James McMenamin – Orange Is the New Black

By starrymag | July 17, 2016

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I did a guest role on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and an art project film called A Tree a Cloud a Rock by Carson McCullers who wrote The Ballad of the Sad Café. Karen Allen directed it and she and I had worked together in the theater twice before when she directed me on stage. This was her first opportunity to direct a film so she brought me in for a nice little part. Last year I did two films called In Dubious Battle, which is an adaptation of a Steinbeck novel and I did a project with James Franco called The Long Home. Both of them are in post-production.

Q) How did you get your start in acting?

A) I started in high school, like a lot of people do. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do after high school and the world tells you that you have to make some sort of decision very quickly. I was not ready to do any of that so I went to the Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania and gravitated towards the theater department because I had done it in high school and enjoyed it so much. When I was about twenty years old, I did a play called “Hot L Baltimore” and I got to play a guy that was in a similar situation to my life time wise. I identified with the character emotionally and intellectually and as I was doing that I developing a view of the world (as people do in their late teens, early twenties). I thought I had something to offer, an opinion, about how the world is and society is and culture is. I thought I was a pretty okay actor and that I could use that to express myself and have a point of view. When I was in my early twenties, I did the Williamstown Theatre Festival where I was an apprentice and that was the first time I was around theatre people who do this for a living. That was sort of my introduction to the New York theatre field and I found representation through the festival. I did a production of “Of Mice and Men” with James Franco and that opened up some doors for me in the television world.

Q) Is there a chance for you to go back into theater in the near future?

A) I would love to do plays! I do want to go back and do plays. I have been gifted with a son a few years ago so the thing about theater is that it eats up a lot of your time. So, I have to be away a great deal. Even if I’m in New York City I’m still not home. A lot of the off Broadway theater is not incredibly lucrative so my priorities have kind of changed. Film and television happens very quickly. “Orange Is the New Black” has been the biggest gift in our lives because for two years I’ve got to be home, hold up my end of the stick financially and get to make great art and be a part of a great project.

Q) How did you become a part of the show?

A) I do know that Jennifer Euston, the casting director (who I don’t know particularly well, but she has changed my life) saw of “Of Mice and Men” and was aware of me. But it was random that my agent submitted me for the part based on the breakdown. I was about the right age and right demeanor. They didn’t leak a ton about the character. It was just that the character had worked at a donut shop and had never really had much responsibility. Maybe he took advantage of the ones he did. When I first auditioned, it was just a couple of lines. Then, I was away on vacation with my family and they asked me to come back and read again. I was given a couple more pages and for the audition on a Monday and then I believe we started shooting on that Wednesday. It happens really quickly!

Q) What drew you to this role?

A) I did not know a lot. I knew the show was amazing. My wife and I had followed the series and watched it that I knew that the material was groundbreaking and the format of media is changing. Entertainment is changing and “Orange Is the New Black” is a part of that. Netflix is breaking the mold and the content is incredibly cutting edge. Also, the world of media outlets is changing very, very quickly and I was of course incredibly attracted to that. The other thing is that when I first moved to New York City there were only like four television series shooting there. Because the world of media has changed so much, now there are like thirty to forty series that shoot in and around New York City. So, there is a lot more opportunities for a guy like me. Other than that, being drawn to the character in particular I didn’t know a great deal about where it was going or who he was other than he was a guy around thirty or so that worked in a donut shop that didn’t have a lot of responsibilities and maybe was too smart for his station and was trying to take the next step in his life. I recognized myself in that regard because as an actor I’m constantly trying to figure out the next step in my life and the next twenty or thirty years.

Q) What were your thoughts on that first breakdown about C.O. Charlie ‘Donuts’ Coates?

A) Because I didn’t know a lot was going on, as an audience member when you track the relationship between Doggett (Taryn Manning) and Donuts it was a little bit of a rollercoaster. It seemed like things were going well for them and you root for them. She had gone through so much as a character that you wanted for her to find this thing. I was on that rollercoaster as well because I wasn’t privy to that story and Season Three was my first season. So, I didn’t know. I was like, “This is great! This is great!” I think it was episode eight where it was the second time we’d been to the pond and I demanded her to fetch – I realized this was going somewhere else. I was disappointed for Doggett and Donuts that this was the way it turned out. Now, I would never question a writer. The way I was trained and the thing I believe is that they create the world so my job as an actor is to fulfil the decisions and actions they have written for the character. But certainly I was disappointed for them because I was emotionally invested in them. I was also excited to see where this was going to go and what was going to happen.

