- Hey there, I'm Zachary Quinto
and I am in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
(upbeat music)
- Let's talk about NOS4A2
AMC's new high-concept horror series.
- High-concept horror series, yeah.
Sure, okay.
- Have you heard it called that before?
- High concept horror series?
- Yeah. (laughing)
- I've called it high horror before
but I've never had it called high concept horror, no.
- I wanted to talk to you about
showrunner Jamie O'Brien said, "I can't imagine
"anyone else playing Charlie Manx."
How does that make you feel?
- I feel like she and I
Jamie and I have had a great collaboration
and I really appreciated her spirit of openness
and excitement about what we were doing
and so I couldn't really imagine playing the character
with anybody else showrunning either.
It's kind of a mutual feeling.
I really think that she's created
a pretty incredible dynamic for all of us
cast and crew alike.
And that's always what you want
when you're working in a TV show.
It really starts with the showrunner
and trickles down into all departments
and affects everybody that's contributing to the show.
She's done an amazing job of incentivizing everybody
to show up and do their best work
because they care about what we're making
and believe in the stories that we're telling.
It's humbling, I feel grateful that she said that.
And I feel the same way about her.
- When you're playing a character like Charlie
when you find out about the amount of prosthetics
that you might have to do
or makeup to get into character
is that a hindrance or do you get excited about that?
- With this job in particular I got excited about it
'cause it was something I was looking for
in some way or another in my work
whether it was to able to immerse myself into a period piece
or, in this case
immerse myself into a physical transformation.
I hadn't had that opportunity
and it was something I was hungry for.
It was one of the things that drew me to this role
and this project.
'Cause originally I said no.
When they first called and asked me to do it.
You know, I've done archetypal villains in the past.
- Is this your third serial killer?
- My third serial killer.
(chuckling)
Which is so weird because I like to think I'm really nice.
But maybe I'm not.
I don't know.
It is my third archetypal villain.
Serial killer.
And I imagine probably my last
for a least a good long while.
They were like, just read the scripts.
'Cause one of the other great things about this show
is that all 10 scripts were written
before we started shooting.
- Which is-- - Oh wow.
Such a gift in television which you almost never get.
I read six scripts
in conjunction with the invitation to join the show
and I thought they were really unexpected
and exciting and compelling and they drew me in.
I was really into them
and then I talked to Jamie and understood why.
And so that combined
with this opportunity to transform in a way
and work with Joel Harlow
'cause once I said yes
I was like, look we need to get the best of the best
to do the special effects makeup.
I have worked with Joel on the last two Trek movies
and I just felt like he's so talented
and has such a great spirit also
and to be able to design
the look of Manx with him was really fun
and, yeah anyway.
For me it wasn't a hindrance
is a long answer to a short question.
It was something that drew me into it.
- There are a couple of things that stand out to me
after seeing the first
well, I saw the first six episodes.
- Oh you did?
I've only seen the first one.
- It's kind of, yeah it's amazing.
- Good.
- There's a few things that stuck out.
Like one of the things was a mindscape.
Can you explain what a mindscape is?
- An inscape. - Inscape.
- Basically there are
in the world of the show there are people
who are called strong creatives
and these people possess the ability
to somehow transcend the boundaries
between reality and imagination.
And on the other side of that boundary
in the world of imagination
exists these actual physical locations called inscapes.
These people possess the ability to create
and manifest tangible places out of their own imaginations.
Charlie Manx's is called Christmasland.
It's a twisted and warped amusement park
where he takes and deposits the kids that he abducts
from their parents who he deems neglectful or abusive.
His whole belief and feeling is
that he's intervening in these kids' lives
and preventing them from evolving into derelict adults.
But what he doesn't really account for is
that in the journey between where he gets them
in the real world
and where he drops them in the inscape land
he drains them of their life force and their souls
and they become these kind of empty husks of themselves.
They sort of vampire children
who then live out the rest of their days in Christmasland.
So it's warped and twisted and dark.
