Lawrence Gilliard Jr. – The Deuce

By starrymag | September 9, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

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

A) I have a few projects that I’m developing. I don’t really like talking about stuff I’m developing until it’s really greenlit and a go. But there are some things that I’m working on by myself.

Q) How was your character Alston on “The Deuce” originally described to you?

A) Well, he was first described to me as a character that was going to be too young for me to play. [laughs] I had lunch with David Simon like two years or a year before the show got cast and he was like, “There is one character who is a cop, but I don’t think you’d be able to play him.” That was that. Then, a year later he was like, “Oh yeah, we changed that character. So, now you can play him.” He was just described as a cop in the 70’s. There was a fine line between good and bad and they just described him as a cop trying to be good in a corrupt system.

Q) Was there anything you added to him that wasn’t in the breakdown?

A) Well, you always have to create backstory for your characters. I added things like maybe he came from the military. Maybe he was in Vietnam and he came out of the war and then became a cop. You have to create things, backstory for your character that isn’t necessarily in the piece or may not necessarily come up in the piece while the show is running. But, yeah, I created a whole bunch of other things. I did a lot of research for the character and I watched movies. You know, you’ve got to watch Serpico if you’re doing a show about cops in the 70’s. I watched documentaries about cops in the police department during that time in New York City. So, that informed a lot of things that I did when performing Alston.

Q) What keeps challenging you about your portrayal?

A) For me, any role that I’m playing it’s always important to do the character some kind of justice – to try to portray the character in a way that is honest and truthful because there is a person in that world who is that character. So, I’m always challenging myself to be as honest and as truthful with the character as possible because if there is someone (which there are people out there) out there and they can relate I want them to be able to go through the journey. The only way for them to be able to do that, to go through the whole journey and follow the story, is if I’m connecting. If I’m being honest, truthful and connecting then they will see it and they will feel it and it will be honest and truthful for them. They’ll be able to connect even more. So, it’s always challenging for me to just be honest and truthful. I’m always challenging myself with that. What is going to make this not feel like it’s just entertainment? What is going to make this feel like it’s not just a formula or the same old story? It’s not just good cop – bad cop or good cop – bad guy. What can I do to make it feel more real?

Q) This season you’re headed over at the Midtown Enforcement Project with partner Gene Goldman. What else can you tease is in store for Alston this season on “The Deuce?”

A) Those guys are moving forward. If anybody remembers what Time Square looked like back in the 70’s, I think the show does a pretty good job of showing what it was and what it looked like by then. If anyone is familiar with what Time Square looks like now then you can see that the efforts of police officers, the police department and the politicians put in to the area and it paid off because everything turned around. So, this season that’s what is happening. Alston and Goldman are working more towards turning the city around, that particular area around and turning The Deuce around. What you’ll see is sometimes you can’t always play by the rules, you can’t always play fair and there is still that fine line there. At what point do you cross the line to get what you want? At what point do you cross the line so it will actually do some good?

Q) Talk about working more with Luke Kirby this coming season.

A) Luke is great. He’s cool. He’s a smart actor. He’s fun. He’s a sharing actor. I have a good time working with him. We built a cool relationship, just the two of us – a bond. And it’s been a blast working with that cat.

Q) How hands on is creator and star James Franco when it comes to filming and the episodes?

A) He’s very hands on. James is one of those freaks of nature. [laughs] I don’t know when that dude sleeps. What makes it even worse is he looks so damn good. He’s a handsome guy. He’s a smart guy. He’s a hardworking guy. He makes me sick, to be honest. [laughs] He’s fun. He’s fun to work with. He’s a really smart director. It was a blast working with him, too. And he’s very hands on.

Q) What are some moments or episodes this coming season that were your favorites to film?

A) There is a moment…This season Ralph Macchio and I are the only two original cops that are left. So, there are moments where I have to go to him and he walks the line more than I walk that line. [laughs] So, there are moments where I have to go to him for favors because we have to get things done and those are great moments. I can’t tell you the specific episode numbers, but that’s another cat who I just loved working with. We had a blast working together. Because he’s still on one side of the line more than I am and I’m trying to be on the other side of that fine line, whenever we got together in cahoots with one another trying to work stuff out was always fun. Those moments are fun. Also, there is a love interest this year. There is a new love interest for Alston played by Kelcy Griffin. It was fun working with her, too. Also, Dom Lombardozzi is on the show this season who plays Jack Maple, who was an actual police officer in the Transit back in the 70’s and 80’s. That was like a reunion for me, going back to “The Wire.” It was great all the scenes we did together. It was a lot of fun because his character that he plays has a lot of energy and is really just a wild cat and my character is so reserved. So, just playing off of each other and trying to maintain that was just fun to do. I had a lot of fun working with everybody.

