From creatorRobbie Pickeringand directed byMatt Ross, the Starz limited drama seriesGaslittells the tale of the Watergate scandal through the eyes of some of the lesser known key players, most notably Martha Mitchell (Julia Roberts), the outspoken socialite wife of Richard Nixon’s campaign chairman and former Attorney General John Mitchell (Sean Penn). As Martha enjoyed courting the press and doing interviews, things start to unravel for her ruthless husband and the line between truth and lies becomes ever more blurry.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider,Shea Whigham(who plays G. Gordon Liddy, a former FBI agent that spearheaded the famed espionage operation) talked about the scary challenge of taking on the historical figure, what ultimately made him want to be a part of this project, finding the human inside of Liddy, working with a cast and creative team at the top of their game, and what he loved most about the whole process. He also talked about returning for Season 2 ofPerry Mason, and his experience as part of theFast & Furiousfranchise.
Collider: When this project came your way and you were presented with the opportunity to play G. Gordon Liddy, what was your reaction to that? Were you immediately intrigued by the possibility? Were you excited about taking on a challenge like that? Were you curious, but needed to know more? Did you start looking at yourself in the mirror and wondering whether you look like him?
SHEA WHIGHAM: To be really honest, with someone like Liddy, it’s somewhat scary to think about the challenge of taking him on. I knew what it was gonna take to try to get there, so initially, it was, can I do this? Can I do it justice? Can I find a way in? All those things start to creep in. And then, you get a chance to go back to work with Julia Roberts and back to work with Sean Penn, and you get to work with (director) Matt Ross for the first time, who did my favorite film of that year,Captain Fantastic. And then, I took some time and I found a way in with him, to try to tell the story of a real human being. Is he honorable? Yes, there are places he is honorable, in that he didn’t name names. He’s the only one that didn’t do it. So, I thought, “Okay, I can respect that.” He’s a family man with five kids and a wife that he was married to for 53 years. I was like, “Okay, let me hang on to that,” and then the rest starts to take shape.
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You decided that you could do it, but then what was it like to actually get on set and bring it to life? When did you start to feel like it was all working?
WHIGHAM: Not to be facetious in my answer, but I don’t know that you ever know. There are times that you think you’re on top of the ball, and other time you don’t, but that’s okay. I learned to understand that it may not all feel great, all the time, and there’s some beauty in that. When you play someone like Liddy, he’s rigid by nature. His rigidity is the thing that he’s known for. But as the actor, I can’t be rigid in my approach. You have to find the human in there and the relaxation in there. You play the truth, and through that comes levity and humor that’s Coen brothers-esque. I kept asking myself, how far am I willing to go for the cause? How much do I want to be recognized by the king, Richard Nixon? The answer is that it means everything.
Most people are at least familiar with Watergate and with Nixon, but unless you’re a political historian, I would imagine that there are details that most people are also unaware of. What most surprised you, with this specific story? What didn’t know you know, before doing this, that you found most interesting, from these scripts and from doing this project?
WHIGHAM: I didn’t know Martha. I didn’t know the depth of which Martha was gaslit and how she cracked it open. She would have these late-night discussions with journalists. I didn’t know all of that. I knew Martha Mitchell was the loudmouth from the South, but I didn’t know the depth of it. The beauty and the ugliness of her relationship with George, when I saw [Julia Roberts] and [Sean Penn], I couldn’t believe how taken I was with that relationship.
It’s crazy how everyone in this feels and looks and behaves a bit differently because of how they’re embodying their characters, whether they’re still recognizable or whether they’re fully transformed. What was it like to work with and be surrounded by all of these other actors who were bringing these real people to life and each doing their own work, like you were with your character?
WHIGHAM: It’s the best. When it all comes together like this and no expense it spared, Matt wanted to get it right, so he hired the best. We had the best of the best, in every department. When that all comes together, you start to feel like, “Okay, we have a chance.” You never know how it’s gonna turn out. I’ve been on [projects] where I think it’s gonna to be the greatest thing I’ve ever done, but it doesn’t work, and I’ve had the opposite of that. With this, I felt like I was watching Julia and thinking, “She’s doing something above what’s there.” It was the same thing with Sean and Dan [Stevens] and Betty [Gilpin]. With Liddy, I didn’t sit in judgment of him, but I felt like we were finding interesting stuff. That’s the best.
How do you feel about Liddy, now that you’ve played him? Did it change how you felt about him, or do you feel like you just understand who he was more?
WHIGHAM: That’s an interesting thing. I tend to fall in love with some aspect of every character that I play. You have to bring yourself to everything. It was just exciting to stay in there with him and to find new discoveries. At the start, I said to Matt, “If I’m gonna take this on, I wanna make sure we give him a fair shake. I don’t wanna bring any baggage to it. I’m starting from ground zero, from scratch, on him and we’ll build it.” That, I really loved.
