(percussive instrumental music)
- Hi, this is Marya Gullo from The Hollywood Reporter
and we're In Studio today with Ryan Eggold.
- Hey, hey.
- Hi! - How are ya?
- Star of New Amsterdam.
- Yes.
- How are you doing?
- I'm good, I'm good.
I've been moving, running around Los Angeles.
I got rid of my car, so I'm a New Yorker in L.A. now.
- Interesting.
- Well, I don't know--
- Are you anticipating any difficulty with that?
- Yeah, well, it's kind of freeing.
I mean, I love not having a car in New York
because you can walk, you can take the subway,
but then you get to L.A. and you need a car.
- [Marya] Yes.
- So, yeah.
I've been racking up the Uber points.
(laughing)
- Well, we're here to talk about New Amsterdam
and also about BlacKkKlansman.
- Yeah.
- So, let's start with New Amsterdam.
- Sure.
- Okay, so not to embarrass you--
- Oh boy.
- But you've joined a very elite group of men
who are known as the doctor hunks of television.
- Nice.
- How does that feel?
- It feels good.
You know, I'm just trying to edge out Clooney
because he's not very attractive, nor talented,
so I think I could get there.
(Marya laughing)
No, it's cool, it's cool.
I mean, ER was a great show.
I grew up on that show
and there's so many good medical dramas
and what I like about this one
is that it's a true story and that I get to talk to Eric,
who the character's based off of
and bring some of that real-life in, which is cool.
- Excellent.
What kind of advice has he given to you?
- A ton of stuff.
He is very intelligent and very well-spoken
and so I just pick his brain about the healthcare system
and things he's learned and ways we could improve
and stories, situations he's been in
with patients and different things.
You know, all the stuff he's seen.
And it's also nice just to pick up on his energy
and his vibe, he's very kinetic and always moving
and very multi-interested.
Is that a word?
- Mm-hmm. - I'm going to make that a word.
So, yeah it's cool.
He's a great guy to talk to, yeah.
- There's always challenges with medical procedurals.
Most people think, all of the lines you need to learn
and trying to understand them--
- The jargon.
- Yeah, the jargon, the phrases.
But what particular challenges have you had?
- Yeah, that's definitely something to pay attention to.
I mean, part of it is that you
have to sort of educate yourself along the way.
It's like, obviously you're going to educate yourself
to the point of being a real doctor,
but there are scenes where you should know,
to some extent, what the hell you're talking about.
So you have to learn a little bit about how,
what you do in a heart surgery situation
or what you do with a child psychiatric patient
or you have to kind of learn along the way,
but that's kind of the best part of the job, too,
is immersing yourself in learning something new
in a new world, you know.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- And what makes New Amsterdam different?
Because asides being based on a true story,
what makes it different from the other procedurals
that have come before it?
- Yeah, I think this show is really about
trying to be about healthcare, healthcare in America
and particularly, you know, based on this hospital,
Bellevue in New York, this huge, public hospital
that sees so many different folks
from different walks of life and it's about this guy
who is trying to put care back into healthcare
and put patients first and sort of finding the cracks
in this massive system where we could be,
you know, improving, which is no easy feat
'cause it's very, it's such a network of issues--
- Mmm, yeah. - That make you healthcare.
- So yeah.
But yeah, I think that's something that makes it different.
- Mm-hmm. - Yeah.
- And your character is about to undergo cancer treatments.
- Right.
- So, getting back to the leading man part of your role,
I mean, did Dr. Dreamy ever need to have his teeth removed?
- Yeah, I know, there's some pretty
un-dreamy moments coming up.
You know, which I like because
I mean, the thing is, I don't want the show,
it's hard because you want to
tackle cancer in a realistic way,
as realistic as you can be on a network television show,
and you know, but you also,
it can't be depressing week after week
because it is such a oppressive, overwhelming disease,
but it would be nice to show some of the reality
about what that treatment looks like
and how debilitating that is.
I mean, there's a lot of people
who don't want to go through with treatment
simply because it is dehumanizing in many ways.
You know, it just takes you out of yourself
and it zaps your energy and it obviously effects
the way you look and all these things
and it's so demanding on the body.
