Ian Kahn – TURN: Washington’s Spies

By starrymag | May 2, 2016

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you have worked on?

A) I did an episode of “Master of None,” the Aziz Ansari show on Netflix. I played a character named Brad Honeycut, a director that hires him on the show. I just completed a short film called “Wander” that will be coming out in festivals, hopefully, in the next year.

Q) What was your initial audition like for “Turn: Washington’s Spies?”

A) I was a little surprised. I got a call from my agent/manager asking if I wanted to audition to play George Washington on a television show. They said the show was about the Revolutionary War and asked me if I’d like to audition for it. I asked how old he would be and they said it would be a younger George Washington, in his early 40’s. I was told that it would follow him during the revolutionary period – not during his Presidency. I thought that was unusual because, I don’t know about you, but I’ve just always thought of him as the old guy on the dollar bill. I looked at it and I really liked it. I thought, “Wow! This is cool. He’s a cool guy!” I started to do some research and my boss, Craig Silverstein, for the callback sent me eleven pages of research that really went into detail about the man and a great indication of what he was like. So, it was sort of an instant collaboration from the get-go. And it was kind of exciting and awesome! I still pinch myself a little bit about getting that part.

Q) You noted doing research for the role. Was there anything outside of that research that you added to your portrayal?

A) I think what I added to General Washington beyond the research…When you have a character who was an actual person and you have access to as much information as there is about this particular person, it’s a real great base to work with. But I think part of being an actor is bringing something of yourself to the character. I know that, for me, I struggled in my early years – my teens, 20’s and early 30’s – with understanding of how to really be in the world. I think that General Washington had some of that as well. So, I really tried to bring myself to the character and my understanding of my own life to the character. Part of every actor’s job is to bring something of themselves to the character.

Q) What keeps challenging you about this role?

A) What really challenges of me about the role is that what was going on with the man was so very challenging. I mean, he really was up against it in this situation. He wasn’t going to win this war unless a lot of things broke the right way for him. Fortunately, they did. But I think to realize how painful it was to him when you play a character like this when you take on playing the role you realize how heavy the world was for him since the responsibility was so great. I’m a dad and there is a great responsibility to being a father. So, even though he didn’t really know it at the time he was the father of the whole country and there is lots of responsibility there. I feel that for him and I feel for him during this time. He handled being slandered quite well. People were always staking shots at him. Even during the war, the other Generals were trying to get him out as the Continental Army he had to deal with that and it was immensely challenging.

Q) Was there instant chemistry when you began working with your castmates?

A) It was pretty instant for me. It helps that they are such good people and they are fun to be around. They are intelligent people and great actors. I am working with Seth Numrich who plays Benjamin Talmadge is such a pleasure. And I work with Owain Yeoman who plays Benedict Arnold, we’re very close friends and we challenge each other all the time. Working with Daniel Henshall is great. I tend to mostly work with the men on the show because I’m stuck in the tents talking strategy. But it’s a wonderful cast and wonderful people.

Q) Is there someone you haven’t had many scenes with that you’d like to work with more or someone you haven’t worked with that you’d like a scene with?

A) I am desperate to do a scene with Simcoe (Samuel Roukin). How great would that be to have a scene with General Washington and Captain Simcoe? We don’t know how the heck we could pull that off, but Sam and I are good buddies. We talk about that a lot. Also, I would love to do a scene with Jamie Bell. It’d be a scene where General Washington turns to Abraham Woodhall and says, “Boy, I really put you through it, pal. Thanks for all that you do.” That’s kind of how I feel when I spend time with Jamie Bell. He’s such a lovely man and a wonderful actor. I said this to him the last time I saw him that I really wanted to do a scene and I think we all feel that way. We’re all in different camps so it is hard to crossover because we are at war with each other, but I admire everybody very much.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from filming?

A) The very first scene that I shot was the entrance of General Washington in Season One. That was scary because that was the first time that I was really the man. It was great because there were all these soldiers in the room and they were cheering. I thought, “Okay, I’m him. Be him.” I remember sitting down in a chair and I was about to look at Seth as Benjamin Talmadge for the first time and I remember thinking to myself, “Here we go!” I was about to say my first line and it was very moving at the time. I thought, “Who knows what this might be?” It has turned into something greater than I thought it might be.

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching the series?

