Jeff Hiller Won an Emmy. So Why Isn’t Hollywood Calling?
About 20 years ago, Jeff Hiller auditioned to play Kenneth Parcell, the demonically sunny NBC page ultimately portrayed by Jack McBrayer, in the pilot of 30 Rock. As things tended to go for Hiller back then, he did not get the job. “We all knew it was written for Jack, so I never even pretended that I was going to get it,” Hiller says now. But then, a surprise silver lining: “Tina Fey called me back and was like, ‘You’ve got really good timing’ — which kept me going for several years.” Fey went on to cast Hiller as a hotel clerk in 30 Rock’s third season — and, in a true rarity for any actor not named Rachel Dratch, brought him back years later to play a completely different character. That second role, as a flight attendant, came as an offer — no audition needed. “That had never happened in my entire career and has only happened two or three times since,” Hiller says. “It was a huge surprise, and it made me feel …
