The Real-Life Diet of Adam Scott, Who Says Ants on a Log Is the Perfect Snack

Brittany Loggins
·8 min read

Photograph: Getty Images; Collage: Gabe Conte

Adam Scott has played some of the most beloved goofball characters on TV, perhaps most memorably as state auditor Ben Wyatt on NBC’s long-running Parks and Recreation. But in his most recent television role, he’s gotten serious (and been nominated for an Emmy) portraying a grief-stricken employee on the critically-acclaimed Apple TV+ show Severance.

While the subject matter of the show is incredibly dark, when the 51-year-old Zoomed with GQ, the mood was almost child-like—which was only exacerbated by his snack of choice, the concoction of peanut-butter, celery, and raisins known to kids all over as “ants on a log.”

Scott was on set for his partnership with Philips Norelco OneBlade—he recently starred in a commercial for the shaving device alongside Chris Kelly, the former head writer of SNL and creator of The Other Two. (Scott and his wife, Naomi Scott, produced Kelly’s film Other People, and says they’ve “been friends ever since.”)

Below, Scott shares his favorite meals and workout routine, waxes poetic about reality TV, and refuses to provide spoilers for the upcoming second season of Severance.

GQ: So first off, I just watched the Philips spot. Is that Chris Kelly?

Adam Scott: Yeah, we wrote it! Chris and I have been friends for years. My wife Naomi and I produced his directorial debut, Other People, with Molly Shannon and Jesse Plemons. And so we have just been friends ever since. I love him and I love his show, so it was super fun.

You’ve recently been on set for Severance. Are you making sure to stick to any sort of diet while you’re filming?

I'm in the midst of production, which has just kind of been my life now for months, and I try to keep it pretty uniform and consistent. As far as eating goes, I like trying new things, but when I'm just trying to stay focused on one thing, I don’t want to try something brand new.

I just try to start the day usually by making a Daily Harvest smoothie. If I put a couple of scoops of peanut butter in that smoothie, then I'm good until lunch.

Which one of their smoothies?

Is it almond vanilla? I keep forgetting what it is…not almond cinnamon. Either that or the banana and greens. Then also the chocolate blueberry is really good—they have a bunch of great ones. But whatever it is, throw a couple scoops of peanut butter in there and you're good.

Then, not to get like, product-specific, but I usually go with Sweetgreen, and then I'm fine till dinner.

What are you doing for snacks?

You can really snack your way into oblivion on a TV set. So also I have a bag with snacks in it, just in case my blood sugar gets low. I have cashews, or—oh!—this season on the show I kind of figured out what the perfect snack is and it's been hiding in plain sight all of these years. I believe what that perfect snack is is ants on a log.

My assistant Nancy is snickering somewhere because she's the one that makes it.

Of all the things you could have said, your snack is the only thing I can think of that marries celery and raisins.

Celery, peanut butter and raisins! What’s the problem? It's perfect because you get your protein obviously, then you get a little crunch, and then the raisins provide the kick. I found that it's a perfect snack, but it's a real messy pain in the ass to make. My assistant on the show, Nancy, is the one that has to make them and that's why they're my favorite snack—because I have Nancy I don't have to do it.

For my birthday she gave me a trophy that’s like a plaster ants on a log, so now I have that sitting in my house to explain to people.

You should have to explain it to people, if only to justify Nancy’s hard work.

There should be a cost to it, shouldn’t there? It’s great though, it’s a delight, snack-wise.

It’s something.

I feel like you’re not on board with my ants on a log snack choice. As a journalist, you should be neutral.

Someone has to speak out against the celery. What Sweetgreen salad are you’re choosing?

OK, they have this special new ants on a log salad that’s really good.

No, the salad at Sweetgreen is the harvest bowl. It’s a bullseye, except I get rid of the sweet potato.

I’m just so relieved you didn’t say you get rid of the goat cheese.

No, that’s the dessert mixed-in. But I will tell you something that I add to it, and I feel like you’re gonna turn on me for this one. Before I tell you, I have to tell you my reason. They used to have a salad called the Hollywood Bowl. Do you remember that one?

I don’t!

Maybe it was a regional thing because I live in Los Angeles, but there was the Hollywood Bowl which was the harvest bowl without sweet potatoes. And what they added to it was halved grapes. Since the grapes aren’t in there anymore, I take the sweet potatoes out and I add raisins.

At this point, I can’t wait to see how you integrate raisins into dinner.

Well Brittany, dinner is a real roll of the dice. I mean, you never know when it's gonna come and in what form. You can’t just throw raisins on a hamburger! Or can you? Maybe that’s my next move. Dinner is, like while I'm working on the show, it just depends. I guess it depends on when you come home.

Are you referring to Severance when you say “the show”?

Yes yes, that’s right!

I’m so glad it’s coming back! It was the best season finale and then it took a long break.

I know, I know—it’s been a while—but you know, we had a strike. But it's now going to be coming in the somewhat near future.

But on the show, I guess for dinner I don't know! I think that varies! That's the one variable—you gotta keep life exciting.

You know, what I like is chicken Milanese. That's a good dinner, right? But you can't have that every night because it's kind of, I guess, is Milanese fried? Or is it just breaded? I actually don't know.

I guess I’ve never really thought about there being a huge difference between those two things.

That's probably the same thing, right?

So tell me about workouts. What are you doing workout-wise when you're on set?

Well, I have a person in Los Angeles that I train with named Lisa, who's the greatest. She kind of gives me a workout to stick to while I'm here working. I can't say that I stick to it as often as I'm supposed to. Because I'm, you know, listen, I'm tired! I gotta get some rest! When I'm home it's, like, three times a week. When I'm here, it's whenever there’s time—I try for three times a week, but it doesn't always happen.

If I was working out all the time, I wouldn't be able to watch Below Deck, you know? And when do you get your Below Deck time if you're working out?

I've never watched the show, but I think I understand the concept.

Do you watch Survivor?

It’s always a shock to me that it’s still going strong.

If you can believe it, it just keeps getting better and better.

Do you feel like you could compete on the show?

I legitimately have a strategy all ready and set.

It’s definitely a show filled with the most hyper-competitive people in the world.

See, that's the one thing about Survivor: I feel like I would get hungry and sunburned, and then just stop giving a shit.

Don’t they sleep out in tents?

No, there’s no tent. They sleep out in the elements.

While we’re talking about sleep, what time are you turning off Below Deck each night and heading to bed?

Well, I get tucked in at about 7:30 p.m….

By Nancy?

By Nancy, of course. Then it’s lights out by 8:15 p.m.

No, I don't have a set bedtime because it's always kind of different. I try to grab time to watch something or read something, and then I usually pass out during one of those two activities. That’s usually what happens.

Originally Appeared on GQ

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