‘The Masked Singer’: Pickle Says He Was ‘Scared’ to Do Show
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 10 Episode 4, “2000s Night.”]
Pickle succeeded in one area during his time on The Masked Singer: No one figured him out.
But the actor and comedian under the mask — Michael Rapaport — came to the Fox singing competition hoping to win. It wasn’t meant to be, with Pickle eliminated after two episodes and a Smackdown against S’More (singing “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy).
Below, Rapaport talks about his time on the show.
What made you say yes to doing The Masked Singer?
Michael Rapaport: I was scared of it. It definitely made me nervous to do it. That’s really what made me say yes. I never sang publicly, and I’ve done a lot of things in my life publicly, obviously, being an actor. But I’ve seen the show, I like a challenge, and I did it. And I had just such a great time doing it. I just had a really, really, really fun time doing it. I didn’t love the secret aspect of it. I didn’t like not being able to tell people what I was doing. It’s not something you can promote, you can share with people. But it was something I had never done before, and I said, “Yeah, let’s do it.”
Talk about that costume. What appealed to you about it?
To be honest with you, at first, I was very concerned about the movement in it. I wouldn’t say I’m Fred Astaire, to begin with, so I was concerned with the costume, I was concerned would I be able to do whatever kind of dancing I am capable of without being in a costume, but they were very excited about the costume. Everyone seemed very enthusiastic about the costume, so I became enthusiastic about the costume. And I fell in love with the Pickle. I fell in love with being the Pickle. I just really had a good time shooting it. I had a good time learning the songs, practicing the songs. I thought the whole process was just fun.
What went into your song choices?
That’s a give-and-take. To be honest, they ultimately make the decision. You definitely can say, “I’m not comfortable with this, and I don’t think I sound good doing this,” they’re very well aware what’s in your range, so they helped me with it. I was happy they gave me the two songs I got to do. I don’t need to listen to “Pinball Wizard” [by The Who] for like a year, and I don’t need to listen to “Beverly Hills” [by Weezer] because I practiced so much. Even when I wasn’t rehearsing at the show, I just was practicing. I’d be on walks practicing. I really wanted to do well. Those were ultimately the best songs for me, but I don’t need to hear either one of those songs. I certainly don’t need to sing one of those songs for a while.
Talk about the panelists’ guesses. No one figured you out. Did you come into this expecting anyone from the panel to?
I know I have a distinct voice, and I know I have a distinct accent, and I was concerned that they would get me with the singing, but people are not used to hearing the voice of an angel behind a Pickle costume. The world didn’t know that Michael Rapaport had the voice of an angel, but they do now. I was concerned about being discovered, but I was committed 100 percent and prepared for whatever. I am very proud that no one got me all the way through.
What did you think of the clues given about you? I especially liked the Friends pickles, considering, as you said, people always associate you with that. Did it feel a bit too obvious to you? Then again, none of the panelists picked up on it…
It didn’t feel too obvious. I’ve been getting a lot of social media stuff, and obviously, you can’t respond, but the word that seems to have given it away is “disruptive” because that’s something I talk about, it’s sort of like my moniker, so a lot of people were like, “Once you said disruptive, I knew it was you.” But like I said, you just gotta commit to it. You have to be not scared or if you are scared, you have to embrace the fear, and you just have to go ahead, and that’s what I did. I jumped all the way in.
It looked like you had fun messing with Nick Cannon on stage, and he said he knew the whole time who you were. Did he really?
He’s so close to everybody, and I know Nick, and I think he could just smell and feel it was me. We didn’t have a conversation, I haven’t gotten to speak to him afterward, but I don’t know. If he says he knew who it was, he knew who it was. I gotta talk to him about it. But nonetheless, it was fun, and I was prepared to be found out, but I was also prepared to win. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to win, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t have the most fun. I had a f**king ball.
You were prepared to win, so did you have any songs or ideas about your performances in mind if you’d continued on?
I just wanted to continue to dominate the season the way I had been dominating it, and I wanted to continue to learn new songs to perfect and show my dance moves. They talked about doing a disco sing. I was raised in the disco era. My preadolescence was in the disco era, and I have the voice of an angel; it’s a versatile singing voice, and I wanted to continue to show that off to the world.
What are you going to take away from the entire experience?
I had so much fun. I know I can sing. I was scared doing it, so I was glad that I got a chance to do it. I was genuinely concerned and nervous about the whole idea of doing it but walked away feeling proud of the way I competed — and I came to compete. I came to win.
So, might you incorporate singing into your comedy?
That could happen. If the people want to hear more of the Pickle, if the people want more Michael Rapaport, it is not too late to work on a 2023 holiday record, that’s all I’m going to say. I can’t reveal whether or not I’m in negotiations with a record label or not, but I’m just going to tell you, don’t be surprised come holiday season if you hear me singing.
The Masked Singer, Wednesdays, 8/7c, Fox