It gets dark, it's dark in there.
- Do we ever get to see Christmasland?
- Yeah, oh yeah we do.
- [Marya] Oh boy.
- [Zachary] Later in the season.
- I'm imagining one of those
all year 'round Christmas stores.
It's probably that. - It is kinda.
I think part of the fun of launching the show
in the summertime is the incongruity of wait a minute
why is it? This whole Christmas
there's a whole Christmas music
anytime Charlie Manx is around.
Christmasland, candy canes, you know.
- But it's not Christmas time.
- It's not Christmas time
so there's something off about that
which I at first I was like, why aren't we?
Why isn't the show premiering in November, you know?
But I think it's to preserve the integrity of Christmas.
We don't wanna corrupt people's feeling about it.
'Cause in the show--
- [Marya] That's nice.
- You're welcome.
It's really dark and really pretty brutal.
- Yeah, it is.
Do you think, I mean there is a lot of television right now
that is rather dark
and this is definitely going to be thrilling
to people who are into dark television.
Do you think it's kind of a reflection of our times
that people want to be scared so badly?
- I think people wanna escape.
I think people wanna escape the fears in their lives
that are very real
and so I think, yeah
going into a place where they can feel that sense of anxiety
and dread but it's measured
and it's contextualized in a narrative structure
that allows them to know
that at the end of an hour
they can go back to the real fears of their lives.
It gives them somewhere to go.
I think that's part of it
but horror stories have been a part of popular culutre
and folklore for generations
and trace back to Edgar Allen Poe.
I was just in a place in New York
where Edgar Allan Poe frequented
and I didn't know that.
It's a place where I go
it's a restaurant that I go to often
and I was in the restaurant having dinner with a friend
who said this is where Edgar Allen Poe used to come
and drink and have meals
and it's right near my house.
I was like, what? - That's amazing.
Did you feel kind of a vibe off of it?
- Once I knew that, you know.
There's this lineage which I think we're all a part of.
Which I'm really fascinated by and interested in.
Which is where does that creative energy go
when it's not embodied anymore in a human?
I don't think it just leaves the earth.
I think it's sort of like
we're all serving that in different ways.
Just the way Joe Hill who wrote the book
on which NOS4A2 is based is Stephen King's son, you know.
I never knew that Joe was Stephen King's son until this.
I never knew his writing until this opportunity
and to get to know his voice
which is so sort of adjacent to his father
but so singular and unique in its own right.
I'm so inspired by that
and what he carries forward
but what he makes his own is really inspiring.
So that lineage of storytelling
and storytelling in this genre is something
that I think is really kinda delicious.
- There's a really fun Easter egg for any Stephen King fan.
- In the map. - The map.
- Right, right, right.
There's a moment in the show when Charlie Manx unfolds a map
of the United Inscapes of America
and Pennywise Circus reveals itself.
I think people will catch that if they're looking for it.
There are some parallels, I think
between Charlie Manx and Pennywise.
There's a car that's really involved.
You know, a huge part of this show
and it's kind of a character in its own right.
Which I think has this parallel to Christine.
There are these overlaps and echos of Joe's dad
but totally in its own world.
He's able to take that lineage
and carry it in his own direction which I respect a lot.
I think he's a phenomenal writer.
I'm really grateful to work with him.
- Are you a fan of any of the old horror movies
during the classic film era?
Like the Lon Chaney or Bela Lugosi movies
- I mean, yeah.
I'm a fan of what those guys were creating
and how innovative they were
and how they pushed the boundaries
and the envelope of the time
to tell stories in a whole different way
and transformative, yeah.
I think that's all
I think that's again
a part of this lineage of storytelling.
But I didn't really go to any of those for guidance.
People are like, did you watch the original Nosferatu?
And I was like, well no
'cause it's not the same thing.
I tend to like to be inspired by those things
independent of projects
that I'm doing that might overlap with them.
You know what I mean?
Does that make sense?
I'll watch stuff like that
but not if I'm doing a project
that is sort of in that same wheelhouse.
