Biografía

He is fluent in Castellano (Spanish). He has translated for surgeons in Peru with the medical mission "PAMS".

T.J. was Head Boy at Denver East High School and graduated magna cum laude from George Washington University.

His performance in Transformers: La era de la extinción (2014) was pre-nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor.

Studied stilt walking, physical theater and circus acrobatics at Frichess Theatre Urbain. Studied at B.A.D.A in 2001.

Was one of Variety's Top Ten Comics to Watch 2008.

I consider myself to be one of if not THE foremost talking bear comedian(s) in The United States. There is a guy in Canada, but he sucks.

I have perfectly symmetrical ankles.

(2011, on Cloverfield) I didn't even know I was auditioning for Cloverfield. It was the first time I'd ever really been to Hollywood. I was doing the pilot for Carpoolers, an ABC sitcom that I was on that got canceled after 13 episodes. They said somebody wanted to see me, they'd seen me in Aspen. The casting director of Paramount, she introduced me to this younger casting director. We had this meeting, and she said, "I have this role that I think you'd be perfect for. We don't have real sides, I'll send you fake sides." And I didn't understand what that meant. So she sent me sides, and it seemed like a terrible romantic teen comedy, like a Love Story thing. It was really awful. And I read for the wrong role in the beginning, I read for the serious part, and I was terrible. They just gave me the wrong sides. Then they asked me to read this other part that was a bit funnier. I said, "Okay, yeah, I can do that." So I did that, and it went really well, and I got a callback and did it in front of J.J. Abrams. I didn't know who that was, because I didn't watch Lost. I just remember going in thinking, "I don't know what this is, and I don't care that much how the audition goes." I got pretty crazy, and I was up on the table. I really acted ridiculous. It worked, and they cast me first. I was the first person cast in that film. And then of course I get the script, and then I find out that it's a monster movie, and I'll be filming most of it, which I did not know either. That's the other weird thing, to get a huge, $20 million movie, and then you go, "Oh, and I'm filming it, also?" It's weird. Weird first experience.

[2011, on Carpoolers] That was such a weird thing. I got that out of Chicago. I'd just signed with these managers, not just just, but I had been working with them for a while, and I got this audition, and they said, "We think you'd be great for this role, it's a great part." My managers represented Bruce McCulloch, and on the way to the audition, I was in the car on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and I remember very clearly where I had this moment where-I'd auditioned for a bunch of pilots outside of Chicago, and I was like, "I'm sick of trying to do what I think people will like. Sick of trying to do what I think will get a booking. I'm just going to do what I think is ridiculous." So I wore only underwear and a shirt toddler style in the audition, and I brought a fake bookcase and set it behind me (because both things were in the script), and did a very bizarre take on the character, and they liked it. I flew out to do the network test and then I got the part. While filming the pilot I only ate sushi; breakfast lunch and dinner, and I drove the funniest rental car they could rent me, a Chevy HHR (Heritage High Roof) Retro-styled station wagon. I think I got mercury poisoning. From the sushi. Not the HHR.

[2011, on getting into acting] I acted in high school, and studied at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford for one summer. I minored in theater, and I was always acting growing up, but really, I was just more interested in the comedy of it all. So for me, it's always comedy-- acting is just one medium of comedy.