Q) Is Donuts just naive or is he blinded by his feelings that he doesn’t understand he has raped Doggett?

A) This is a complicated thing to talk about. First of all, I don’t judge the character. My job is to portray the character as honestly as I can. With that being said, I don’t know if what he has done is in any way forgivable. The story is that he was a guy who had worked at this donut shop where he didn’t have much responsibility and certainly no authority. So, for the first time in his life as an adult he was put in this position of absolute authority. I hate to use the word “drunk” because that has come up in the media in some recent real stories, but he got drunk on power. His perception of what was happening was skewed and he had/has real feelings for Doggett, but his perception of what that relationship how it was physically manifested was completely blurred by being power drunk. He mistook what was abuse and on her level of obedience for authority as love and affection. He was really blind to it in a way until she told him in Season Four episode four. She tells him what the relationship is and it is devastating to him because he lived in what is essentially a fantasy world. She kind of shatters that fantasy world for him and it is devastating. With the rest of Season Four, he kind of deals with the reality that this is what I actually did. He begins on some level then to try and make amends. He is trying to find forgiveness or amends. He is striving to fix the thing on some level, even though it is probably completely unfixable. The episode is called “Toast Can’t Never Be Bread Again.” They are both broken, flawed people so I think as an audience member you root for them to figure something out, but of course it is incredibly conflicting because he did this thing, she knows he did this thing and the audience knows he did this thing. As the season was developing in Season Four, I honestly couldn’t believe how daring and kind of crazy it was that the writers were going to try to continue this relationship on some level. All of the characters on the show are flawed. Almost all of the girls have done something wrong down the line. But the characters are three dimensional and whole that just because you have done something wrong doesn’t mean that you can’t seek redemption. It doesn’t mean that one facet of your life completely blurs the rest of your life. We all know people that have done things that are wrong that have tried to seek amends. I think in that way audience members can at least identify with the fact that Donuts is trying to fix the thing. He is trying to find forgiveness and make amends. Whether or not that is even accomplishable, I’m not going to go there.

Q) Do you feel Donuts deserves redemption?

A) He is a fictional character. He is a character that I portray. As an actor, I try not to judge him. I try not to say he is deserving or not deserving. I try to examine what has been written and try to portray that as honestly as I can. As a fan of the show, I root for them. I do. I think they are both broken and flawed people and in a weird way they found themselves. They both have committed horrible, horrible acts. She is paying her debt and he is not. But I of course as a fan of the show and their relationship, I do root for them on some level and I hope something positive comes of it.

Q) It came across that he was so devastated hearing it was rape to her because he had real feelings for her.

A) He absolutely has genuine feelings for her. He absolutely does! They talk about the time machine nd he says he would go back because he is filled with regret and remorse. But what could he do to redeem himself is sort of the question. As the guy portraying him, I don’t know how you could make amends for that. But he absolutely does have real feelings and he thought blinded by that power and authority that their relationship was on equal terms until she tells him that it is not.

Q) Was there instant chemistry when you and Taryn began working together?

A) We were thrown together pretty quickly, but we had a lot of fun. Taryn is a mountain of talent. She is a wonderfully quick witted and open to things in the moment. She is very alive, real and in the moment. I enjoyed her almost immediately. I enjoy her company when the cameras were turned off very much, but I love to act with her. I’m very friendly with Taryn. She’s a wonderful human being. But I loved to act with Taryn. She is fast, funny and willing to try things. Sometimes you never know which way she is going to go with a take on something, but I just follow her lead and trust her implicitly.

Q) What makes Donuts have such a connection with Doggett?

A) In Season Three they just have these elaborate conversations. Without being complicated people, they are both quick-witted and think deeply about things that aren’t particularly deep. They think about the donut sign at the donut shop and things like that and what the ducks are like. They do have these long fun conversations. I’m sure for her it is like she isn’t a prisoner when she is with him and for him it is like he’s made a friend. We don’t see his home life or anything or really. In Season Four, you see his apartment for a little bit where I’m playing video games with Luschek (Matt Peters). But for the most part I don’t think he has anyone in his life that he is that close to and how that happened, I don’t know the answer. But he doesn’t have anyone and even in the prison he doesn’t relate to the other guards. Whatever connection they have through these conversations is they both find real value in it.

