Richard Schiff – Ballers

By starrymag | July 17, 2016

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

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

A) Right now I’m doing a show for BBC America called “Dirk Gently: The Holistic Detective” that is based on a Douglas Adams novel. He wrote The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which this generation absolutely adores. It is with Elijah Wood and a few other kind of cool people. Max Landis is the runner, writer and creator. We’re doing that in Vancouver. I just helped out on “When We Rise,” which is the ten-part mini series on the Proposition 8 trial, which was quite moving. I was very thankful to squeeze that in because they were offering a couple different parts and I was finally able to do a part. I worked with Rob Reiner and Arliss Howard and the original couples that testified at the trial who ultimately became the first same sex marriages. They actually played themselves at the trial and I was Judge Walker. It was very, very moving to hang out with them – people who changed history – along with Dustin Lance Black who wrote this and the play that has gone across the country. Rob Reiner was backing the whole cause and trial and he plays a character named Mr. Blakenhorn. I’m also going back to do a little bit of “Rogue,” which is a show I did for DirectTV and I’m going to go back and help them kick off the last season. Then, I might be doing a play. I don’t know if it is going to work out, but it is a play I have been helping the writer with that we think we could take to London or New York. I should be going back for “Ballers” for a few more seasons if things work out.

Q) Why was it so important for you to be a part of “When We Rise?”

A) It’s important to me because they asked me and I love the people involved. So, it was very important to me to have done that favor because I love Tommy Schlamme. He was directing the first episode when they first asked me and Jessika Borsiczky who produced “House of Lies” was on the show. I kept running into her at the hotel in Vancouver and she said, “You have to come with us. You have to do a part.” Then, because it is a beautiful story. It’s a story of victory, which isn’t the norm anymore sadly. It’s the culmination of a fifty-year movement with this decision in the California State Court that ended up going to the Supreme Court and was victorious. So, to be in New York growing up in the 60’s and 70’s and seeing where the LGBT community has come from the old days is quite a remarkable arc and a remarkable journey. This was a mountain top they were able to reach and put a flag in. For my friends that are married now in same sex marriages, to meet the people at the spearhead of that fight and spend the day with them was fantastic.

Q) What was it like working with Dustin Lance Black?

A) Great. He’s a very centered and confident and smart person. I loved working with him. He’s great. He’s just very, very easy and in control. His writing is beautiful and represents the actual history. A lot of it is verbatim. He’s a good man. I enjoyed meeting him and working with him. Hopefully, we’ll get to do it again sometime.

Q) We’ll be seeing Mr. Anderson again this season on “Ballers.” Where do we pick up with him?

A) He’s just hoping that his boys are going to come through for him. They haven’t been doing so well. They are struggling and he decides early on in this season to get a little more involved because I don’t think he trusts where they are going and might have overestimated their abilities – Spencer (Dwayne Johnson) and Joe (Rob Corddry). I think he decides from the get-go that it isn’t going to be easy as I thought so I have to nudge them along, threaten them here and there and get in their face.

Q) Was there anything you added to the role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I am much taller than the character they originally scripted. We always have fun on the day they shoot. I have a good time with Evan T. Reilly and the writers. They are easy and fun. We are free to play and improve. I come up with ideas and they say, “Great idea. Let’s do that.” Rob and Dwayne are great to work with. Dwayne is very, very sweet and very hard working. Everyone is easy going. So, it’s fun. Andy Garcia comes along this season and he is an old acquaintance that I really liked. We became friends along the way. He’s a great guy and I love him. He’s fun to golf with back here in LA and have cigars with outside our trailers in Miami. We had a couple of great scenes together so that was a nice bonus.

Q) Is there someone you have based your portrayal on?

A) This guy is a compilation of a few people I know in real life. That’s how I started with this guy, people who are in that financial world that I know and have kind of a cocky attitude towards it all. But he changed this year. There was a significant moment where I realized we could take this character in a different direction. I don’t want to give it away, but there was a moment where I realized, “Wait a second.” I was really upset with Spencer because he has particularly gone over the edge in terms of messing up. There is a scene where everyone really expected me to go after him and something shifted in the way I approached the scene and it opened up a whole new direction I think for their relationship and this character that the writers then jumped on.

