Jake McDorman went deep into his toolbox for ‘Mrs. Davis’: ‘That was a blast to play’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
To hear Jake McDorman describe his first time reading a scene from “Mrs. Davis” is akin to watching the show itself. “You’re like, ‘I think it’s funny. I think it can be funny. Or maybe I’m completely misinterpreting this and it’s a drama. I don’t know,” McDorman tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview.
But as McDorman and viewers have found out, the new Peacock drama “Mrs. Davis” is all of that and more: it’s a serious drama with room for slapstick comedy, barbed banter, and swooning romance that’s also about technology and religion and the very nature of humanity. Star Betty Gilpin has called the show “No Country for Looney Tunes,” and the references to Joel and Ethan Coen and Bugs Bunny are no better exemplified than with McDorman’s character, Wiley. He’s a rodeo cowboy who also runs a comical underground resistance of lost boys against Mrs. Davis, the show’s all-encompassing artificial intelligence that acts like a cross between Twitter, Instagram, Alexa, ChatGPT, and God itself. But Wiley is also the ex-boyfriend of Simone (Gilpin), who broke up their relationship when she had a literal communication with Jesus Christ (Andy McQueen) and decided to marry him instead of Wiley.
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SEEJeff Russo interview: ‘Mrs. Davis’ and ‘Love and Death’ composer
It all might sound strange – certainly for a show about an algorithm, “Mrs. Davis” is almost algorithm-proof; we didn’t even mention the fact that Simone is on a quest to find the Holy Grail – but Gilpin, McDorman and co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez make sure to keep it as grounded as possible.
“That presented a really fun challenge to attack as an actor because you really do get to kind of go deep in your toolbox and use everything you’ve got,” McDorman says. He credits the entire cast and crew for getting on the right wavelength, with particular praise for Gilpin, his onscreen foil and partner.
“If you took Lucille Ball and Meryl Streep and put them in a blender, you get Betty Gilpin,” he says. “She can just oscillate from some of the hardest belly laughs to some really heartwarming or gut-wrenching drama in the same scene. So having her kind of set the tone and march down that line was good. If you were ever got lost, just look to her.”
But even though Gilpin is the show’s North Star, McDorman matches her every step of the way, playing a guy who thinks he’s the main character but not-so-secretly is just along for the ride.
“If you ever need to feel like you’re maybe not the main character of a heroic quest, just put your ex-girlfriend next to you,” McDorman says of his off-beat chemistry with Gilpin. “Their dynamic and being exes was really fun to play because that was the thing that always knocked him off his high horse over and over and over again. In the script, it was very clear that they were going for somebody who very badly wanted to be perceived as the leading man – Wiley wanted to be perceived as the Han Solo adventurer and was just constantly reminded, he’s not that cool, he’s not that swag. That was a blast to play.”
“Mrs. Davis” is being billed as a drama series by Peacock and the show’s eight-episode first season wraps up on May 19 with plenty of closure. But McDorman says he’d absolutely love to play Wiley again. “I’d be so stoked to get to grow that mustache,” he says of his character’s signature facial hair, which McDorman kept for a while after production ended. (He’s without the mustache at the moment.)
“I think people will be satisfied and not just feel like we left a bunch of loose ends hanging around,” he adds of the show’s finale. “But that being said, Season 2 is very much a possibility narratively, and I do know little ideas that Tara’s shared with me about where that would jump off from.”
“Mrs. Davis” is now streaming on Peacock.
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