For 'Abbott Elementary's' Chris Perfetti, 'tragic circumstances' are comedy gold
LOS ANGELES — "I'm so excited for this!" Chris Perfetti says as he approaches the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Our greeting is drowned out by a cacophony of nearby construction and clusters of energetic children on field trips shuffling down the pathway — in the distance, a row of yellow school buses that snake the perimeter stand guard.
Perfetti, in monochromatic black sweats, T-shirt and baseball cap, is just four steps into the rotunda, under the shadow of the museum's famous Three Graces statue by Julia Bracken Wendt, when he is recognized.
"Excuse me, are you Chris Perfetti ... from 'Abbott Elementary'?" a student from Lawndale High School asks bashfully.
"Yeah," Perfetti says with a smile.
"Oh, wow! I love that show," the teenager says, sharing an enthusiastic look with his classmate. "Our AP bio class is here on a field trip. We're seniors in high school. I'm sorry to bother you. This is just so cool."
"I was in AP bio for about a month," Perfetti says. "Congratulations. You're so close to graduating. Just a couple of months to go. Stay motivated."
The scenario playing out in real life is something Perfetti's "Abbott Elementary" character, the lovably corny, socially awkward history teacher Jacob Hill, would definitely freak out over. Teenagers thinking he's cool? He'd
