Actor Tom Pelphrey Talks Season Three Of The Hit Netflix Drama, "Ozark"
The third season of Netflix's "Ozark" picks up six months later with the casino up and running while Marty and Wendy are fighting for control of the family's destiny. Marty preaches keeping the status quo. Aided by an alliance with Helen and drug cartel leader Omar Navarro, Wendy plots for expansion. But when Wendy's brother Ben comes into town, everyone's lives are thrown into chaos. Actor Tom Pelphrey sat down with BUILD to discuss the new season.
Video Transcript
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RICKY CAMILLERI: Hey, everybody. Welcome to Build that Home. Once again, I'm Ricky Camilleri. I'm joined right now by, I think, outside of probably Tiger King, the talk of Netflix, the talk of the internet right now, actor Tom Palfrey who plays Ben on this most recent season of Ozark. One of the most tragic characters in Ozark history. I mean, maybe the most tragic. Tom, very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for being here.
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Before we get started and talk everything Ben and Ozark, I just want to say something that we've been saying at the top of all of these interviews, which is across the country, children are missing school lunches. Up to 336 million lunches have been missed by children across the country due to school closures from the coronavirus. If you would like to find out how you can donate to help children get lunches in this country, please go to nokidhungry.org. Thanks.
Tom, thank you so much for being here. Before we get started, I know you had told me that you're out of this area now. How are you holding up? What are you doing to keep yourself sane?
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, I mean, well, luckily I can, you know, isolate comfortably, so that's good. Just staying away from other people, taking the dog for walks, doing some push ups, you know, trying to eat decent and reading some books. Yeah, and just really checking in on family and friends, especially the people I know who might be a little bit older, might be a little bit more vulnerable. Just making sure everybody's doing OK. You sort of feel helpless, you know, being isolated but I think sometimes it's nice to just reach out, be talking to people, make sure that the people that you know who are by themselves that you give them a call, maybe face time if you can so it doesn't feel so lonely and, yeah.
RICKY CAMILLERI: So let's talk about Ben. What a character. What a beautiful sort of classically dramatic character where his outcome is kind of inevitable almost upon meeting him, unfortunately. What was it like when they approached you with this? I mean, what an opportunity.
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, it really is. It's just a really great opportunity. I auditioned for the role with Alexa Fogel. Alexis cast for Ozark, she and I go back 15 years. She felt like this role would be a good fit for me and when I read it, I agreed. So yeah, it's just very exciting. I was a fan of the show prior to auditioning so I already knew what it was about. I knew the tone, I love the actors, I love the writing. Yeah, I mean pretty much in every possible dimension for a job to be good, this job was very, very good. So yeah. Every now and then one of those opportunities comes along and you hope to make the best of it.
RICKY CAMILLERI: You said that you and Alexa, the casting director, go back 15 years. Is that back to Guiding Light?
TOM PALPHREY: No, so the first time I read for Alexa was Generation Kill.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Oh right, the David Simon--
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, exactly. Alexa casts all David Simon's things. So I met her auditioning for that back in the day and we've sort of stayed close since in terms of going in and respecting each other's work and, you know.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Because I was going to say, prior to this interview, I watched some clips of you in Guiding Light and I watched when you won in 2006 your first daytime Emmy. And the clip that they showed of you like screaming and threatening to cut your hair or cutting your hair maybe, I was like, of course they cast this guy as Ben. This is a Ben moment.
[LAUGHTER]
TOM PALPHREY: You know, it's funny about that moment on Guiding Light, was I wanted to do a play. I wanted to do a play and the play was about World War II and I needed short hair. So I asked the executive producer if I could do the play and I was like, I also am going to need short hair and she's like, yes you can do the play. Yes you can cut your hair, and we're going to work it into the show. So that scene is a result of me asking to go do a play.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Man, soap operas get, you know, such a bad rap but that sounds like such a fun gig that you can be so dramatic and you can really dig your teeth into the character so much that you can tell the executive producer, let's write some crazy dramatic scene where I'm cutting my hair on camera.
