Anthony Carrigan talks Bill Hader, “Gotham,” attractiveness, and more

“Barry” star Anthony Carrigan sat down with The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk in the latest episode of “Hollywood at Home,” a podcast featuring unplugged and uncensored conversations with today’s biggest stars. In the newest episode, Carrigan talks about the fun of working with Bill Hader on the set of “Barry,” using his inner anger to play Victor Zsasz in “Gotham,” being a truly attractive person, and much more. Highlights below. 

“Hollywood at Home” is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and more.

Listen now at:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/noho-hank-from-russia-with-love-with-guest-anthony-carrigan/id1521900273?i=1000582992663


For planned coverage, please link to:
http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast

Highlights from “Hollywood at Home” featuring Anthony Carrigan – 

On working with Bill Hader and having fun on the set of “Barry”: “He’s so down to earth. You know, you would have no idea that he’s wearing the amount of hats that he’s wearing, because he does it in a way that just– every part of it puts you at ease. I mean, he’s got all of his bases covered when it comes to the writing, the directing, and the acting part of it. And, yeah, he’s very curious too. He’s very curious, and he’s not precious about making something specifically what he envisions. Like he’s open. He’s open to making this vision that he wants to accomplish. He allows for a kind of, like, a real sense of allowance for others’ creativity as well. And that openness, I think, serves “Barry” as a show to just be something really special, because it isn’t just something wooden and, like, his idea. It’s everyone coming together with their own senses of, like, what they want to bring, what spice they want to bring. And it changes daily. So it’s such a cool thing to work on. It’s a miracle we get through the scene because we’re just constantly, constantly cracking. I mean, it’s– sometimes you just you have to just be like a Jedi or, you know, yeah, you need some, like, torture device to keep yourself from cracking up. It’s always great too whenever you can make Bill crack up. Because, you know– it’s not the hardest thing in the world to make Bill crack up. But yeah, there are certain tells that he’ll have when he’s laughing, like, he’ll just, like, shoot his head over to the side to just hide his smirk. There’s that and then there’s also just, like, his shoulders will start going and, like, as soon as you see the shoulders start, you know you got him.”

On channeling his real-life emotions in the role of Victor Zsasz in “Gotham”: “What’s interesting is that role kind of came along at an interesting time in my career, because it was like, kind of post-alopecia when my hair had basically all fallen out, I had a lot of people who would, you know, who had essentially told me that I was never going to work again. And I was kind of confused as to what roles I was going to be able to play. When this role came along, I don’t think I really kind of understood just how angry I was at the people who had kind of told me that I wasn’t going to succeed or make it, and I think I was able to channel a lot of that anger into this character. And what’s funny is that he’s angry underneath, but he’s also funny as well. You know, I found the moments of lightness, even though he’s incredibly messed up. And incredibly dark. And yeah, and like, literally crazy. But yeah, that was such a rewarding job. And it was also just a great opportunity for me to stretch out and have fun and kind of build a character that I was really proud of.”

On what it means to be an attractive person: “Well, it was baby steps, really. I mean, I remember going to an audition without eyebrows. And like, you know, to some people, that might just be like, ‘Oh, whatever, I’m just gonna make a choice to shave my eyebrows because, like, who cares.’ But for me, there was so much shame that I was just deeply terrified that people were going to see that and fixate on that. And when you kind of carry that with you, you broadcast it. When you have something about yourself that you’re not truly accepting of, you’re broadcasting this kind of low vibration of like, a fear, and people pick up on that stuff. And I think, you know, it’s taught me so much about what it means to be truly, you know, an attractive person. Because the thing is, you know, beauty is so– it’s so different. And it can be such a kind of– it’s something that, you can see someone who’s, like, you know, stereotypically beautiful or, you know, by today’s standards, in a way, but, you know, if they don’t feel that way about themselves, you’re like, ‘Oh, well, you know…’ And then you can see someone who doesn’t have the kind of, you know, stereotypical kind of, like, beauty standard, but they just feel themselves. They’re so embodied, they feel so accepting of themselves, and you just, you’re just immediately drawn to them, you’re immediately like, ‘Wow, who is that? Like, what are they doing? Because that is, like, that’s how I want to feel!’ You know?”

