We read you couldn’t get a job between Temple Grandin and “Homeland.” Is that true?
That really stuck with people. That quote keeps coming back up.
We just can’t believe it because you’re a great actor. Did you mean you got offers but didn’t see a script you liked?
Do you have a script?
No, but we can’t believe no one else would. Can you explain?
There was a kind of disconnect and that was confusing when people really did seem to appreciate Temple Grandin and even my performance within it. And I think a couple things were going on. One, I was so inspired by that role and so challenged by it and I felt like I really had to push myself. And I think I emerged, I felt energized and emboldened by that and ready to take on a similar kind of challenge and there just aren’t many roles like that, with Temple, almost by definition.
But, yeah, I think I didn’t have patience for regular old stuff and there also was just there was kind of a dearth of material in general in that moment for whatever reason. But it all worked out in the end. And also, I guess I had been at it long enough to know that just to do a job for the sake of it is really a bad idea. It’s never really satisfying and it’s better to just kind of cope with that frustration and wait for something that is generally enticing.
Did you really think about leaving acting to become a decorator?
I was kind of I was joking. But really, people really listened to that. Wow. Yeah, I mean, we’re freelance people, artists. Dare I say artists? And that’s the risk of what we do. And people say, “Oh, gosh. Do you feel imprisoned by your contract to ‘Homeland’?” And I’m like, well, no, it’s like great insurance. For a while, I know that at least once a year I’m going to get to do really stimulating, worthwhile work and it starts to feel like my studio a little bit. But, yeah, we’re just so dependent on other factors in a way that musicians aren’t, painters aren’t.
What do you take from popular culture to inform your performance? Could it be as specific as watching CSPAN?
I have not become more of a political creature since doing the show. I mean, in the beginning of the season I was told that she was indeed off her meds, so I returned to some of my bipolar books. I’ve got a stack of them by the bed just like it’s funny. Madness, bipolar I and II, and sanity, insanity. I watch a lot of confessionals on YouTube. People who have this condition, bipolar, are often up late at night and have a lot of energy and a desire to talk and no one to talk to, so they talk to the camera and that’s always very useful.
But I did the bulk of my research before the first season, and I have little refresher courses. It really is our job to interpret the heavy lifting that the writers do. Beyond that, it’s, you know, The Times, “Morning Joe” when I run at the gym, but nothing.
What other shows are you watching?
Ironically, I’m too busy making TV to watch enough of it, but there are a lot of shows I’m very curious about that I just haven’t had time to see. I tried to start watching “House of Cards” while I was feeding Cyrus and it just was not going to happen so he got very distracted and wasn’t eating. I love “Girls.” Lena is a dear friend and I’m just a huge fan of that show. I would like to see “House of Cards.” I would like to see “Orange is the New Black.” “The Americans” I still haven’t seen. I’m terrible, but I have the desire, I really do.
Are there any guilty pleasures you make time for?
I don’t know. I do watch Bravo occasionally. I really don’t have time.