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, no, I had a great time. It was a great opportunity right out of school to be working in front of the camera, to be learning how to memorize, how to think on feet. You know, a lot of great friendships I made at that time that I still have to this day, I was lucky that this show I was on I think had some older actors with really good values that they sort of instill because I think some of your earlier jobs can be important in terms of looking up to the people around you to understand how to be. And I was lucky in that way so, yeah.
RICKY CAMILLERI: So obviously flash forward 14, 15 years, where we're on the set of Ozark. And did you know what Ben's fate was going to be when you first signed on?
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, well, not immediately but before I started filming, Chris Mundy, the show runner, called me and he talked me through the season, which was greatly appreciated. And for anyone who doesn't know, usually that kind of information is kind of hard to get. So I didn't get to read all the scripts because they were written yet. But I would have him explain to me what would be happening with Ben throughout the season which is so helpful as an actor to sort of understand that the topography and understand A to Z and then you can have a better idea of how you want to get there.
You have that always when you're doing a play, you have that always when we do a movie. A TV show is the one time where you sometimes feel a little bit like your running into a dark room, you know.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Especially a character like this who is only going to be making poor decisions but can always find a way to sort of self justify them and believe that they are the right decision. You kind of have to know how you're going to map out each one of those justifications as you're moving into the next bad decision.
TOM PALPHREY: Well, yeah, yeah. I mean, there's something true about that. You want to sort of know all of the things that happened so that, yeah, you can sort of realize what the value system is. Like, realize in this situation these are the things that would be most important and that plays out, the writing holds that up. So yeah, yeah. It's so helpful to have that kind of information.
RICKY CAMILLERI: One of the things that I love that you did with Ben in the last-- in his last episode was that he is increasingly not listening to Laura Linney's character. But we can see in your eyes that he thinks he's doing the right thing. He thinks that he's stepping up and being a man and he's tired of being sort of treated as this mentally ill child who can't take care of himself. And so he is trying to take care of everything but is only stepping further into the shit.
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, yeah. Well it's, I mean, it's something that I believe we all do at times. That we have certain thoughts that we perseverate on, especially thought that might have negative emotion attached or thoughts about things that maybe we regret or feel like we could do better. And I think that's a very natural human thing that is also something that can be extremely heightened in someone with bipolar that those perseverating thoughts take on like a whole new level of energy and importance and urgency.
And unfortunately, that can lead to a kind of manic behavior or you know, sort of unstable behavior. And again every person is different, every case is different but yeah, that was-- that's an instance of the writing kind of leaning into the fact that Ben is off his medication and he's having a harder and harder time quieting the perseverating thoughts, you know.
RICKY CAMILLERI: There's even a moment where we think that he has grasped the severity of the circumstances and then we see very, like, within the next scene that he has kind of-- he actually can't seemingly grasp the severity of it.
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, I think in the simplest way he just wants everything to be OK. It's almost like OK, OK, OK, let's just pretend it didn't happen. It's very-- it's very childlike in that way, it's very innocent in his attempts at fixing it are also very sort of innocent, very pure. And obviously that's the problem, as Wendy is realizing and everybody else is realizing that there's so much complexity in this world and you can't just apologize. You can't just go back on something like that. It's sort of too late, he just doesn't understand that.
RICKY CAMILLERI: You can't threaten a powerful person's children.
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Since you said that. Laura Linney, for my money, is just one of the greatest actresses of all time. And you have a number of wonderful scenes with her. But I think specifically the moment that I referred to a moment ago where it seems like Ben has recognized the severity of the situation. He breaks down in the car with his sister. What was it like doing that scene with her?
TOM PALPHREY: I mean, every scene with her was an absolute pleasure. She is absolutely one of the greatest actresses and she is the human being to match. She is so generous and kind. She was so extremely supportive with me and went out of her way to be all those things. And so yeah, when it turned out that towards the end of the year we had all these vulnerable and tense scenes, she could not have made my life easier.
