It’s always interesting putting together a group of highly accomplished professionals in a room and forcing them to talk to each other. The Hollywood Reporter is making a business out of it with their Roundtable series. The latest in the series is the Drama Actor Roundtable, featuring some of the most well-known and acclaimed TV actors today.
This roundtable included Sterling K. Brown (“This is Us,” “The People v. O.J. Simpson”), John Lithgow (“The Crown”), Ewan McGregor (“Fargo”), Billy Bob Thornton (“Goliath,” “Fargo”), Riz Ahmed (“The Night Of”), and Jeffrey Wright (“Westworld”). Since this group of actors comes from all different backgrounds, and have had various lengths of careers, the discussion was lively and interesting. Some actors shared fears and issues they experience that you wouldn’t believe, while others share personal stories about the weight behind taking certain roles due to ethnicity.
In talking about what drew him to the role of Randall in NBC’s “This is Us,” Brown said, “What I love so much about the show and about the character of Randall is that he is black on purpose. So many times, for the sake of diversity on network TV, there’s going to be a black guy or a Latino guy, et cetera, and they just happen to be that. But the fact that he is black and we actually use that to tell the story of a black man being raised by this white family and still has the experience of being black in America…”
Then you have John Lithgow, known for playing everything from an alien in a sitcom to a serial killer in a “Dexter,” who talks about what it’s like being offered very specific roles. He said, “I guess because I have this rep as being a real actor-ish actor — not necessarily an actor’s actor but an actor-ish actor…But I’m a character man, and I’ve done a lot of extremely excessive acting in my day, so usually when there’s a total wack job, I’m right at the top of the list. And it’s a very short list.”
And of course, these talks wouldn’t be complete without talking about the current political climate. Specifically, THR asks whether this political climate affects what roles they take or how they play certain characters. Brown says, “[Our show has] gay folks and overweight people and black folks, and we’re going out into communities that may not have an opportunity to see things that are quite as heterogeneous as the show is. So, the more homogenized places in the country and in the world, they’re having an opportunity to meet people for the first time. Hopefully through meeting people, the next time they encounter them, they see them as people.”
Ahmed continues the thought by saying, “I do believe it’s an artist’s responsibility to engage with the times we’re living in. But it’s a weird thing. Certain stories or certain storytellers are encumbered with the responsibility of being seen as political whether they like it or not.”
Overall, these roundtable discussions offer audiences a chance to get to know these actors more, by hearing them share their stories. The Drama Actor Roundtable is well worth your time.
