Sebastian Maniscalco may not be on stage making fans laugh at the moment due to the coronavirus pandemic, but he is working on new projects and ready to share them with fans! Like many, the 46-year-old has been spending a lot more time at home these days since mid-March, but that hasn’t stopped him from staying busy. In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com for our series, PopCulture @ Home, Maniscalco says he’s enjoyed being around his family more but is also working on a new film.
“It’s not good, it needs to end,” he said when asked how he’s been doing with the lockdown. “I am over it, I think everybody’s over it.” He went on to state how some areas around him in Los Angeles, California have “opened up” but then joked, “I don’t even know what opened up means.” While he admitted that the first five or six weeks were “really difficult” to adjust to โ since he’s not normally home that much โ he does appreciate being able to spend more time with his wife, Lana Gomez, and their kids.
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“There’s silver linings out of everything,” he continued. “It really gave me the ability to hang out with my kids โ I got a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old โ and there’s things that are happening in their lives that I wouldn’t have seen if I was in Atlantic City doing shows so that’s been great.” He added that he’s also enjoyed just “relaxing” around the house but did stress that he’s ready to hit the road again.
As a way to keep him busy throughout the pandemic, he’s been working on a new film with Lionsgate. “I’m just concentrating more on writing some T.V. โ I have a T.V. show that I’m writing โ as well as a movie with Lionsgate, loosely based on my life, currently titled About My Father,” he said after noting that he feels it will be several months before he can get back to performing for large audiences. ” I just resided to the fact that the next six to nine months I just aid in my head that I will not be doing any large scale shows any time soon.”
As a way to be social again with fans, the actor teamed up with his friend, chef Dominick DiBartolomeo as they created a virtual Zoom dinner for fans. The Los Angeles-based chef created a dish that fans could order and have delivered to their door, nationwide, to then cook at home during their Zoom dinner. This allowed Maniscalco to interact with fans and bring some form of normalcy to those tuning in.