And also, I just love Laura. I mean I'm so in awe of her talent and her skill but as a human being, I love her. And so to play those scenes with her felt very, very easy. She made a very safe environment. She's such a good actor. You know, there's times where you're very aware of the things that are out of your control helping you so much be better and those are one of those times. The writing, Laura, Alec Sakharov was our director for the last four episodes, we shot the last four as a block. So Alec was the director for seven, eight, nine, ten. He's a beautiful, beautiful director. So smart, so good at what he does and such a beautiful talker, give wonderful notes, very gentle spirit you know.
So yeah, that's what I mean when I say that the job was a great job in every possible dimension. Like there are so many things that come into play, I think, to be able to do a good job as an actor. And on Ozark, all of those things were there. And that's really rare.
RICKY CAMILLERI: There is a moment in that episode where at the top of it, you're delivering this incredible monologue. Where, you know, Ben is just spinning out in all these separate directions. And they do something that is so cool which is they hold on your face while we hear you talking and then we jump cut to you in the middle of that monologue. Was that written, did you know that they were planning on doing that or was that something that you saw for the first time in the edit and what did you think of it?
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, no, that would be something that wasn't written. Yeah, I think it's-- I think it's beautiful. Like I said, I'm not sure whose decision that ultimately was but I wouldn't be surprised if that was Alec's decision, you know. Yeah, I think everything they do on that show is tastefully done, well done, well edited, well cut. And again, you know, you're in very good hands when you're working for people like that because they're going to make you look better.
RICKY CAMILLERI: I saw on your IMDB that you're also starring or in David Fincher's upcoming Netflix movie, Make. Can you tell me anything about that?c
TOM PALPHREY: Well, I probably can't say too much other than, you know, the combination of this past year was sort of a dream come true. You know, to leave Ozark and Laura Linney and Jason Bateman and Julia Garner and Janet McTeer and then go out to LA and get to work on the David Fincher film. I mean, David Fincher is a genius. He's a master at what he does and it was amazing to work for him and to get to watch him work and to learn. And I'm working with Gary Oldman there who is one of my childhood heroes, you know. So yeah, it was a really great experience and I feel like I've learned a lot from watching David and Gary work.
RICKY CAMILLERI: David is notorious or famous for doing a number or a lot of takes. Was that your experience with the shoot?
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, yeah, we often we--
[LAUGHTER]
RICKY CAMILLERI: Yeah, that's what he does. Yeah.
TOM PALPHREY: He sure does but I have to say like, there is such, how to say this. He is such-- it is so clear that he knows exactly what he's doing and exactly what he wants. It is a pleasure to work for him because you can give over to him in a way that I don't think you usually get to give over to somebody. So even if you're doing 50 takes, by the end of 50 my feeling was oh, let's play some more.
It never felt arduous, it never felt too long, it never felt-- it never felt like as many takes as we were doing, you know. You sort of have this rare opportunity as an actor to put yourself in one of the masters. And that to me is so exciting. You know, that in itself, just being able to get to work like that was pretty cool.
RICKY CAMILLERI: There's also the idea that when you're doing theater, you know, you get to do weeks of rehearsal, which is doing a version of you 50, 60, 100s of takes, right. Where with a movie, you rarely get to have any kind of rehearsal. So that is the actor's time to really like maybe settle in, not the same, but similar way that you get to settle in with a scene in theater.
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, yeah, no for sure.
[MUFFLED SHOUTING]
We have-- looks like we have an issue outside. Yeah, no, well, with David, also he does rehearsals on top of that, you know. [INAUDIBLE] having the actors come out a bit early, everybody gets to meet each other, you go over everything so that by the time you get on set you're really on the same page and you kind of have all agreed upon what you're going to be doing. But yeah, no, it was a very singular experience. Working for him was unlike anything else in a really positive way.