Q) Who would you like to get to work with more or that you haven’t worked with that you would like to?

A) I don’t get to work with anybody! I worked with Andy Garcia and Dwayne. It’s always after they succeed or fail when they come see me. So, you have Dulé Hill who is a great friend of mine, but we haven’t worked together yet. Omar [Benson Miller], I love him, but we haven’t worked together yet. I love Arielle Kebbel. We became friends in Miami and I adore her. Jazmyn, [Simon] who I also adore, we hang out and have some dinners. The show is really nice because they will take us out to Prime or something on occasion. There was a Super Bowl party the year before that I was there for. But, I only get to work with Dwayne and Rob and a couple times this season with Andy.

Q) Do you have a preference for doing comedy or drama?

A) “Dirk Gently” is a funny drama. It’s kind of its own genre and out there. It’s a high concept with a bizarre story with bizarre twists. I’m definitely looking for the humor where I can and it has been great fun. I enjoy that. It’s the same with “Ballers.” You always look for the common moments, but these guys have to be serious and they have to be scared of me. The money has to be real and the stakes have to be real. I’m looking for the funny moments, for sure. I started out doing sitcoms and comedy. The first play I ever did was a very broad farce, but then “The West Wing” came along and people came along and started of thinking me as a very dramatic, pensive deep soul so I started getting a lot of those kind of roles. With theater, I’ve done both – some very heavy dramas and some stuff with humor. I don’t think about what genre I want to do or I’m better out. If the material is great and the cast is great and people are interested in putting out the best possible moment by moment story that’s what I love. I love people who want to tell a story and tell it the right way.

Q) We did recently see a “The West Wing” reunion at the ATX Festival. What was it like for you all to get reunite?

A) Fun! It was enjoyable. I liked it a lot. I see a lot of them individually, but we hadn’t all been together in quite a while. It was kind of fascinating to see this new generation of fans. It was unexpected but great. It was great being around everybody again. I enjoyed recapping our existence years ago and people don’t change. It was the same joking around and the same family dynamic.

Q) You often get together for charity events so it is nice to see you all supporting one another.

A) That is Melissa Fitzgerald and Justice For Vets was the most recent one. That was so easy because I love Melissa. She’s a true public servant. She’s the only one who left “The West Wing” and started to do it in real life. She has become the National Director for Justice For Vets, which is a phenomenal organization considering the work they do and the way they help vets help the criminally spiraling of injustice. They are able to go to drug courts and rehab and reclaim their lives. If I can help in any way with a project or organization like that I will do it any time. So, whenever she needs me or us I’m there for her. I adore her. She’s a phenomenal human being.

Q) What would you like to be sure that fans to know about “Ballers” this season?

A) Be sure to know that Anderson hasn’t lost a step and he is going to be on top of these boys. I just hope people watch and enjoy it. They seem to be loving it. I’m having a great time doing it. Keep watching!

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) It’s not. It’s just something I enjoy. I enjoy the people that I run into on Twitter. It’s a way I catch up with the news on a faster level then waiting for the newspaper the next morning. I have some fun with some people who are witty. I got to know Lin-Manuel Miranda from Hamilton through Twitter. That was a bonus and I got to go backstage when I saw that wonderful play. That’s a benefit. It wouldn’t have happened without social media. I get to discover that Lin-Manuel Miranda was a huge fan of “The West Wing” and a fan of mine and was following me. It was a way we were able to connect and share our affection for each other’s work. That’s an example of why I find it really cool.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure we share with your fans?

A) I may be going to the Republication National Convention and the Democratic National Convention if schedule allows. That will be interesting. We’ll see if my schedule permits either of those to happen. Other than that, I hang out with my family and play golf when I’m not working.

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

A) Thanks! Thanks for watching nd supporting. Love and peace to all of you.