AMERICAN AUTO Exclusive: Kaliko Kauahi Previews a SUPERSTORE Reunion

AMERICAN AUTO is staging another SUPERSTORE reunion: Kaliko Kauahi is guest starring on the Tuesday, April 11 episode of the NBC comedy.

In “Dealer’s Event,” Payne Motors is hosting their annual dealer’s event, and they’re trying to make a splash with the Pika. Their big idea? Have a Pika filled with their name-sake animals.

Kauahi plays Tammy, an animal wrangler, who has to navigate the adorable animals—and Katherine’s (Ana Gasteyer) discomfort with the small critters.

“My role as Tammy is, above all else, to take care of these animals and protect them,” Kauahi tells Give Me My Remote exclusively.” I don’t really care about the people. So how Katherine feels about it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the rabbits.”

Though Kauahi is a natural in the role—and it’s very different from her turn as Sandra on SUPERSTORE—her guest spot on AMERICAN AUTO almost went in a very different direction. “From what I understand this part was originally written as a man—which is the case for me, a lot of time,” Kauahi shares. “And I believe it was Collin Daniel, the casting director for the show—who also cast SUPERSTORE—who suggested, ‘Hey, why don’t we make it a female and have Kaliko do it?’ And that was an easy yes for me.”

In addition to AMERICAN AUTO and SUPERSTORE both being created by Justin Spitzer, Kauahi got to reunite with Jon Barinholtz (who plays Wesley on AA after playing Marcus on SUPERSTORE) and a large percentage of the SUPERSTORE crew.

“I can’t overstate what a joy it is, and a comfort, to go to a set where you know people,” Kauahi gushes. “Because as a guest, you’re typically going to new shows, new environments, and you’re just trying to process everything in real-time. But this was an easy yes, for a lot of reasons, including knowing that I would go and just hang out with my friends for an entire episode. And I understood the language of the show and sort of the flow of how things go. And so it made it so easy, and I had the best time; it was like a family reunion…[plus,] Jon Barinholtz is just a wonderful person and a good friend.”

And, of course, it allowed Kauahi the chance to better know the AMERICAN AUTO cast. “I’m a huge fan of Ana Gasteyer; I couldn’t believe I got to work with her,” she says. “I had never met X [Mayo (who plays Dori)] before. I think she’s such a natural. She’s so funny.”

The guest spot also gave Kauahi the chance to spend a lot of time with animals. “I love animals; I could not believe that they were giving me permission to play with animals,” she says with a laugh. “Normally, when the animal handlers come and you’re not in that scene, it’s ‘Don’t look at the animals, don’t touch them.’ There’s rules. So this was my chance to actually, like, handle them and they were adorable.”

“I loved every minute of it,” she continues. “These were baby rabbits, and they were beyond adorable…and they were very sweet. They would also present the most cooperative and easy to work with animals for the ones that I would pick up. They were like, ‘[We have to do this scene] again. You’re gonna have to pick it up again.’ I was like, ‘Yes. Thank you so much. I’m happy to do that.'”

This is technically the second SUPERSTORE reunion on AMERICAN AUTO of the season (Ben Feldman guest starred earlier this year), and the cast remains delighted by how much fans still love the show.

“I’m hanging on to it with both hands,” she says. “I still see the SUPERSTORE gang, we get together. We have dinner, we chat and we all loved it so much. And, honestly, if they asked us to do it again, we would jump at it. So anything that’s remotely like that, that I get to connect with these people and work with them again, is such a treat for me. And I will do it over and over again if they let me.”

Kauahi also shares she’d be open to returning to AMERICAN AUTO if a storyline comes up. But in the meantime, she’s relishing this guest spot.

“They’re all so funny,” she says. “This is such a great show. It’s just so smart. And while I got to work with some old friends, I also made some new friends because everyone is so lovely. It was just a treat.”

AMERICAN AUTO, Tuesdays, 8:30/7:30c, NBC

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• AMERICAN AUTO: X Mayo and Michael Benjamin Washington Preview ‘Hack’
• The AMERICAN AUTO Cast Teases Accidental Trouble in ‘Young Designers’
• AMERICAN AUTO Post-Mortem: Lara Everly Breaks Down ‘The Letter’
• The AMERICAN AUTO Team Previews ‘The Letter’
• AMERICAN AUTO Post-Mortem: Justin Spitzer on Payne Motors’ Big Gamble
• Justin Spitzer Previews Ben Feldman’s SUPERSTORE Reunion on AMERICAN AUTO
• AMERICAN AUTO: What You Need to Know About the Season Premiere

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