Emmys 2017: 15 movie stars who stole the small screen this year

Chris Pine and Jason Schwartzman in Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later. Photo credit: Saeed Adyani / Netflix.

5. Chris Pine

The project: Netflix’s Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later

The character: Eric, the cyborg assassin/philosophical rock star who is trying to save Camp Firewood from Ronald Reagan’s dastardly plans. Eric enjoys waxing poetic and performing in Soul Glimmer, the jam band he’s in with Jason Schwartzman’s Greg.

How he stole the small screen: In a series with literally dozens of funny performances, it can be hard to stand out. But that’s exactly what Pine does in the eight-episode sequel to David Wain and Michael Showalter’s original 2001 movie and 2015 Netflix prequel series.

“King Pine nails the tricky tone the movie perfected,” as IndieWire puts it, “silly but focused, confident but nonchalant, and always, always, deeply invested in the character(s).”

From my perspective, Pine steals the scene because — putting aside his hilarious, extremely intricate backstory — Eric is a spoof of the hot, faux-deep, guitar-playing dudes that pop culture loves to throw our way. He’s like Trent from Daria, but with more memorable hair.

Also, this line: “In a way, I was [dead]. But in most ways, including the most important ways, I wasn’t.”

His past TV experience: Wonder Woman’s paramour has had a lot of success on the small screen. He’s had recent turns on TBS’ Angie Tribeca and Crackle/Adult Swim’s SuperMansion. And, of course, he originated the role of Eric in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp a couple of years ago.

Awards recognition: Nope, but who cares? He’s Steve Trevor! (Also, Pine was nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance last year for his work on SuperMansion — so that’s something!)