RICKY CAMILLERI: There's a internet conspiracy theory that Ben is not dead because we didn't see the actual execution take place. I for one, feel like Laura's reaction to his death was enough of a signal to that he's dead. But what are your thoughts about that?
TOM PALPHREY: I don't know, interestingly enough there was conspiracy theories onset [LAUGHS] that were saying the same thing. I haven't heard anything. I, as the actor, assume that Ben is indeed dead but who knows. I hadn't heard anything that contradict that thought but that's funny that people are saying that.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Ben develops a relationship with Ruth in the season. What was it like working with Julia?
TOM PALPHREY: Oh, she's great. She's great. We just, we got along very well right away. We have some mutual friends, shared sense of humor. You know, we're filming down in Georgia, I got to go hang out with her and Charlie. Had a blast, go see movies, just a lot of laughter. It was really nice because our friendship, our working relationship was very light and easy and it made it very easy and safe for us to do some of the intimate scenes, for us to do some of the emotional scenes. It was very, again, just a great work dynamic that makes it easier to perform.
RICKY CAMILLERI: You know, it's interesting, with Ozark, Jason Bateman is sensibly the star of the show and he directed the pilot, I believe, and probably directs other episodes throughout. But he seems more than willing to allow the supporting cast or the rest of the cast kind of blow up a little bit and have humongous, beautiful moments outside of his character.
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, well that's a really good observation and I think you're absolutely right. He's a very, I feel like all I'm doing is singing everyone's praises, but I really mean. He's just such a generous, good, calm, happy, funny, supportive human being.
Yeah, I really do think that's who he is. He seems very grateful for what he has and he seems-- he is extremely generous about sharing, about giving other people opportunities that doesn't seem to be ego in it for Jason at all which is really beautiful. And I'm sure I'm not the only actor to say like, that is the kind of person you would work with over and over and over again and it would be a pleasure. He's a real leader.
You know, even when he's directing and he's acting, he's so calm. He just sees it all, giving notes, making jokes, so easy, it's like you almost forget you're at work. And then you remember that he's thinking of the shots and probably thinking of the edit and giving the actors notes and giving himself notes and cognizant of all of these things simultaneously and yet remains calm, remains friendly, remains good humored, it's really impressive. I think it speaks a lot about the human being that he is on top of how talented he is.
RICKY CAMILLERI: When you're playing a character like that and you have to do a scene where you're going to come barreling down the driveway and you're going to start screaming at a few people or you're going to cry on the side of a car with Laura, how do you, and you might not want to say because sometimes you don't want to reveal their tricks or everything that they have to do, but how do you get to that place? Do you have to hold onto it for a long time prior? Can you kind of turn it on? What's your, a little bit of what your process is like for that?
TOM PALPHREY: Yeah, I mean, honestly, every job feels a bit different. But one of the things that I could say about Ozark that made so many of those things feel easy in a way was it is excellent writing. And when the writing is that well crafted, there's I don't know how to say it, but in my opinion, in really good writing on top of the obvious surface level of the words you can see on the page and all of that making sense and speaking to you in character, on really good writing there's like an emotional through line. And if the writers are really good, the emotional through line is really clear.
And then when that happens, you can kind of give over to the writing. Like let it dictate what will happen rather than coming in with something worked up and trying to sort of like impose your will on it. And I thought the writing this season on Ozark, especially the things I got to do in the scenes I got to be in was gorgeous, beautiful writing. And yeah, so I don't know. Every job is different and it's always a bit of a mystery. But I will say in this job I feel like a lot of what was moving me or inspiring me was coming off the page.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Yeah, well, Tom, it's been a pleasure talking to. Congrats on this season of Ozark. Everybody's talking about it, everyone's crazy about your performance, congratulations.
TOM PALPHREY: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Of course, I can't wait to see Make either when that comes out. I'm looking forward to it. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay isolated, locked down. [LAUGHS]
TOM PALPHREY: I will, you too, you too. Thanks again.
RICKY CAMILLERI: Thanks, Tom. Take care.
TOM PALPHREY: All right.
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