Q) What have you personally taken away from your time working on this series?

A) Well, one thing is I gained a whole new respect for police men and officers in particular who worked during that time in Time Square. Before I did this show I never even considered the police presence in that area. When we talk about that time and that area, I remember. I remember that. I was young. I was very, very young, but I remember what it looked like and what it felt like. But you never consider the police presence in that area. We always talk about the pimps in the area, the prostitutes. But we never consider that there was a police presence there trying to bring some type of order in what was really just a crazy jungle. [laughs] So, in playing this character and playing this part on this show I gained a whole new respect for the police department, police officers who had to work in that element and work in that world. It was hard! It was a hard place to work and a hard place to be honest in and honorable in because most cops when they become an officer…I interviewed some cops and they were like, “At the end of the day, we all wanted to be cops because we wanted to protect and serve. We wanted to be good guys. We wanted to help out.” In the 70’s, somewhere along the way situations and circumstances happened that caused you to sometimes have to cross the line – go on the other side of the law. And you have to do it. Talk to cops and they’ll tell you that back in that day nobody was innocent. Nobody was completely clean. There wasn’t one cop that was completely clean. Everybody had to play the game a little bit because if you didn’t play the game a little bit then you couldn’t be trusted. If you couldn’t be trusted, then you had to worry about the whole department on your back. So, I learned a lot. I gained a great respect, like I said, for policemen and the police department – in particular for the cops that worked that area at that time because I know it was a hard time to be doing it.

Q) I must say, your role as Bob on “The Walking Dead” was incredible and iconic. He had heart and humor. Talk about embodying this character and what he meant to you.

A) Bob was an awesome, awesome character. I loved Bob. I loved playing Bob. I loved playing Bob because he was an optimistic person, which I am an optimistic person. But Bob was dealing with an addiction, which is very personal to me because my father dealt with addiction. He’s passed now (God rest him), but he was dealing with addiction. So, Bob was dealing with addiction and a lot of people who deal with that what it really comes down to (when you look deep, deep into it) self-love – how much you love yourself. Do you really love yourself enough to save yourself? That’s what Bob was dealing with and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) helped him through that. That was another character where it was important to me to get it right. It was important to me to be honest and truthful because not only are there people like that in the world today, but if there were a zombie apocalypse there would be that person…[laughs] That would be the way that they need to cope. For some people, today is like an apocalypse for them and they need to cope. So, it was really important for me to get it right and also just because you meet a lot of people who do suffer from addiction and they tend to be someone who when they are not hooked on whatever they are on can be some of the nicest, funniest people you ever meet. They can be so cool, nice and fun. They have this problem and so it was important to me to show that side of Bob for me too – when he was being optimistic and being funny and being support for the group and Rick (Andrew Lincoln). It was important for me to get all of that stuff right. Being able to do the tainted meat scene was just the cherry on top. It was sad for me to have to leave the show. I felt it was too soon. I felt there were more stories to be told with Bob and about Bob. But…they felt his time had run out. So, I feel just fortunate that he got to go out the way that he went out.

Q) Bob and Sasha had such a sweet relationship. What do you think it was about him that made Sasha finally feel vulnerable enough to open up and fall for him?

A) With love, you don’t choose who you fall in love with. [laughs] It just comes to you. It’s just a supernatural thing. I just think it was Bob’s character and Sasha’s character. They were just drawn to one another. What’s crazy about it is that I liken it to the actual cast and crew of the show. It’s like, the characters are in the zombie apocalypse and what that does is draws them together and makes them a family. Right? Now, actually being an actor on that show you have to think, “The show shoots near Atlanta, which is the South. In the summer time. It’s hot. There are bugs. You’re in the woods. You’re in the forest.” It’s the harshest of the harshest conditions when it comes to heat and just being outside in the elements. What it does is bring the cast and the crew together. Everybody is out there and you kind of feel you are trying to survive together. So, it draws you together as a family. It’s the same thing with the show. Everybody is out there trying to survive so they are drawn together as a family. All the actors and crew are out there trying to survive as a unit and make the best show that they can so they are drawn together as a family. Yeah, I just think the chemistry between Sonequa and I it was just natural. Sonequa is such a smart actor and she is another one who is just a giving, caring actor. When you get two actors together who aren’t afraid (there aren’t any insecurities between them) to just be open with one another and to share and to give to tell the best story that they can that’s when magic happens. That’s when you feel that chemistry and you can see it on the screen. That’s what Sonequa and I had. That’s what happens when two fearless actors get together. She’s fearless and I’m fearless, so let’s be fearless together and present the best material that we can – the best character that we can. That’s what it was.

