Sean Whalen Praises How Drew Barrymore 'Fought for Me' on “Never Been Kissed” Set (Exclusive)
- - Sean Whalen Praises How Drew Barrymore 'Fought for Me' on “Never Been Kissed” Set (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroJanuary 22, 2026 at 6:41 AM
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20th Century Fox
Sean Whalen as Merkin and Drew Barrymore as Josie in "Never Been Kissed" -
Sean Whalen first rose to fame after he was cast in the first-ever "Got Milk?" commercial in 1993
Whalen went on to star in a number of film and TV roles, including as Merkin Burns in 1999's Never Been Kissed
The actor, 61, tells PEOPLE about working with Drew Barrymore on the late 90s hit
Sean Whalen will never forget the kindness he was shown on the Never Been Kissed set.
The actor, 61, played Merkin Burns in the 1999 film on the star-studded film starring Drew Barrymore. He remembers it as a "comedic standout" in his career.
"Drew Barrymore and her partner, Nancy Juvonen, let me create my entire character, Merkin," he said of the character, who is Josie Geller's assistant.
"Literally, that entire role they let me create from the costume to the lines to everything, and the scene in the bar was completely improvised. But she fought for me. She fought for me with the studio and the director to say, 'Sean's got a really good idea. I want him to run with it,' " Whalen recalled during a recent catch-up with PEOPLE.
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20th Century Fox
Sean Whalen as Merkin Burns
"That was a standout for sure. I mean, Drew fought for me on day one, shot one, and said, 'We're not going to do anything that ruins this character for Sean. He's worked too hard, ' " he contniuned.
Whalen recalled a particular moment where Drew stepped in to take a stand.
"In the script, it said I had a booger on one of my things and she goes, 'Nope, we're not even going to film that,' to the director, 'because I don't want the studio to see it and ruin all of Sean's hard work,' " he explained.
"And it was amazing. It was literally day one, shot one. That was a standout, the way she fought for me on that."
Today, Whalen enjoys coaching and directing, in addition to acting. It's a part of his life he came to love.
"It's the best to teach. It's the best to watch someone grow. And my students know who I am. That's when I started to think, 'Oh, I should start coaching,' and then I really got into teaching in 2015 and worked with Playhouse West for a while. It was great. And they appreciate that I'm honest because it's a collaboration between the student and me to get their best work."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
