Martin Starr's lucky streak continues with 'Adventureland' role

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Martin Starr has never had to worry about taking bad jobs just to pay the rent because he has landed enough acting roles to keep him going.

He's certainly not having to worry about it now. Starr's not only a cast regular on the new Starz Channel comedy series "Party Down," he's also in the new movie, "Adventureland."

The story of "Adventureland" unfolds in 1987. At the heart is James (Jesse Eisenberg), a young man who must trade his dream of travel and high end college for a summer job at a low-rent amusement park. He finds himself surrounded by an odd collection of fellow workers.

Starr plays Joel, one of the oddballs. When Joel is not reluctantly working as a barker for the games, he is pondering the great philosophies of life. He's obviously more suited for other employment, but as with most things in his life, he's had to settle for what he could get.

As an actor, Starr's been lucky.

"The only job I ever had that was not acting was that I worked as a barista for one day in Brentwood," Starr, 26, says during an interview to promote the "Adventureland" at the comic book/film/television convention WonderCon.

"I'm a quick learner and I thought I had grasped everything I needed to know. But, I think the guy running the place didn't like my beard. So he didn't call me back."

It was no big deal for the Southern California native. He started acting at 16 when he was cast in the short-lived television series "Freaks and Geeks." Starr was in select company with that series, which debuted in 1999. His co-stars included Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, John Francis Daley and Linda Cardellini.

Since then, Starr has appeared in such films as "Knocked Up," "Stealing Harvard" and "Superbad."

The role in "Adventureland" reunites Starr with his "Superbad" director Greg Mottola. That's one reason Starr enjoyed making the film.

"It is an honor to get to work with your friends, especially a director as talented as he is. What makes me want to keep working is that I get to go and be creative with people who are very talented and amazing," Starr says. "Greg comes in with ideas, which I believe is a solid way to build a foundation. Then he definitely allows for freedom to create something new and improv a little."

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© 2009, The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.).