Q) The tainted meat scene was one of the most iconic moments of the entire series. What was it like for you filming that scene and then seeing how the fans reacted since you are a part of social media?

A) Well, filming the scene…We shot it like at 2am in the morning and it was a challenging scene to shoot just because of the emotional element. It was a very emotional scene, but I will tell you something that I didn’t know was going to happen. [laughs] That something is that they were actually barbecuing the leg behind me as we were shooting the scene. [laughs] The fire is going and I’m smelling this food. I’m like, “It’s not lunch time.” I looked back and I saw the leg on the barbecue. [laughs] It really kind of just brought me into the moment. That was funny. Shooting the scene was fun. At the end of the day it was fun. It was hard. We went all out on that scene. I mean, we went all out on that scene – me, Andrew [J. West] and everybody. It was just a great scene. The fan reaction was interesting because there were different fan reactions. Some people would come up to me and they’d say, “Oh my God! I can’t believe what happened and that they did that!” Some people said they couldn’t watch it and it was so emotional and they couldn’t believe that was what happened to Bob and that they did that to him. Others came up and said, “Oh my gosh! I laughed my butt off in that scene!” [laughs] That was odd to me, initially. They’re like, “Oh my gosh! I laughed so hard!” I’m thinking, “This is guy is getting his leg eaten in front of him! That’s horrible! Why is it so funny?” But then it occurred to me, Bob is getting the last laugh. These guys think that they are really hurting him, but he’s really killing them! For them, that was the payoff. That was a win for Bob. He was getting the last laugh. He was really doing more harm to them than they were doing to him. And some people felt like, “Oh my God! That is great and that is funny!” [laughs] Both reactions are great and, of course, the fans are amazing.

Q) What did it mean to you to be a part of such a significant series?

A) “The Walking Dead” is a hard show for me to talk about. It’s a hard show for me to talk about because I spent so little time on there. The fact I spent so little time on the show, but I made such a large impact just gives credit to the writing and the way they wrote the character. But I really felt, because the first season I was on there (Season 4) we were all together in the prison and then the governor came and all that; however, it was in that season that we all split up. So, we split up and it was really just me, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Sasha for the most of the season until we all get together in the end. So, I didn’t really get a chance to hang out and meet a whole lot of people. Then, Season 5 came around and it was like, “We’re all at Terminus now. So, this season is going to be a season where I get to work with everybody and we all get to share.” And then I get killed. It felt very short lived for me. My experience on there, I can’t complain about it. It felt, for me (because I didn’t get to spend enough time), it just felt like a job. It just felt like a job. It felt like a fun job, but I didn’t get a chance to become really a part of the family while I was there because I wasn’t there long enough. But I still love everyone I worked with one the show. I love Danai [Gurira] and Chad [L. Coleman] and Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan. I love them all! I had a blast while I was on there, but they didn’t give me enough time on the show to really feel like I was a part of it.

Q) What were some of your favorite projects to be a part of?

A) Well, “The Walking Dead,” of course. The tainted meat scene was amazing. “The Wire” probably still holds down the number one spot in my heart. “The Wire” and D’Angelo Barksdale. The chess scene and the “Where’s Wallace?” scene. Those are probably at the top of my list as far as my career and my work. The Water Boy was a blast. [laughs] I still don’t know how we got that movie made because all we did is laugh and joke all day long. Working with Adam Sandler, Henry Winkler and all those guys, that was just a blast. Gangs of New York was amazing. I got to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day Lewis. We spent eight months in Italy shooting that and that stands out. In that film, I was really the only major African American to represent the African Americans during that time in that movie. That was cool and exciting. It’s a long list! I’ve been fortunate that my career has pretty much been cool. I’ve gotten to work with amazing actors and directors on some great shows and I’ve gotten to bring some amazing characters to life. I’m moving forward and just trying to continue to do that.

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

A) Oh man! If you’re a supporter of me and a fan of the work that I do just keep watching and keep supporting me. Keep supporting me on social media. Keep supporting the films and the shows that I do. Anyone who does know me and follows me knows how much I love my fans. You know I go all out for my fans! Just be there and I’ll be there for you. [laughs]