But again, I get to talk to Eric about his experience
and other folks and we've all,
cancer is something that I think affects everybody.
Everyone has someone in their family
or a friend who's dealing with it, or them self.
So yeah, it'll be interesting to see how we examine it
and how you have a protagonist of a show
deal with this disease.
- Yeah, and cancer survivors,
they really appreciate seeing their story told.
- Yep.
- So, do you feel a certain level
of responsibility for getting it right?
- I think so, yeah.
I just definitely, just the biggest fear
would be making it really TV
and glitzy or anything like that.
You know, it's like you want to do some justice
to a really difficult fight that a lot of people fight
in this country every day, all over the world.
So, yeah.
- I saw an article in The Daily Beast that made me laugh.
- Mm-hmm.
- It said, the title of the article--
- Oh God.
- Was Cry, Damn it, The Race to Create the Next This is Us.
(laughing)
- That's brilliant, yeah.
- And, of course, New Amsterdam was in there
because you are paired up with This is Us.
- Right, right, right.
- So, how you are handling the comparisons?
- Yeah, no, it's,
well, obviously This is Us is a great show
and we're happy to be anywhere near their company
or any comparison is certainly a positive thing to hear.
It's interesting, you know, something we talk about
on the show is not giving in to sentiment.
It's like you're in a hospital
and the great thing about all these medical dramas
and the great thing about New Amsterdam
is that there's obviously such massively high stakes
in a hospital, right?
Life and death stakes and people losing loved ones
and all that stuff, so it is ripe for
very emotionally impactful scenes and situations and things,
but the trick is, and I mean, we're trying,
is to not lean into it.
So you don't want to create melodrama
or sort of saccharine sentimental stuff,
but you want to play these situations as realistically,
as honestly as you can and then if you can pull that off,
it's very compelling because it feels true to life,
if you can make that happen,
which sometimes we're successful, sometimes we're not.
But that's the goal.
- Mm-hmm. - Yeah.
- The show has a lot of cliffhangers, as well.
Are you in touch with, are you watching
what the fans are saying about the cliffhangers?
- No, no I'm not.
Some of the cast is, like, really into the internet stuff
and the comments and the everything.
I know there's a lot of talk about Freema's character and I,
with my wife and this thing that's happening,
romantic stuff, but I don't know.
What are they saying?
Tell me.
I want to know everything. (Marya laughing)
- Well, there's just, you know, I mean,
it's the nature of the show is that you,
the last five minutes, it throws you off
and you're like, (gasping).
- Right.
- Oh no.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Now what?
- Yeah, right.
That's all attributed to David Schulner
and the writers who do a really great job
of keeping the show fun and fast-paced
and entertaining and all that stuff,
but then really creating those dynamic turns
and particularly the ends,
something to launch us into the next episode
and keep the storyline moving forward.
- But I wanted to talk to you,
as well, about BlacKkKlansman.
- Yeah.
- Your role was, you're kind of unrecognizable in that role.
- Good, I hope so, yeah.
I'll take it.
- It's amazing what creepy, creepy uncle glasses can do.
- Creepy, 1970s serial killer glasses was the vibe
and a mustache and kind of like,
shaved it up really weird here and just really not good.
And I had a green, velvet shirt.
It had some really great stuff,
everybody did a great job putting those pieces in place.
- Yeah, the costumes were amazing.
- Wardrobe was great, yeah.
And yeah, it was yeah, it was fun.
- What was your biggest lesson from that role?
- You know, it was, my hope was to not,
'cause obviously me, Ryan, I have thoughts on racism
or a character who's part of the KKK
or someone who's a white supremacist, things like that,
but it was an exercise in not judging the character
and just trying to inhabit it honestly
and not trying to play, like, a villain.
Just trying to be, like, okay, what is this guy's life like
and what does he think?
Just try to be honestly in those shoes
for between action and cut, you know.
And yeah, that was, that was the guy.
And let Spike, who's a master,
and the story around it and everything,
let that guide all of the feeling and all that stuff.
- Yeah, there was, Jordan Peele said to Spike Lee,
you know, when you make this movie,
try to add an element of humor to it, it's very important
and I think your character kind of completed that task.
- Yeah, good, good, yeah.
- We were going for, like,
kind of a racist Ned Flanders kind of vibe.
