As I mentioned, I can’t emphasize this enough: I must underscore how rare it is to meet an actor like Brian Tyree Henry and have that immediate, instant chemistry. We’re the same kind of actor, we’re both fast, and we’re both a little facile. It was like jumping into extremely familiar territory with someone I’d never seen before. We had a marvelous rapport instantly.
Most of it is shot on location, certainly the action sequences. So it’s incredibly complicated in Central London with all the restrictions. We wanna have extremely anarchic scenes but keep everything grounded so you fully believe what’s happening to these characters. Even though they’re shootouts in Central London or King’s Cross Station, you wanna feel this isn’t fantasy land.
It was Paul Hunter’s existence, and there was an elevated element of surrealism to everything. It’s a quirky family, but it’s all based on Paul’s upbringing as a young guy. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the sixties and seventies, every time we had a scene that I just thought was a little bit outlandish, Paul would have some anecdote that rooted it in the truth of what happened with him, which is how I approached playing a version of his dad.
I tell people all the time, don’t be fooled by his kind eyes or his baby face, the man is a killer. He’s an assassin, he’s a monster, he’s not playing games. It was one of the reasons I initially didn’t want to do the gig on short notice. His attention to detail is almost telepathic. He’s thought of everything. That’s what it took me a second to figure out. I was like, this guy’s mapped out the entire thing. He’s also so relaxed about it.
When I come onto the show, I read the scripts for all the episodes leading up to my episode. I try not to read past what I’m cutting. I don’t wanna know where these characters are going. I wanna stay grounded in what they’re doing in that moment. I’ll see the episodes once they’re cut and ready to be viewed. Once I get started, I’ll know which aspects I like while making the episode I’m working on stand on its own two feet.
Colleen Atwood is the great costume designer behind Chicago, several Tim Burton classics, and now, Masters of the Air.
“A big goal for me is always, can I build a whole world? Can I create something that feels different, but then also comprehensive?”
“We had made the decision that the score was going to reflect a lot of the other elements of production that were period specific. In a way, a lot of the filmmaking was as if the show was made in 1969, not just set in 1969.”
“Ultimately, I do think of this as a craft. I don’t think of this as art.”