Q) Donuts does seem to be one of a few people that takes his job seriously.

A) I think that happens during the course of Season Four where he realizes what he has done and has probably examined what the is supposed to be happening personally and professionally in the prison. Even late in the season, there is that scene where things are going very badly inside and he is outside watching the body parts. Baxter (Alan Aisenberg) comes out and he says, “Things are scarier inside.” I ask him twice what he means and he doesn’t tell me. It is because the crazy thing that by episode eleven in season four he may be the closest thing to a moral compass in that place that could possibly stop any of that. And it is sort of tragic that Baxter doesn’t say what is going on in the prison because I think he would have stopped it. I think he would have gone out of his way to put an end to it at that point, but Baxter never explains. Coates and Bayley have a scene in the chapel where Bayley is looking for advice and some honesty and Donuts denies him three times to his face. If Coates says, “Yes, this place changes you. Yes, I’ve done a horrible thing. Yes, I’ve done this and am trying to find a way out of this,” then maybe Bayley would walk out. That was an opportunity for Donuts to find some redemption by helping this kid and he doesn’t do it. He can’t tell anyone though. He really can’t.

Q) Is there someone you haven’t worked with much you’d like to work with more or at all that you would like to have scenes with?

A) The cast is just incredible! Most of my track has been with Taryn and last year I spent a great deal of time with Alan. I’ve been the guard on duty in very, very large scenes. But every time I turn around there is an actor I’d love to spend more time with. As a guy at my age level and looking around at the other actors, I admire Nick Sandow (who plays Caputo) very much and what he has been able to accomplish in his career. I look down the road and hope to be as good an actor some day as Nick Sandow. Likewise, there are a million actors on the show. Danielle Brooks is so immensely talented. I would recite the phonebook with her if they asked me to. The cast is huge! There are so many actors. I think there are about sixty speaking characters and there is nothing else like it on television.

Q) Where is your favorite place on set to film?

A) I will tell you this, when we’re in the cafeteria or doing movie night those days take much, much longer because you are going to have thirty principals (speaking actors) and maybe double that in extras. So, those days are incredibly long, but the effect and what you get out of them is incredibly powerful when you see all of these people together. It’s very, very powerful and amazing. In general, I like to have a scene with another actor where we each have a point of view or each trying to accomplish something and we play off each other. We play off each other and use the obstacles that the other provides. Last season there were two scenes that stuck with me. Last season in episode thirteen there is so much going on between Doggett and Donuts where they are trying to make this thing work for themselves, but they have this history that is incredibly complicated. I thought the writers handled it wonderfully. The other one that I just loved was in the chapel with Baxter because we are two characters in search of redemption and questioning our lives and our careers. So, we’re sitting in the chapel and I thought the imagery of that was amazing and beautiful. A lot of the outside stuff is incredibly impressive.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from shooting “Orange Is the New Black?”

A) One of the hardest and most impactful emotional days for the company that I have been a part of was when Poussey’s (Samira Wiley) life is taken. That was a very large day because it was almost the entire cast and it was a very, very long day. It was like a thirteen hour shoot day and it was one of the bigger scenes I have been a part of because there were a lot of moving pieces with the number of the actors and crew involved. Just the man hours that it took accomplish what they did was incredibly impressive and it was also an emotional day for the cast as a whole with where the storyline was going. “Orange Is the New Black” is a wonderful set to work on. Everyone is very supportive, kind and open. Everybody is trying to accomplish this thing, but it was a little bit of a funeral I guess because we all knew what was happening. It was one of the more powerful experience I’ve had as an actor filming television. People could see the humanity on many different levels.

Q) How do you get into character?

A) Because of my background in theater, everything is text based. I just examine what the character has to say or the action written in the script and then start to question why the character does that. I don’t have an abstract extra façade that isn’t based on something in the text. I examine text, both lines and stage directions essentially. When I get sent my pages or the script, I examine what the actions are of the character and what his lines are and I try to label objectives to try to do and get accomplished. I usually go into shoot something and I have some ideas of what I think the take is for the character, what the tactic a character will take to accomplish something. Sometimes the director will have a different idea. So, sometimes I will come in with two or three different tactics to try and accomplish an objective, but you have to be willing to change. Sometimes where the camera is going to be placed will effect the outcome of a shot. For the most part, I just examine the piece of text and try to label the actions and objectives and try tactics – ways to get those things – and the character develops out of that. They develop out of chasing objectives.