You know, just like sort of, kind of,
sort of harmless in a way.
I mean, he's kind of pathetic in a lot of ways,
but yeah, part of this horrible group.
But yeah, there has to be that humor.
But I mean, it's so inherently ridiculous,
some of the ideology anyways, that when you examine it,
it can be funny when Spike is telling it the way he does
and you have John David leading the charge and on the phone
and being amused by some of the stuff himself.
I mean, like, Topher Grace, I mean, not Topher,
his character David Duke, saying,
"I can tell the difference
"between a white voice, a black voice."
I mean, some of those things are just so ridiculous
that, you know, it's funny.
And I think it can be helpful
to laugh at some of that stuff,
as serious and as horrible as it is, you know.
- We had John David Washington, Laura Harrier,
and Topher Grace in here--
- Oh good, good.
- And I asked them a question which I'm about to ask you,
which is do you have a memorable moment
on set with Spike Lee?
- (laughing) I don't know if this is,
I have a memorable moment with Spike Lee off-set.
- Oh, yeah? - That's really funny.
- [Marya] Let's hear it.
- Then I was trying to think of a moment on set
that's much more, but I,
you know, he goes to all the Knicks games.
- [Marya] Mm-hmm.
- And I've been once or twice
and so I was lucky enough to go when we started filming this
and I was like, I want to see Spike.
I was shooting, we were shooting all day upstate
and then we were going to the Knicks game
and then I was like, yeah.
I brought Paul Hauser who's in the film.
And so anyways, I'm walking out and I've got a glass of wine
or something and somebody just goes, hey man, wa-push,
and just smacks me and the wine just goes pfft
on the court and just all down my jeans.
And it's, like, Spike Lee, so it's simultaneously
the coolest and most embarrassing moment, just happening.
And you're like, oh God.
And the players are like, "What the?"
And you're like, oh!
(Marya laughing)
Ah, that was embarrassing.
But that was a cool moment to get a high-five from Spike.
It just didn't work out as well at that moment
as I would've hoped.
But yeah.
Memorable moments with Spike?
I mean, he's just a, he's a trip to work with.
He's amazing.
He keeps everybody kind of off-balance in this amazing way.
Like he never, he doesn't over-rehearse,
he really lets things be kind of live
and unknown and unpredictable
and I think he gets kind of a rawness from that sometimes
that make his movies so special and great
and man, it was just, it was a treat, yeah.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Are you hearing an Oscar award season buzz?
'Cause the Golden Globes are comin' up,
the Oscars are coming up.
- I hope so.
I mean, certainly Spike, John David, Adam,
so many people contributed amazing work to make that movie,
so I hope it gets some attention that way
and I think it could, but I have no idea.
- Do you have a tuxedo in your closet, just in case.
- Oh God.
I don't know if I'd be going to the Oscars with them.
Maybe John David would bring me as his plus one.
- That would be great. - Which I'll take.
- John, if you're listening, call me.
(Marya laughing)
But, yeah.
- Excellent.
And I've saved the most hard hitting question for last.
- Oh boy, here we go.
- Okay, you ready?
- I'm ready.
- What are your plans for the holidays?
- How dare you ask me that.
This is unprofessional, I am leaving!
What are my plans for the holidays?
I'm going to be in New York.
My family's coming out for Thanksgiving, which'll be great.
Freema from the show, I think's,
going to hang out with us for Thanksgiving, maybe Anupam.
Yeah, some transplants who don't have family in New York
might come hang out.
So that'll be good.
Maybe some cooking, some turkey and things like that.
And then for Christmas, New Year's,
usually I do a big thing, but I've been working so much,
which I'm grateful for, I want to do a nothing holiday.
Yeah.
- Staycation.
- Yes, full staycay.
Maybe get a house upstate for a week or something
and just, like, put the phone in a drawer
and do some reading and some, you know, breathing
and sleeping and eating and that's about it.
- That sounds so good to me.
- Right?
We never take enough time for that stuff,
so that's my plan, yeah.
- Ryan Eggold, thank you so much for being here.
- Thank you for having me.
- And congratulations on New Amsterdam.
- Thanks.
- Bye.
(dramatic swooping echos)