Jeopardy!‘s Tournament of Champions is making way for a first as actor Ike Barinholtz, the champion of Celebrity Jeopardy!, enters the competition among regular game players.
The former Mindy Project actor is set to compete against 13-game champion Ray Lalonde and 3-day champion Melissa Klapper in the Quarterfinals. Considering Barinholtz competed in the Celebrity version of the series that is more about raising funds for charity than answering hard clues, does that mean he’s equipped for regular game success?
Having won three games himself, Barinholtz isn’t a stranger to the format at this point. According to the actor, his success with the trivia game show shouldn’t be shocking, as he told The Hollywood Reporter, “The people who know me were not surprised because I’m a trivia freak — just an endless source of useless knowledge. But a lot of characters I’ve played are, oh, I don’t want to say stupid, but I can’t imagine they would do well on Jeopardy!, right?”
In other words, Barinholtz isn’t being typecast in Hollywood and certainly has his trivia strengths. “I think there were people who were probably like, ‘Oh wow, that guy’s not actually a complete moron!’” he said with a laugh.
Still, after his Celebrity Jeopardy! success, Barinholtz is aware that the regular version of the series is a whole other level of difficulty. “The thing is that regular Jeopardy! is so hard,” he told Daily Beast. “I love it. Some games, I get more right than others. But there’s rounds that will go by, and I did not know one answer.”
In anticipation of his real game, Barinholtz took to Instagram where he spoke about his appearance in the Tournament of Champions. Alongside the video, he wrote, “TONIGHT!!! I am on @jeopardy TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS watch me play against some of the best of the past year or so! Tonight! On @abcnetwork.”
See his remarks above, and let us know what you think about the actor appearing in the Tournament of Champions in the comments section.
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
