Hilarious Pluto TV spot features former MHS theater kid
The Super Bowl may be one of the highest-rated broadcasts on television each year, but the pricey commercials aired during the game often received just as much buzz. Celebrity ads remain popular, but sometimes humorous spots become classics. One hysterical ad this year features Malibu High School graduate Jake Dvorsky. His comedic improv talent landed the 27-year-old a featured spot in Pluto TV’s hysterical commercial about farming couch potatoes. You can view it online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mPKDEfo0UM
“It all stems from theater at MHS,” the 2014 graduate affirmed. Dvorsky was in every MHS theater production while a student at MHS. After high school, he studied acting at UCLA. He also learned about the business and studied writing and producing for films. Dvorsky spends most of his time writing, producing films, auditioning, and producing a podcast for Wondery.
The Super Bowl commercial came about last year. When Dvorsky got the audition, he didn’t have a “full picture” of the scope of the advertisement.
“For this one they just wanted us to talk about our favorite TV programs and why we liked them so much. It was all improvised. I started talking about reality TV because I like seeing hot people suffer. It’s cathartic,” the actor laughed. “And that got me the job.”
Dvorsky’s droll take on reality television expressed in the spot, “I like it when hot people throw wine on each other,” won the producers over and he landed the role of a couch potato growing in a field.
“There were 20 to 30 potatoes coming up with their own lines. It was a mockumentary-style setup,” he said. “It was unscripted. We had a lot of fun with it, making things up on the spot in outrageous potato suits. It was great.”
Dvorsky had no idea the commercial was intended for the Super Bowl. It was filmed over four rainy days in December at a farm in Pomona. He finally found out on set, but still couldn’t imagine the significance of landing such a widely seen advertisement.
“It’s so weird. I personally didn’t have a big reaction at first. I’m not a big Super Bowl fan. I didn’t realize how many people watch,” the Malibu native commented, but as he was watching the Super Bowl broadcast Feb. 11, it hit him.
“It didn’t sink in until it was actually airing,” Dvorsky said. “I saw some stat that it was one of the most watched events since the moon landing and I thought, ‘whoa, that’s pretty neat.’ I know the Super Bowl was big and obviously the commercials are a big deal, but I didn’t really realize just how big of a deal the Super Bowl was and how big the commercial would be.”
In the week since the spot aired, Dvorsky has been bombarded with messages. Hundreds of people reached out to the young actor via text, calls, and Instagram DMs.
“It was insane,” he said. “In 24 hours, I had 350 people I have not spoken to since middle school or people I’ve never even met saying, ‘Hey, I recognized you!’ It was really, really wild.
“I’m pretty stoked on it. Hilariously enough Vulture wrote an article about it.”
The pop culture publication mentioned Dvorsky, writing, “Farmers are growing couch potatoes galore in the Pluto TV Super Bowl spot. We are particularly fond of the gay, Housewives-loving couch potato. Would certainly make him into waffle fries.”
Dvorsky remarked, “Not only was I in a Super Bowl ad, I got my first Vulture write-up at the same time.”
While the four-day shoot occurred in Pomona during a storm, Dvorsky fondly recalled, “We had a rainbow every single day on set. It was crazy. The production team was great. We were well taken care of.”
Beside his work playing a potato, Dvorsky recently produced and starred in his first feature film titled “Low Life.” You can watch it on Amazon.
You can also catch Dvorsky co-starring in a short film traveling on the festival circuit, including Slamdance. The film, “Just Right” was written, directed by, and stars fellow MHS graduate Camille Wormser.