Obviously, you don’t want to play him as one thing because that’s not interesting. It’s much more interesting to play with the complexities and the nuances of a person, and even to humanize them a little bit, even if you don’t like them at all. All of these characters are just such fascinating people that you’re able to’t really describe any of them in one way.
WHIGHAM: I think you’re right. I think that’s absolutely right. They’re fascinating.
This is a show essentially about Nixon, without Nixon as a physical character. What did you find most interesting about this approach to the Watergate story?
WHIGHAM: When Matt called me about this, I was doing something over in Europe. I said, “I’m not interested in a retelling.All the President’s Mendid that. I wouldn’t touch that.” And he said, “Me either.” I also said, “I’m not interested in doing a documentary. We have plenty of tape on that.” We wanted to really find new angles, and we wanted to verify that it’s entertaining because the whole thing was entertaining. A lot of people don’t know that we bungled it, and we had to go in several times, or the Martha of it all. That, to me, was interesting. And then, it was about always playing the truth, never getting caught trying to be funny or trying to wink at the camera. Liddy has all of that going, as it is. Finding the human in it is what really attracted me to it.
When it came to Liddy, what is it like to play someone who is so seemingly absolute in his convictions? Is there a comfort and a freedom in doing that, just because you know what he believes and everything always comes back to what he believes?
WHIGHAM: Yes, absolutely. He is for the cause, and he does know what he wants, and that is something that does help you anchor that performance. When a character knows like Liddy does, in his rigidity, oddly, wild things can happen out of that. There’s a freedom in that, I’ve found. You’d think it’s the opposite. But you’ve gotta do all that work to know what he’d do and to know what he believes in. you may’t inverse that. You can’t play the results first because then it won’t have an impact.
Unlike with a film where you’re just working on set with the director, with a TV series, you have director Matt Ross and show creator Robbie Pickering. What’s it like to have that relationship with the two of them and to work with them on set, on a daily basis?
WHIGHAM: Yeah. A lot of my lot of my work was done with Matt. I put him right up there with (director) Tim Van Patten, when it comes to telling a story on television, but on film as well. And Robbie had written a really tight script. He’d done his research and his work on it. We had it on the page, before we’d even started. Once you have that, then you can take it to places unknown, if you will. It’s tight, and it’s there, and then you can see what percolates up and the research and putting it on his feet. For me, Matt allowed a lot of that to happen. The discovery of Liddy was important.
Back in January, we got to hear a little bit about Season 2 ofPerry Masonand what that’s going to be, and that there are going to be a few additions to the cast. Have you gotten to read any scripts? What are you most looking forward to in returning to that show and character?
WHIGHAM: Well, we were filming late last night. We’re about halfway through the second season. I love telling period pieces. I love stories. We’re in ‘33 in Perry Mason. Perry is in the soup again, and he’s gotta try to figure his way out. Hopefully, Strickland can help him navigate that.
Perry Masonis such a beautiful show to look at. I could get lost looking at the sets and the wardrobe.
WHIGHAM: I agree. It’s interesting, you can shoot the hell out of it, and it’s fun, and it’s exquisite to look at, but that doesn’t hold you, if you don’t have the story and you don’t have an A-plus cast. And likewise, you can have an A-plus cast, but if it doesn’t feel authentic and visceral, then it won’t hold you. I think what you’re saying is, viscerally, you seePerry Mason,and you’re in that time.
Yeah. And even though I’m from L.A., I’ve just never seen Los Angeles look the way it does in Perry Mason, and I love that.
WHIGHAM: That’s (director) Tim Van Patten. That’s my guy, Tim Van Patten, who did a year’s worth of research to try to unlock places that, even if you’re from [Los Angeles], you’ve never seen on film before. All of that is Tim.
I’m curious, when you did your firstFast & Furiousmovie, did they tell you that you might return? Were you surprised they brought you back, and were you more or less surprised to then come back a third time?
WHIGHAM: I’m always surprised. My God, yeah. You know, my stuff was with Paul [Walker]. And then, when Paul died, I didn’t know [what would happen]. They were kind enough to bring me back as an homage to Paul, so it was really touching to even be asked for the little bit that I popped in and did.
I love how that is a franchise that seems to never forget anyone. It doesn’t matter what the character is.
WHIGHAM: Yeah. That’s Justin Lin. It’s no secret, I’ve been really fortunate. I’m not just playing a humble guy. I’ve been fortunate with filmmakers that I’ve worked with, and Justin Lin, I put him with [Damien] Chazelle, [Cary] Fukunaga and [Tim] Van Patten. He’s right there. They’re cinephiles. They know cinema. They love cinema. They love how [Sidney] Lumet and [Francis Ford] Coppola put the same group of actors together, in every film. That’s what Lin does. To me, that’s the ultimate compliment, that he keeps bringing people back.
