Windell Middlebrooks is not a household name, but you’d recognize him if you saw him in the street. Middlebrooks plays the character Earl in the Miller High Life commercials, and because of the success of the commercials, Middlebrooks has toured all over the country promoting High Life. He was in Atlanta this past weekend to cheer on the Falcons as they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I got a chance to speak with him and get his thoughts on his success and his experiences traveling to different stadiums across the United States.
What made you and rest of the Miller High Life gang decide to come to Atlanta last weekend?
The way it all works is with big events like that and especially with so many High Life places in Atlanta, and with such a big game, that’s how they kind of target it. We get a lot of requests to go to different things, but it depends, because with some cities it’s like we need to go and make sure they’re living the high life and in some places they are already doing it, which is Atlanta’s case.
Has this promotion been all over the USA or has it been regionally?
It’s been all over the country. I was at the Georgia Dome of course, but then I was at the Vikings game in Minnesota. I’ve been to Cleveland Browns games, I’ve been to Dallas Cowboys games and we also do college. So I could be in Ohio State and be in Michigan all in the next week. So it’s been all over.
Do you do just football games or have you done more sporting events?
We do a lot of baseball games. We were at the Indians playoff games and I’ve done a White Sox game. I’m always in Miller Country at Milwaukee’s Miller Park. So it depends. I’ve also done Detroit Red Wings hockey games. I’m telling you, we get all over the map. They got us moved around for different things, which I love.
I know you were with Falcons fans, hanging out and tailgating. How crazy does it get when people recognize you?
Oh man, it goes crazy. It’s like the comparison of doing the wave. You know how the wave starts off slow and the rumble gets bigger? That’s exactly what happens. It’s like a few people recognize you, especially before the games because they are walking around. Then you’re taking a few pictures with people down on the field as well as people in the stands. But then once it spreads, people connect so much to it and feel like they’re part of this high life movement, that this rumble just starts.
Did you play any sports when you were younger?
I did. Coming from Texas I played football through middle school and then after that I was kind of like, this is not what I want to do. So that’s when I went into acting. I started with T-ball when I was little and I played football through my eighth grade year.
Did you think that the Miller High Life commercials would be so successful so quickly?
When I went in for this audition, you go in and you’re excited. We were excited that were doing three commercials in one. So it’s like getting three national spots at once so that’s what the excitement is about. But then we had no idea that it would take off. My goal is to always just do good work. I’m very much a believer in the craft.
Middlebrooks is also shooting more Miller High Life commercials at the beginning of the year. He also just finished shooting a film where he worked with big-time producer Judd Apatow, who has produced movies like “Superbad” and “Talladega Nights.” It’s safe to say that Middlebrooks is living the high life in more ways than one, and he will definitely be a household name sooner than later.
Jones can be reached at bjones@scoreatl.com.
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