"Superior Donuts" star Maz Jobrani on playing a Trump-supporting immigrant
Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani is no fan of President Donald Trump, but he plays one on "Superior Donuts." Jobrani plays Fawz, an Iraqi immigrant who looks up to Mr. Trump, on the CBS sitcom about a doughnut shop in a gentrifying Chicago neighborhood.
"Fawz is an Iraqi-American businessman," Jobrani told CBSN. "He's a successful businessman. He came from Iraq as an immigrant and he believes in the American dream. He's a capitalist. He loves Donald Trump. He's the opposite of who I am as a person; he's a fun character to play."
Jobrani said it's refreshing to play Fawz.
"As an Iranian-American, when you first start out in your career, people go, 'Oh you're Middle-Eastern, great. Can you say, 'I will kill you in the name of Allah?' And you say, 'I could, but what if I played the doctor?' And they say, 'Great, well, what if you hijack the hospital?' And you're like, 'No,'" he cracked.
In real life, Jobrani frequently makes fun of Mr. Trump in his stand-up routine, though he claimed that the president's rapid-fire comments are not actually good for comedy.
"We need time to develop our jokes as a comedian," he explained. "It takes us months to get a joke and get it right, so you'll be writing about the crowd-size thing, and then he comes up with 'rocket man,' and you're like, 'Oh, I need a rocket man joke.'"
He said he has caught flak from people for his jokes about the president, including from Iranian fans.
"There are some immigrants -- Middle-Eastern immigrants, some Iranians who support Trump -- and they have come up to me afterward and tried to criticize me about it," he said. "'Why are you making fun of our leader?' and all this stuff. And I just tell them, 'Listen. I'm my own comedian. If you don't like it, go do stand-up or start a blog.'"
Even so, Jobrani said he thoroughly enjoys playing Fawz.
"When he does talk about Trump, he goes, 'One day, I hope to be like that guy,' and there's a couple scenes where they have me look up to the sky thinking about him, so it's fun. It's a juggling act in a way."
Watch the full interview in the video above to see what Jobrani has to say about Mr. Trump's tweets regarding the protests in Iran.
