Zach Galifianakis has built a career out of looking unimpressed, so handing him a British food famous for splitting opinion was always going to end one way. On LADbible’s “Snack Wars”, where guests try the rival snacks of two countries, the American comedian was given Marmite and reacted with the flat horror that has made him famous. He is one more name for the hate column, and a useful reminder that the spread travels badly across the Atlantic.
Does Zach Galifianakis like Marmite?
No. On “Snack Wars” Galifianakis tried Marmite and hated it, joining the long line of American visitors who find the British devotion to the stuff genuinely baffling. There was no polite hedging, just the deadpan disgust that is his trademark. For a brand that markets itself on being hated as much as loved, a Hangover star pulling a face on camera is, oddly, good for business.
Who is Zach Galifianakis?
Zachary Knight Galifianakis was born on 1 October 1969 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His paternal grandparents were Greek immigrants from Crete, and he was baptised in the Greek Orthodox faith. He came up the hard way through stand-up comedy, with a brief, not entirely happy spell at “Saturday Night Live” and years of small film and television parts before the role that changed things.
Zach Galifianakis’s breakthrough: The Hangover
That role was Alan Garner, the strange, bearded man-child of “The Hangover” in 2009. The film was a huge hit, spawned two sequels, and turned Galifianakis from a cult stand-up into a mainstream star almost overnight. Alan remains the part most people picture when they hear his name.
Between Two Ferns and Baskets
Away from the blockbusters, Galifianakis has done his most distinctive work. He created and hosted “Between Two Ferns”, the deliberately excruciating web series in which he interviewed A-list guests, including a US president, with open contempt. He also starred in the FX series “Baskets” as a failed clown, a melancholy comic performance that earned him an Emmy nomination, and showed up in serious films such as “Birdman”. The man clearly has range, even if his Marmite review did not.
Zach Galifianakis’s notable work at a glance
- The Hangover trilogy (2009, 2011, 2013), as Alan Garner
- Due Date (2010)
- Between Two Ferns (2008-2018, web series)
- Birdman (2014)
- Baskets (2016-2019), Emmy nomination
