‘F Is for Family’: Justin Long Said it ‘Sadly Was Not Hard’ to Identify With Awkward Teenager Kevin Murphy
Justin Long stars in F is for Family, as the voice of 15-year-old Kevin Murphy, Bill and Sue’s son. Long also voices two supporting characters on the TV show, Chuck Sawitzki, and Phineas.
Kevin is an awkward, sometimes hostile teenager who doesn’t fit in—and, sadly, Long said it wasn’t a stretch for him to tap into that mindset. After five seasons, the funny adult animated series, co-created by comedian Bill Burr, ended in 2021.
Kevin is a weed-smoking teen who wants to be a musician—and has a good heart
F is For Family, which is streaming on Netflix, is about a stressed out, foul-mouthed and loving family—and as the oldest child who has cut school 37 times, Kevin fits right in.
Long seems to capture Kevin’s teen angst perfectly, some say. Kevin is a slacker who smokes weed and wants to be a musician. He also curses a lot and has a short temper.
Even with these shortcomings, viewers can see that Kevin is deep and has a good heart. “Despite his tough exterior, he’s a sensitive boy,” Fandom reports. He’s nice to his siblings, especially to his little sister Maureen, who often sits in his room listening to him play the guitar.
Long remembers perfectly how it feels for a teen not to fit in
Long turned 43 years old in 2021, yet he plays the rebellious teenager Kevin with ease. Meredith Vieira asked Long if it was a challenge to play the part of a young, awkward teen.
“Sadly it was not hard,” Long tells Vieira when he appeared on The Meredith Vieira Show in 2015, “I still very much identify with … that awkward part,” Long explains, meaning that he remembers the feelings he had as a teen, and how they’re similar. “I mean, it’s not to say that I haven’t grown and hopefully evolved … but I can still access that,” he adds while describing Kevin’s personality as “very hostile.”
Long reveals a few details about his own teen years while talking to Vieira, saying he was an awkward kid. “When I was in high school, I was very small, I was 4’9″, and I weighed 89 pounds,” he explains.
“That’s hard,” Vieira replies, “you have to compensate in some way.” They discuss how so many teens end up acting like the class clown or act out in some other way when they’re overcompensating for feeling left out.
But Long didn’t have it that hard growing up—he says he never got picked on. “I think I was so small that I was too easy of a target,” he says. “I didn’t get teased … but that’s why I started acting, and I liked making people laugh,” he says.
Long’s career spans decades
Long has had a long and extremely busy career, dating back to 1999. He’s racked up 102 acting credits, according to IMDb. Some of his most known films include Jeepers Creepers (2001), Accepted (2006), and Live Free or Die Hard (2007). He also played Britney Spears’ boyfriend in Crossroads (2002) and appeared in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004).
On television, Long played Jess’ boyfriend in New Girl in 2011, then returned for an episode in 2012 and 2015. He was also Adam on Mom in 2013 and Neil on The Conners in 2018. And Long’s fans can’t forget the infamous Apple television commercials that aired in the late 2000s when he was cast as “The Mac Guy.” This year, Intel recruited Long to appear in a new series of Mac vs. PC ads, CNET reports—and this time he says PCs are hip.
F is for Family, and Kevin fans may not realize all the other voiceover work Long has done. He’s the voice of Alvin in Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), Chipwrecked (2011), and The Road Chip (2015). In the animated series, Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021), he plays Roberto.
As if all that isn’t enough, now Long is writing and directing. He co-wrote and co-directed the new film Lady of the Manor with his brother, Christian Long, CNN reports. Oh, and he speaks to all his celebrity friends, such as Jake Johnson, on his podcast, Life is Short with Justin Long.
