A pearl of an ‘Earl’

AFTER dropping out of high school in his senior year, Jason Lee decided to become a professional skateboarder, so he did.

Then, a decade ago, after snagging a role in the Kevin Smith film “Mallrats,” he decided to become a legit, full-time actor. He did that too, with a 10-year film career that has taken him to a level somewhere between the guy who steals the show and the star in movies like “Almost Famous” and “The Ballad of Jack and Rose.”

There was just one thing Lee was pretty sure he never wanted to do: cross over to the world of television.

The character that made him change his mind is the protagonist of “My Name is Earl,” that guy you see in the gas station buying a pack of smokes, a scratch Lotto ticket and a tall boy at 10 a.m.

Earl is something of a small-town criminal, but after learning about karma and winning $100,000 on a scratch ticket, he uses the money and his new outlook on life to try to make up for all the wrong he’s ever done. Ethan Suplee, who appeared in “Mallrats” with Lee, plays Earl’s brother Randy in the show, which debuts on NBC on Sept. 20, and Jaime Pressly is his constantly nagging ex-wife.

Lee says he was blown away by the script, and after a lot of internal back and forth, he accepted the part.

“I wanted to move around a lot and not be confined to something,” says Lee, 35, a few days before production would begin in mid-August. “But I think enough time has passed now to where I can do a TV show and not be known just as that character.”

It helps that “My Name is Earl,” created by Greg Garcia, is a single-camera show and that the crew isn’t confined to a stage, helping Lee ease his transition into TV. “It feels just like working on a movie,” he says.

“Earl is definitely not a suit-wearing lawyer,” says Lee, decked out in his Earl attire, which includes jeans, boots and a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt underneath a flannel shirt. Then there’s the mustache. “It was definitely right for the role,” Lee says. “But then afterward I was like, ‘Great, now I have to wear this for six months out of the year.’ ”

Lee allows that he and Earl have a bit in common. “I’m pretty mellow like Earl, and I have a good heart,” he says. “But have I ever stolen a car radio or a car from a one-legged girl? No. Not really.”

Still, he may have bought a tall boy or two at 10 in the morning back in his younger days, he remembers winning $100 or so on a scratch ticket, and he smokes -- it’s what he calls his only vice.

Oh, and there was that time when he was a kid when he got chased by a security guard for stealing candy with his friends. “It was pretty scary. I never stole anything after that.”

He appreciates hard-working actors, the ones who are respected even though they may not be that well known or making $15 million per film. “Those were always the guys that I admired,” Lee says. “I think I’ve maintained a relatively sort of low-key profile. I try to do good work and make it about that.”

He says it’s much more flattering when people recognize him on the street and refer to his performance in a particular role than when they say, “Hey, it’s that guy!” He’s come to realize that he may have people shouting “Hey, Earl,” but he’s ready. “Luckily, I like the show a lot, so I’m not gonna mind,” Lee says.

“And I’m gonna have the ‘stache, so how can it be avoided?”