TORONTO – Jeffrey Tambor is the sort of actor who doesn’t really play the Hollywood game. He always comes across as genuine and forthright (even some of the best actors in the world are better at fake smiles and insincere charm than they would care to admit). And if he truly isn’t he’s an even better actor than he’s given credit for.
The “Transparent” star is a man who, after picking up his second consecutive Emmy Sunday night, advocated that he should be the last cisgendered man to play a transwoman on television. He’s the sort of guy that when this writer interviewed him for a Hollywood Reporter piece last spring, not only did he connect from his direct line (something that would give most publicists a heart attack), but after the end of his interview called back a few minutes later to make sure he gave the best possible answer to a very important question. He’s a partner in Skylight Books, an independent, neighborhood bookstore in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles (“I just like the idea that it’s there for people.”). He even profusely compliments people interviewing him in a manner that seems sincerely genuine. Again, if it’s all a ruse he’s an even better actor than the collective media world realizes.
On this particular Sunday morning, Tambor is taking some time at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival to discuss the first few episodes of “Transparent” season three which will premiere later that afternoon.
The first episode, “Elizah,” co-written and directed by series creator Jill Solloway, finds Maura (Tambor’s now iconic character) volunteering at a Los Angeles LGBTQ community hotline. When one caller seems on the edge of committing suicide, Maura overreacts and travels to the wilds of South Central LA to find her. It’s not only an episode that shows a particularly different side of the trans community, but also one that touches on white privilege and the limits of Maura’s goodwill.
“Her ethics are right and she does want to help, but then I don’t think she really understands. I mean, she’s never been in Compton. She lives in the Pacific Palisades,” Tambor says. “And her idea of what the trans community is is not this. It hasn’t embraced this yet. So, she gets a big, healthy slap awake.”
“Elizah” opens with Maura awaking and getting out of bed with her girlfriend Vicki (Angelica Huston). For all the positive changes in her life Maura seems visibly unhappy at this particular moment and Tambor reveals that’s because, “something is missing and we find out in this season what it is.”
“It’s Maura I believe who is unfulfilled and I don’t even know if she knows what she’s unfulfilled about,” Tambor continues. “Here she has money. She has things. She has made a huge decision in her life. Why doesn’t it feel better?”
Season two of “Transparent” focused slightly more on Maura’s grown children; Sarah (Amy Landecker), Josh (Jay Duplass) and Ali (Gabby Hoffman). Tambor says the focus will shift slightly back to Maura for season three and the series will dive into her plans to get gender reassignment surgery (GRS). He clarifies, however, that it won’t be as obvious a story arc as some might expect.
“I like surprises. I don’t have a lot of input [in the direction of the show],” Tambor reveals. “[Jill’s] asked me, ‘What do you think?’ And, y’know, I’ve done a couple of things this season and I’m thinking of one episode where I actually opened the script and almost fell over. There are a lot of challenges. I love that.”
Tambor says that even three seasons in he still feels like he learns something new about Maura in every scene. He notes, “I mean, Maura doesn’t even know how to put on her makeup. I, Jeffrey Tambor as an adult, cisgendered male, I did not know and I say this with true humility that it took years to learn makeup. Men don’t know that. And that’s her journey. Here she’s making huge decisions and she can’t even make the little ones. Everything is a surprise to her. Everything.”
Like many actors Tambor doesn’t like to watch himself on screen, but admits he’s “enthralled” by his co-stars and that his transformational performance as Maura sometimes makes it easier to sneak a peek.
“Watching Jeffrey watching Maura is easier than watching Jeffrey playing other roles,” Tambor says. “And Maura is very powerful. Maura is very real to me. Maura exists to me.”
“Transparent” season three debuts on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 23.
