T.J. Miller on Silicon Valley, Gwyneth Paltrow, & Why He's Selling a New Fragrance Called 'Toddler Body'

T.J. Miller satirized clueless confidence and breathless hype on HBO's Silicon Valley. Reality, he says, isn't much different

Actor and stand-up comic T.J. Miller recently spoke to Men’s Health about life after HBO’s Silicon Valley, why he’s over his character Erlich Bachman—but why he also relates to him. It turns out that Miller has the same overconfidence as the fictional tech stoner. That kind of bravado has actually helped Miller get parts in Hollywood. Hype, he says, is the driver for both Silicon Valley and Hollywood.

The Colorado-bred Miller’s unique and ironic sense of personal style doesn’t go unnoticed either. We found out where the Deadpool 2 and Ready Player One actor acquired his hip-hop “elegant gangster” style, which includes a love of sneakers, track suits, and Byzantine link gold chains.

Miller also mentions his lifestyle site and the line of perfumes he has created, featuring names such as Wet Garbage, Toddler Body, and Warm Urine, which sell for an unreasonable price of $90 each. Read on for the full interview below.

You have The Emoji Movie, The Gorburger Show, a stand-up tour, and a podcast, plus Deadpool 2. Will this sate your Palo Alto fanboys after Silicon Valley?

A lot of people come up to me and say, "I'm you in my tech startup." But that's bad, because my character [Erlich Bachman] was an arrogant blow-hard who was ridiculous. Some people aren't getting the joke.

Related: Ryan Reynolds Shares the Rules to Cursing Creatively, Pushing the Boundaries, and Feuding With Hugh Jackman

For being all about disruption, the tech world still can't really take a joke. What happened when you hosted the TechCrunch awards?

I was pretending to be someone from Silicon Valley, and the audience couldn't believe I used the B word. Uber employees said that! That lack of awareness is what the show is satirizing.

Do Hollywood and Silicon Valley have a lot in common?

I always say Silicon Valley and Hollywood are estranged cousins. They both have fame at the center of them and involve ridiculous amounts of money not evenly distributed in any way. If you spend enough time in Hollywood or Silicon Valley, you begin to believe that everything revolves around your industry. It's like high school with money.

Is hype the driver for both?

All cultural professions necessitate hype. Even in stand-up comedy there's hype—for some, it's all about hype rather than talent. People in the Valley connect with Erlich Bachman because that's all he does. He just plays that game. It's about connections, image, reputation, fame, and that overconfidence.

Is there any overlap between you and Erlich?

He's a confidence man. He conned his way into the Valley, and that's exactly what I've done in Hollywood. Because I do stand-up, I don't ever need to act. I always step into auditions with this confidence that tricks everybody. Hollywood is addicted to people who don't give a shit. Silicon Valley is also addicted to that confidence.

What's been your best career asset: your confidence or your hair?

The confidence is certainly unfounded. I don't think I'm a great actor. I'm a pretty good comedian. But my greatest asset is my work ethic, followed by my hair. My hair is one of the only reasons I have a career. I also say I am Carrot Top's cousin by marriage, and no one has been able to prove me wrong.

That big gold chain you wear looks like a literal asset.

I'm into ironic fashion. It's an 18-karat-gold Byzantine link, which is rare to find—especially one in this size and length. I have a gold grille too. I think it looks so stupid, and yet at the same time, you wear it and it's the sort of weight that reminds you that you've worked very, very hard to buy it.

Why the baller look?

In high school everyone wanted to be a rapper, so I started dressing pretty gangster. It was so funny for this theater kid who's in The Music Man to trade one costume for another. An elegant gangster, as my wife calls me.

That satire seems to extend to your lifestyle website.

Gwyneth Paltrow has Goop. We have Ironicluxury.com. My wife [Kate Miller] and I sell fragrances called Warm Urine, Toddler Body, and Wet Garbage. I really like Boozy Brunch, which smells like irresponsibility. We've only sold two bottles, and we've yet to deliver those. That's part of the experience. I show up years later at your doorstep, kiss your mother on the cheek, and deliver them.

Why would anyone buy a fragrance with those names?

Fragrances are just like the music album, the lifestyle brand, the podcast—these are all just me trying to make people laugh in every single medium. I'm always thinking about the next thing that will make people laugh. That's a form of innovation, right?

But what do they smell like?

You have to pay the 90 dollars to find out.

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