It was never in the cards for Caleb Valentino to be an actor.
Born in 1962 to a single mother who already had three other rowdy children to tend to, Caleb's father died while his mother was pregnant for him in a car accident in San Francisco. Life was never about excess for the Valentino family but rather about making ends meet. Caleb grumbled as he accepted hand me downs from his older brother and learned at an early age that it was more about being practical than being a lofty dreamer. His home situation made him a prime target for bullies on the playground that teased him about his oxfords that were two sizes too big. At an early age, Caleb learned to thwart the insults by using his own brand of humor. It was the best defense. The young boy knew he'd get a scolding from his mother if he threw a punch and the teasing would only be worse if he made a big fuss about it. So, even as an elementary school student, Caleb learned that humor was the best defense and it worked. However, despite the presence of the Lenny Bruces and Andy Kaufmans of the world, only the rare person made a dime using their wits and sense of humor.
By all accounts, Caleb was an above average student. He had real no interest in mathematics but found that he was talented in English, especially when it came to writing. He could wait until the very last minute and churn out the most eloquent essay and get a stellar grade on it despite others in his class toying over the same essay for days at a time. Writers and beatniks were celebrated in San Francisco but Caleb knew that practicality was the name of the game despite his family's financial situation vastly improving when his mother remarried during Caleb's preteen years to a car salesman. His step father talked about the importance of learning a trade but nothing in particular stood out as Caleb's true calling in life. He could fix the family's leaking sink but that didn't mean he wanted to spend the rest of his life as a plumber. Besides, Caleb really wanted to go to college though he didn't have a clue on what to be when he "grew up" or what to study.
Then, one spring day, his English teacher handed him back his book report with an "A" on it and told him that one day Caleb would have his job. There he had his epiphany and rushed home to tell his parents that he was going to become an English teacher. Despite being surprised by this sudden revelation, his mom and step father were supportive of this dream. Teaching was a respected profession, they valued intellectuals, and at least Caleb wasn't going to become a burn out with no ambition. Instead he went to UCLA to pursue a degree in teaching, met a wonderful woman that he would marry, and was recommended for a teaching job at a middle school by one of his professors after a year of substitute teaching. Unfortunately, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Teaching was thankless. The kids thought Caleb in his young eager optimism was a joke and the more seasoned teachers thought the same. Still, it was about stability. It was about putting food on the table.
The discontentment that Caleb had with his job was enough for any sane man to quit his job with his middle finger high in the air. But, Caleb found an outlet: comedy. He and a few of his college buddies would putter around the Los Angeles comedy clubs and even dared each other to try out amateur night. Somehow Caleb was a hit with his natural wit and his stories of the faculty and students he encountered on a day to day basis; his real talent lying in the impressions he did of them all. And it just so happened that at one of those comedy nights that someone scouting for a new variety show was in the audience and told Caleb to audition.
He thought nothing would come of it but "In Living Color" wanted to add him to their line up of comics. He jumped on the chance, despite his weathered wife thinking he was crazy and this was a shot in the dark. Yet Caleb quit his teaching job, the show was a hit, and the rest was history.
The higher that Cal's career soared with him even gaining an Oscar nod for a dramatic role in The People vs. Larry Flynt, his marriage was falling apart at the seams. His wife didn't understand the industry, didn't want their daughter to be a part of it, and knew she was losing her husband to it as he gained critical and box office acclaim. A few months before Cal's 38th birthday, he was served with divorce papers while on set and got entangled in a messy divorce. Cal tried to throw himself into his work but his halfhearted attempts would be hit or miss, depending on the film. After making a directorial debut with Zoolander, Cal started penning the script that would become Tropic Thunder in a moment of fury against the industry that had given him fame but wrecked his personal life. Time went by and his bitterness faded in time that he jumped on the chance to do television again as Michael Scott in the US version of "The Office", a role that pushed him into the limelight once more and helped him get Tropic Thunder off the ground and into production which was much more of a runaway hit than he could've imagined.
And so, being an esteemed comedic actor and jack of all trades was never in the cards for Cal but it didn't mean that eventually he learned to love the work he did - something he could never say about being a teacher.