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More about “Hollywood at Home”
Hosted by The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk, “Hollywood at Home” brings listeners intimate portraits, key moments of discovery, and “art and soul” conversations with iconic entertainment industry personalities from the big screen to the boardroom, from L.A. to D.C. Listen now at http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast.

Previous guests include Jason Alexander (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Shiri Appleby (“UnREAL”), Iain Armitage (“Young Sheldon”), Justin Bartha (“The Hangover,” “National Treasure”), David Alan Basche (“The Exes”), Asante Blackk (“This Is Us”), Carly Chaikin (“Mr. Robot”), Aaron Cooley (“The First Lady”), Wilson Cruz (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Alan Cumming (“Schmigadoon!, “The Good Wife”), Ethan Cutkosky (“Shameless”), The Creative Coalition President and actor Tim Daly (“Madam Secretary”), Lea DeLaria (“Orange Is the New Black”), Colman Domingo (“Euphoria”), Griffin Dunne (“This Is Us”), Kerry Ehrin (“The Morning Show”), Wayne Federman (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Frances Fisher (“Titanic,” “Unforgiven”), Michael Fishman (“Roseanne,” “The Conners”), Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”), LaMonica Garrett (“1883,” “Sons of Anarchy”) Willie Garson (“And Just Like That…”), Judy Gold (“The Other F Word”), Nicholas Gonzalez (“The Good Doctor”), Clark Gregg (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Tony Hale (“Veep,” “Arrested Development”), Evan Handler (“And Just Like That…,” “Californication”), Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Middle”), Jon Huertas (“This Is Us”), Jason Isaacs (“Star Trek: Discovery,” “Harry Potter”), Susan Isaacs (“Compromising Positions”), Richard Kind (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Nathan Kress (“iCarly”), Jaren Lewison (“Never Have I Ever”), Chad Lowe (“Supergirl”), Aasif Mandvi (“The Daily Show”), Rachel Mason (“Circus of Books”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA”), AnnaLynne McCord (“Let’s Get Physical”), Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Katherine McNamara (“Shadowhunters”), Melissa Manchester (“Don’t Cry Out Loud”), Molly Smith Metzler (“Maid,” “Shameless”), Marta Milans (“Shazam!”), Rob Morrow (“Billions”), Kathy Najimy (“Younger”), Ken Olin (“This is Us,” “Thirtysomething”), Haley Joel Osment (“Future Man,” “Entourage”), Joey and Daniella Pantoliano (“The Matrix,” “Memento”), Ross Patterson (“Range 15”), Bill Prady (“The Big Bang Theory”), Kyla Pratt (“The Proud Family”), Jessica Queller (“Supergirl”), Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”), Anthony Rapp (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Yolonda Ross (“The Chi”), Reid Scott (“Veep”), Paul Scheer (“The League,” “Veep”), Mona Scott-Young (“Love & Hip Hop”), Alena Smith (“Dickinson”), Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), Lea Thompson (“Back to the Future”), Tramell Tillman (“Severance”), Krista Vernoff (“Grey’s Anatomy”), KT Tunstall (“Black Horse and the Cherry Tree,” “Suddenly I See”), Matt Walsh (“Veep”), Alfre Woodard (“Clemency,” “Luke Cage”), Constance Zimmer (“Good Trouble”), and David Zucker (“Airplane!,” “Scary Movie”). 

More about The Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating its members on issues of public importance. The Creative Coalition also creates award-winning public service campaigns including #RightToBearArts to promote the efficacy of the arts. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President. For more information, visit https://thecreativecoalition.org.

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