Did you learn how to cook at all, or did you know how to cook already?
Well, I would tell you yes, and then my wife would tell you no, so I won't lie. I'm pretty basic when it comes to cooking. I wish I did know more, but I did get lessons [on] how to chop stuff on set, and that was a lot of fun.
"Mrs. Davis" also puts its own spin on the search for the holy grail. Is that a story that ever interested you prior to the show?
Absolutely. It's every kid's action adventure [or] dream, which is cool because I got to do another action adventure not too long ago called "Outer Banks." This one is different, but it's a lot of fun. Everything that I could have dreamed of as a kid was baked into this entire experience.
I get little hints of "Monty Python" inspiration throughout the show. Is that something that anyone ever talked about on set, or were there any other projects or performances that helped inspire the cast or the show as a whole?
I couldn't really speak to that ... That would be more so Betty and Jake [who] could talk to that more, only because it's very different where I'm at.
Due to the heavy historical and religious nature of the series, how much research, if any, and deep dives did you do to prepare? Or did you want to go in it blind on that front and take your own spin on it?
I approached it like I would approach any other character, with care and with being very thoughtful and understanding of what was happening — what he wants, what he needs to do to get it — and how that worked when getting to work with Betty. [We were] seeing how we could approach the scene with objectives and obstacles and what's all the in-between, what's the subtext.
The writing was incredible. Looking for clues within the text and going from there and getting to be opposite Betty was all that ... being as prepared as possible and then going in and doing the work.
The show is wild from start to finish. Did you get the scripts all at once, or was it periodic?
I got the first two scripts. I started to get drafts as we went along when I got the job, because I got it a little bit further down the road than everybody else. I came in a little late to the game.
Did anything surprise you in that journey of reading the script?
The whole script is always a surprise. Every scene, every page turn, it's a new surprise, and it's definitely ... Damon said this in an interview somewhere, where if you had taken the first four scripts and fed it to ChatGPT, it would combust. That's a cool way to look at it. There is nothing that is expected when you're reading those scripts or when you're watching the show itself.