Q) How are you able to shake off your character at the end of the day?

A) Not all of it is emotionally intensive. I did this play called “At Home At the Zoo” where the character kills himself at the end of it. You do that eight times a week and, of course, you are going to ride that train emotionally and go to the end emotionally, but you have to be able to turn that off at the end of the night. You have to be able to take your costume off, hang it up, walk out the door, shake hands and smile and then go home to your wife and kid. How I do it? I don’t really know. Sometimes you leave emotional a little bit. By the time you walk in your front door you have just got to let that go. It’s just like any job. Jobs are frustrating and hard. Work is frustrating and hard, but sometimes it is rewarding. Either way, you have to be able to leave your job at work. Of course you bring home your job a little bit, but you have to be able to leave it behind otherwise you wouldn’t be able to function on any level.

Q) You are a part of social media. Have you been enjoying the fan feedback from your work on “Orange Is the New Black?”

A) I’m fairly new to social media. I joined it last year during Season Three and I did a couple episodes of “Public Morals” and a run on “Nurse Jackie.” So, I had people tell me to get a social media account because if I didn’t someone could pretend that they were me. Last year, I created an Instagram and Twitter account. Of course, most of that last year was a place for fans to vent their frustration at Charlie “Donuts.” I was okay with that. I know some actors don’t like that and have responded to that sort of thing. I was okay with that because I felt like they are fans and that’s their right. If they want to seek out this thing as any form of catharsis to vent their frustration, then so be it because it is not really me. It’s just an account online that I only look at when I feel like it. This season has been completely different. People are very conflicted about who Charlie Coates is. Last year it was more emotional towards the character and that was the primary thing I got. I was actually kind of pleased with that because it meant they were emotionally responding to the work. This year people have been more conflicted and have actually been kind about what they see in the work, which has been nice. People seem to be responding, seeing the work and like what I’m doing as an actor. So, this year has been a completely and totally different experience. Last year it was okay that people were emotional and wanted to vent and this year people have been very kind. Some of that is because the character is trying to redeem himself, I’m sure, and some of it is because I have been around for nineteen episodes now. People have seen more actual work and are responding to that. So, social media I’m very new to and it is also a necessity I think in my line of work. I’m still learning exactly what it is and the expectations. People are fans and attached to the show and characters so it is another way for them to reach out to interact with actors and characters and that’s cool and I totally see that. But sometimes I’m not sure what to do with it.

Q) Do you hope something in particular is explored for him next season?

A) I have no idea. I honestly have no idea. The way television works is you don’t get hat information. You really (in my experience) get one episode as a time and I’m just dealing with that. I did plays forever so I deal with the episodes as if that episode was a play. I take the previous episodes and get the next one and I think, “I know these parameters from the previous episode (or ten episodes) and start there.” I treat each episode as an individual play and take them one at a time. I don’t think the writers know completely where they are going. I’m sure they have some idea where they are going, but I don’t know how set in stone they are.

Q) Is there anything else you think fans should know about C.O. Coates?

A) I think they know just about as much as I do. I do think that the interesting thing with him is that he is seeking redemption and I think that we have all made mistakes, but not as huge and insurmountable as he has. We all have things in our lives though that we would change or things about ourselves that we don’t like. What the writers have done that is very daring and interesting is they have created this very flawed man and put him on a quest to try to redeem himself. I think a lot of people can identify with that. We all want to be good and if someone points out that we aren’t doing good or being good than that resonates with us. The character is trying to make amends. He is trying to redeem himself. He is seeking forgiveness and I think that is a universal thing. We all really do want to be good and want to be happy. Everybody has flaws though that get in the way.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I appreciate it very much! I love to act and it is a huge blessing. It is a not a right to get to do it, it is a blessing. I have been blessed to be an actor and I appreciate it very much that people enjoy it and respond to the work and have emotional responses to it. It makes me feel so good as a human being, actor and a man that people like and appreciate what I do. Unlike any other art form, I can’t be an actor without an audience or be an actor without a response. Of course, I want the response to be positive – or negative. If the action is negative and the character is villainous then I like it when you hate him. When an actor is striving to be good, I love it when you have an emotional response that is positive. I appreciate all of it – every minute. I’ve been incredibly blessed to do something that I love for a living. There are not many people in the world who can say, “I’m allowed to do something that I love and make my living doing it.” It is a huge privilege to be a professional actor in the world today.