starting to divorce. It’s a lot. I was like, “Let me explore that. Let me put my head in that world for a second. What is that like? How do you make that decision?” It’s complicated, but that’s why I wanted to play it.

It’s like Ryan Gosling—not that I’m nearly as good. But the complexity of: you’ve had this life with someone, you know their family, you’ve been intimate, there’s a trust, there’s a bond, you’ve shared goals, you have a kid together and shared finances. Boom, now we’re going to choose to c’est la vie and have your own lives. I’m going to go this way and fall in love with this person and pursue this dream. You’re going to do that. We’re going to wipe the slate clean of seventeen years of being together and developing memories. I’m like, “Wow, what is the map for getting into that headspace? Let me jump in and explore that.”

Working with Constance was great because we met that morning and immediately were like, “All right, so what’s going on? What do you think happened? What led us here? How do we feel? Where did we meet? When did it go wrong?” We started talking and brainstorming. Then it was time to roll and we went right into it. We had great, great chemistry and a great rapport. It was awesome working with her.

Jan let us make some choices here and play and try things. It was very easy to jump in, play, and have fun with it and explore what that looks like in this world.

PC: At the center of this film is this life-changing journey. For you, what’s been the most impactful moment in your career thus far?
Max: Having a baby has been pretty wild. He was born on March 27th. On March 25th, my wife’s mom unexpectedly passed away. Then that night, my wife went into labor. There was a pandemic. We’re still dealing with that. But that was a wild, wild, tough week. It was going from this innocent boy to “We’re going to have everyone around. Everyone’s going to help. We’re having a baby. We’re going to go to all the classes and the playgrounds.” It was like, “Whoa. This got really hard.” There were no diapers at the stores. There were no wipes. I couldn’t get eggs. I was a man now. I had to step up and provide during this really tough time.

That was a crazy head switch that I didn’t have time to prepare for. Nobody knew there was going to be a pandemic that was going to last two years and going. Personally, that affected everything about who I am now and the way I see the world. That goes into my career.

As far as, I guess, the more mundane answer: Glee. Glee was an incredibly huge show. It was quite a complex role to play a bully who was bullying because he was a homophobe and because he was gay. There was a suicide attempt. It was a dream role that developed after I’d been cast. No one really knew it was going to go there, including the writers.

I got to play this role when cyber-bullying was at the peak of the news and suicides were happening. There were water cooler conversations: “This is tragic and terrible. What do we do about this?” To get to play that on a show that had millions of viewers every week was a game-changer for me. It was like validation that I could do this on a legit level. I came to the realization of how powerful media can be and how influential shows and movies can be on people’s lives and the decisions and choices they make.

PC: One of the central themes within this film is about finding joy and hope in the middle of this pandemic. How are you able to find that for yourself during these past few years?
Max: Family. It’s appreciating that we’re alive, appreciating when we’re healthy, and going outside for a walk and listening to the birds chirping and the trees blowing. It’s about being there with family and friends and laughing. You realize how fleeting it all is—that, at the drop of a hat, the world can change. The world probably did change forever. I worry about my son’s future in schools and Zoom learning and what that means for social skills and everything. There’s so much anxiety and so much worry. Literally today, my son was exposed to someone who is positive at his daycare. So now the daycare shuts down. We have to go get him tested. We have to get tested. This wasn’t in my head two years ago. It’s just this constant anxiety that I live with—that we all live with.

It’s the moments of respite when you can laugh or when you can appreciate being here and that we’re all in it together and we’re all going through the same thing. It’s a unifying experience, whether people think one way about it or not. We’re living in this time together. It’s pretty interesting. I’m interested to see how it all unfolds. But yeah, it’s about appreciating the little things when you can and taking time to be grateful for what we do have.

PC: The film has made its way around the festival circuit and it’s been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Max: Jan’s writing is just phenomenal. It’s just real, nuanced, and complex. The performances from Constance to Cathy to everyone in the cast—they just bring it. They’re all so good. I’m so proud to be a part of it. I hope people take away that, again, life is short. It’s fleeting. Go after what you want and go for your goals. Chase down your dreams. Be in love with who you want and give yourself permission to be yourself. That’s what I want people to take away. Moving forward, don’t live your life for anyone else, live life for yourself and feel fulfilled and do not let it pass you by.

I hope it gives people hope and encouragement. Don’t destroy your lives as they are, but reassess and make sure you’re on the right track. Get in touch with your younger self. Would my younger self be happy now in this current situation? In Along Came Wanda, everyone really went through an arc of thinking they could be happy, but are they really settling? Once they make that switch of deciding what they’re going to do or what they’re going to pursue or who they’re going to pursue, they realize they’ve been missing joy and fulfillment.

PC: What’s next for you?
Max: I’ll be on The Flash. I did an episode of The Flash a couple of years back. I think March 23rd I’m back on it—in a very, very big way. More shooting fire. But also, they added some complexity. I won’t say anything, but there’s a whole backstory that’s going to unfold. That’s a pretty big episode.

Then, I’m doing a convention for Glee and The Flash, as of now. We’ll see what happens with COVID, but I’ll be in Liverpool, I think, May 21st and 22nd, doing a convention with a lot of the other Glee cast.

Then, there’s a movie called Hot Water, which is like a jet ski action-comedy that’s streaming right now. It’s already out there. So yeah, that’s what’s going on. And hopefully some more soon.

To keep up with Max, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Along Came Wanda wherever you stream movies.