This week's EW cover: Seth MacFarlane's Oscar balancing act

Seth MacFarlane is well aware of his Achilles heel — it’s his Achilles heel.

“It’s the dancing that’s just kicking my ass. I’m not a dancer,” the soon-to-be Oscar hosts admits in this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, which goes behind the scenes of the Academy Awards to see just how the Family Guy and Ted creator intends to pull off the biggest live show of the year. With the animated TV hits Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show to oversee, a comedy Western film starting in the spring, and a particularly song-and-dance heavy awards telecast to emcee, everyone needs a piece of him right now — while MacFarlane is just trying to hold it all together.

After releasing Music Is Better Than Words, an album of swinging jazz songs, he feels he has the song part of “song-and-dance man” down, but a flu virus has left his vocal chords scratchy at a time when he’s pre-recording some comedy bits for the Feb. 24 show. “For the Oscars, it’ll be fine,” MacFarlane promises. “It’s Family Guy that’s always a nightmare. … Sometimes I have no choice but to record even if I’ve got a cold, and you can hear it in the fact that Stewie, Quagmire, and Peter all have a cold at the same time.”

MacFarlane discusses everything from the origins of his iconic animated characters to his plans for A Million Ways To Die In the West, the gunslinger comedy he’s co-writing, directing and starring in (perhaps opposite Charlize Theron and Amanda Seyfried). How wide-ranging is the interview? We also discussed what happens when celebrities (*cough* Adrien Brody *cough, cough*) lash back after being mocked on Family Guy, why MacFarlane — shockingly — wasn’t a troublemaker in high school, and his late mother’s sincere love for Tom Hanks in The ‘Burbs.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes peek at our cover shoot:

For more on Seth MacFarlane, plus our fearless predictions for who will walk home with the gold this year, check out the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands February 15th. Also, check back to EW’s Prize Fighter page over the next two weeks for more coverage of The Oscars, including outtakes from the MacFarlane interview and more details about the show.