Will Arnett on the Return of ‘Arrested Development\'

Mike Yarish for Netflix Will Arnett in the new season of “Arrested Development.”

This week we're talking to members of the cast of “Arrested Development,” leading up to the return of the series, on Netflix, on Sunday. Previously we spoke with Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter. Interviews with Portia de Rossi and David Cross will appear on Thursday.

As Gob (George Oscar Bluth), the deluded “illusionist,” Will Arnett stars as both the eldest Bluth offspring and the source of perhaps the most recurring jokes on the meme-heavy show, including “Final Countdown”; “Come on!”; “I've made a huge mistake”; and the Chicken Dance. Much of which he still hears about on a regular basis.

“I would say it's overwhelming but it's great - I'm happy people are fans of the show,” he said. “The ‘Arrested Development' nation is strong.”

Since the end of “Arrested,” Mr. Arnett has stayed busy in films and series both successful (“30 Rock”) and less so (“Up All Night”). He's also worked steadily with “Arrested” cohorts like the show's creator, Mitch Hurwitz (“Running Wilde”), David Cross (“The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret”) and Jason Bateman (“Sit Down, Shut Up”), who is also Mr. Arnett's partner in a digital advertising firm.

This fall Mr. Arnett will star in “The Millers,” a new CBS sitcom created by Greg Garcia (“Raising Hope”).

The actor, as sardonic in conversation as Gob is boorish and needy, called recently to discuss blind spots, brand awareness and why he won't chicken dance on demand. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q.

Where are you right now?

A.

I'm in the kitchen. Where are you?

Q.

At a desk.

A.

O.K.

Q.

I ask because everyone I've talked to has been somewhere different. David Cross was in London. Michael Cera was in Sweden.

A.

Jason and I were not able to make any of the transatlantic stops on the “Arrested” world tour, which was disappointing.

Q.

Sounds like there was quite a reception in London. Did you know the show had that kind of profile overseas?

A.

When David Cross and I made “Todd Margaret,” we spent time there. We were shocked and happy with the reaction that we got with fans over there. It was pretty awesome.

Q.

You've worked quite a bit with “Arrested” alumni.

A.

Put it this way: I haven't had enough of a break over the last 10 years from these [expletive]. To quote Al Pacino, and I quote: “All these people, they keep grabbing me back inside.” Is that what he says?

Q.

How has the reception to the new season compared to what you expected?

A.

Honestly, I don't think the show has ever been as popular as it is right now. It's crazy. People are aware of the date that we go live with the streaming. I have people at the hardware store screaming, “Can't wait for May 26!” And I'm like wow, that's great awareness. I'd forgotten that it was the 26th.

Q.

Have you had any extreme examples of fan devotion?

A.

I get a lot of random “come ons.” Not people coming on to me - people shouting, ‘Come on!' I also have people asking me to do the chicken dance.

Q.

How much have you come to resent the Chicken Dance?

A.

I never look a gift horse in either the mouth or the nether regions. I just don't look at the horse. Out of context I'm not prepared to - look, I'm not sure if you were aware of this, but I'm not a monkey. I'm a 43-year-old man. I'm not going to do the chicken dance on the 1 train.

Yana Paskova for The New York Times Will Arnett, left, with Jason Bateman, at a promotional event in Times Square last week.

Q.

What's the biggest difference between the new and previous versions of the show?

A.

You don't want to try to recreate something you've already done. Not that you worry about damaging the legacy. It's not like we're helping to save lives; it's not that important. But Mitch really stayed true to his vision. As he described it, these 15 episodes are in essence one big “Arrested Development.” And there's still more story to tell. It's by no means finished, to answer your next question.

Q.

Right. So everyone's open to doing a movie but there's no deal at this point?

A.

I wish that we could, to quote Don Draper, “change the conversation.” Boy, I'd like to see Gob quote Don Draper. I almost feel like the idea that the movie is the thing is, in a way, narrow-minded. This might sound super lame, but it feels so old-paradigm. Who cares what the delivery method is? We live in an age where people will watch epic entertainment on their phones. It could be that we have more episodes. It could be a series of specials. Who knows?

Q.

The whole movie idea actually predates the emergence of this Netflix model.

A.

It's like talking about taking a flight before we knew we could fly. If you want to take a second to write that down â€" that's an important quote. It's deep.

Q.

Was there a moment when you realized you were back?

A.

Yeah, when we were actually rolling on set. I don't know if the other members of the cast - I can't remember their names offhand - mentioned to you the day we all shot this big scene in Lucille's penthouse. It was really the first time we were all together shooting a scene, and that moment was like, “Wow, we're doing this.”

Q.

Have you seen any of the new season?

A.

I have seen big parts of a lot of the episodes. I'm really excited to watch them all the way through and I imagine one day I'll do that. I've got to get a Netflix account - that's the first thing I should look into.

Q.

I know you can't share details, but can you boil down Gob's episode to a few themes?

A.

You can't boil down Gob. I don't know if you haven't learned that yet. But I will say this: Gob is on a journey and he's looking for love, ultimately. He's always been looking for love and approval. Unfortunately he's often his own worst enemy and he tends to let his raging, unbridled ego get in the way of making a true connection. Gob probably has more blind spot than not [laughs]. Most of his vision could be called blind spot.