A) First, I think people should have fun watching it because I think it is fun. It’s an entertainment show and it is a show that I think makes people happy to watch. I think the characters are engaging and they care about the characters. I think they are funny. You really go down the line with this cast. I could name everybody. They are all so darn good that I think one thing I want people to take away from watching the show is that it brings them pleasure and joy from watching it in. Another thing, in a more serious vain, that maybe – just maybe – it might show people that there is a lot to be grateful for to these people, the Culper Spy Ring, General Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Lafayette. These are all people who gave us a country. If we lost that war, we wouldn’t be who we are today. Again, I want people to enjoy the show, but also take in the reality that the country came about because people earned it. It wasn’t just given to them. It’ something to be grateful for and maybe to be put into all our minds about our country now. Don’t take things so for granted, perhaps. They took a great risk and created maybe the greatest country in the world.

Q) You recently wrote a Huffington Post article about the phrase “Washington is Broken.” What was it about this moment in time that perpetuated you to take action and speak up about this statement?

A) That’s a good question. Why now? I kept hearing everyone saying “Washington is broken.” Every day. I watch the news and political news. I really follow it very closely. I enjoy watching it and I really care about it. People would say all the time “Washington is broken” and it made me think, “Guys. You’re talking about General George Washington. You know that, right?” Because it was a place where no government worked well it was the name of a person that we take a lot of pride in – or could take a lot of pride in. And it just made me think to myself that if people are talking about Washington being broken then what they need to do is look at General Washington as to how to fix it. How would he fix it if he were around today? We actually have some idea of how he would fix it. That was the impetus for it. I was like, “C’mon now. Stop taking the icon’s name in vain.” Because I come from the perspective of him on a daily basis when I’m working on the show, I don’t claim to definitely know because it is presumptuous. I can imagine though because I think about what he would do every day. So, I think “What would George Washington would do in this spot?” That’s my job. So, I just attach that to the political process. He’d be pretty mad I think.

Q) What kind of feedback have you gotten to the article?

A) I think it is important and I think it is common sense, actually. I don’t think I’m that smart in coming up with what I said. The thing that Washington had that was so great was his sense of humility and his lack of needing power to feel noble in himself. I have a friend who is a prop master on this show. He read the article and I spoke to him afterwards. He said, “The thing about George Washington that George III (the king of England at the time) said was ‘There is no way we could beat Washington in this war. We never would have beaten him.’” That’s why he is the greatest figure. He didn’t want the power and it takes a special man not to want the power and reach for power. I think that’s it. I think that in our world now of reality TV and look-at-me politics and look-at-me world with Twitter and Instagram that it is very hard to let your message speak for itself. Because you have to get out there! I don’t think it is easy, but I think it could be very helpful.

Q) There was a fascinating episode of “Who Do You Think You Are” with Scott Foley recently where he found out a relative worked in George Washington’s Life Guard.

A) You actually see that on our show. We have Life Guards with me all the time and they are between 5’8 and 5’10.  I typically have the same guys, but if I have a new lifeguard I let them know the position they are playing and how important it is, what they are doing. I say, “When you’re standing there with me, you are as important to the character as I am because you are representing General Washington. That is how he thought of your character. So, I’m watching you. You’re watching me and I’m watching you.”  One of my favorite moments on the show is in Season 2 when Washington corrects his aide for not being dressed properly. General Washington loved his men. There are so many interesting nuggets about this person and that’s part of the fun of playing the role. You can just keep getting deeper and deeper.

Q) Is there something else about General Washington you want to be sure viewers know about him?

A) I have great admiration for General George Washington. He is one of the greatest men in the history of this country and he was also very much a man. In being a man, a human being, he was not perfect in any way – any more than I am perfect or you are perfect. We are flawed. It’s something I try to tell my two sons every day, “You’re going to make mistakes every day. No one makes more mistakes than your Daddy. I make the most mistakes of anybody in this family.” And that’s the truth about General Washington as well. There are aspects of him and choices that he has made that are far from perfect. So, it’s not that I think that George Washington is perfect and we should all be George Washington. No, I don’t think that because he wasn’t perfect. But his standard of our country – there is something golden there and that’s what we should be holding on. He was a guy. He was a person. He was a great person. He as a man. He was, like all of us, flawed.

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

A) Without them, we wouldn’t be doing this. Without the fans’ passion for the show, they wouldn’t’ have picked us up for a third season – or even a second season! It is absolutely their excitement and passion makes it available for us. So, thank you. I love playing this part, being a part of this world and working with these people. So, I have the fans to thank.

 

Read Ian Kahn’s Huffington Post Article:

If “Washington is Broken,” We Should Look To General Washington To Fix It