- It must be difficult.
You tend to dip your toes into some pretty heavy fandoms.
And people can get real nerdy about that sort of thing.
- People have a lot of time on their hands, Marya.
They do.
- (laughing) It's true.
They like to look for things
they like to feel connected to their
their stuff.
Which I respect, we wouldn't be sitting here if they didn't.
- Right, this is true.
- I'm grateful for that.
At the same time there's only so much that I can do.
I can't shape someone's opinion of something.
I can show up, I can do good work.
I can be a part of projects
that I believe will resonate for audiences
but once my work is done
my work is done.
I think I've developed
a pretty consistent relationship of being aware of that.
Which is like I can't get too wrapped up into
what fans think or feel about something
because ultimately there's nothing I can do to change it.
All I can do is focus on what's in my control
and what I can contribute to
and that's generally the work itself.
- Speaking again about being a villain
the cover of The Hollywood Reporter this week
is a quote from the roundtable saying
that the men prefer to play the bad guy
rather than the good guy.
Is that true for you?
Do you prefer villain roles?
- I'm less interested in where a character falls
on a moral or ethical spectrum
than I am in how complex or fully fleshed out
or multi-demential a character is.
For some reason I've come back to these kinds of roles
a number of times, especially in television.
I'm happy for the experiences
but I don't look for them necessarily.
They kind of gravitate toward me for unknown reasons.
But I'm open to it certainly.
I think for now, you know
Sylar, Thredson, Manx feels like a good trifecta.
I'm definitely interested in exploring other territory.
Like consciously, actively, you know
please don't ring me up to wield a knife
or telepathically slice someone's head open.
- And speaking of the unknown
can you tease out the next season of In Search Of?
- Oh yeah.
Speaking of the unknown, good segue.
We're doing a second season of In Search Of.
Bit of a different format now.
The first season I was so lucky to be able to travel
all over the world.
We took four and half months.
We went to Australia, we went to the UK
we went to Greece, we went to Italy
we went all over the United States
went to amazing locations
and really dug deep into
Morocco, you know.
Really dug deep into some cool ideas.
Unfortunately my schedule doesn't really allow for that
and I think we were like we wanna keep telling these stories
but we need to find a more manageable way to do it.
So we are doing a second season, we're doing eight episodes.
And I'm excited about it.
I think it'll be a cool continuation
of exploring some hallmark mysteries
like the Loch Ness Monster.
Some legends of the Bible.
And you know, for me
it's a little bit more manageably fitting into my schedule
which I think is important, too
when I'm doing those kinds of insularly projects
that I'm interested in, that I wanna keep going with.
But I need to find ways to contextualize them, so.
It should be cool, I don't know when we'll air them
but we've shot a few
and hopefully in the next six months
we'll hear more about it.
- And then last question to you.
Everybody's very excited about The Boys In The Band.
- Oh, okay that's not what I though you were gonna say
but okay, good yeah. (laughing)
- What were you gonna? - I don't know, go ahead.
(laughing) - The Boys In The Band.
Can you tell us a little bit about what we should expect?
- I just got the script yesterday, I haven't read it yet.
I think we had a great time doing it on Broadway last summer
exactly a year ago in fact.
The whole cast is coming back
so it's everybody that did the play.
Ryan Murphy's producing
Joe Mantello who directed the Broadway production
is directing it.
We're all very excited to come back and work together.
I think it's gonna be a great summer.
Yeah, for those people who saw it on Broadway
I think this production
I mean this film is gonna be a little bit more
grounded in the period.
The style of the production was a little bit timeless.
We didn't root it firmly
in the period of 1968 when it takes place
but I think the film will be more so that way.
I'm really excited to be shooting in LA.
To be out here is a real joy.
I've been living back in New York for the last six years
so I'm really excited to come back and be in LA.
I miss it, I love LA.
- I mean, have a great summer then.
- Thank you. You too.
- Thanks, Zachary. - All right, good to see you.