Mrs. Davis star on JQ's 'viscerally muscular' leadership style and that Australian accent
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How do you resist the robot takeover? As new "artificial intelligence" programs like ChatGPT gain popularity in the real world, many people are starting to wonder about questions like these. But on Peacock's Mrs. Davis, the titular algorithm is far more advanced, and has many people under its spell. As a result, the AI resistance is much further along as well — and is led by the colorful JQ (Chris Diamantopoulos).
"A massive swing is the only kind of swing I know how to do," Diamantopoulos tells EW. "I like playing characters that really go for it. What gets me out of bed is an opportunity to do something that's a little different, a little off, a little broken. That's what really engaged me when they talked to me about this character being the leader of this underground resistance."
If you've watched any of Mrs. Davis on Peacock, you've probably laughed aloud at one or more of D's line readings as JQ barks orders at his followers, sounding as if the Rebel Alliance was led by an Australian wrestler. If you haven't watched the show yet, you're missing out on one of the funniest TV performances of the year so far.
Ron Batzdorff/PEACOCK Chris Diamantopoulos on 'Mrs. Davis'
Diamantopoulos describes JQ's leadership style as "viscerally muscular." In one memorable moment, JQ grabs an underling's phone to talk with protagonist Simone (Betty Gilpin) about their shared efforts to defeat the AI known as Mrs. Davis. Over the course of the conversation, JQ gets so excited that he ends up destroying the phone.
"You can see the sinew and veins popping through the leadership style," Diamantopoulos says. "This guy uses bravado and any kind of grandiosity that he can muster to get his point across. He does not subscribe to the Teddy Roosevelt school of 'speak softly and carry a big stick.' He speaks through a megaphone. He carries a bazooka."
Diamantopoulos isn't Australian, but he is quite an experienced voice actor. Among his many credits, he is Disney's current go-to Mickey Mouse actor on shows like The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, voiced multiple characters on Amazon Prime Video's Invincible, and played Robotus on Netflix's gone-too-soon series Inside Job. He put those skills to use generating JQ's hilarious accent.
"I'd never done Australian before," Diamantopoulos says. "If you've followed my odd, lovely little career, you'll see that I've done a fair amount of different accents, different regionalisms, and different voices. When I'm finding a character, whether it's onscreen or in animation, finding the voice is the first place for me to start. It allows me to figure out how the guy stands, how he breathes, how he walks. So when I was first considering JQ, I didn't think there would be room for an accent, because he needed to be so verbally dexterous. He disseminates so much information and he speaks so voraciously and so quickly that I just thought, he's gotta be a fast-talker like me, right?"
EW can confirm that Diamantopoulos does indeed talk quickly, but his normal voice doesn't sound anything like JQ's.
"But when [series co-creator] Damon Lindelof says 'I want him to be Australian,' the only answer is 'yes sir,'" Diamantopoulos says. "But then I thought, 'oh s—, I've never done that before.' And that's a real tough accent. So I just went into study mode. I really started breaking it down as best I could and figuring out how that worked in my mouth. And I called him back and said, 'hey, it's Australian, but it's like Australian with a sprinkle on it. It's epic. It's like Cinema Australian. It's like he lives and breathes in Zack Snyder's 300.'"
He continues, "Damon loved that and [series co-creator] Tara Hernandez loved that. And it was so much fun to do, because I found that it's like oh, not only does it not slow me down, it speeds me up because now I get it. This guy's flexing his biceps all the time, hoping someone will touch him."
Elizabeth Morris/Peacock Jake McDorman and Chris Diamantopoulos on 'Mrs. Davis.'
For all of JQ's bravado, he also has some vulnerabilities that have been exposed by the emergence of this world-conquering AI — vulnerabilities that become a little more clear with this week's episode.
"He's this badass in the story, but he's also this real broken, fragile little boy deep down inside," Diamantopoulos says. "JQ lost everything when Mrs. Davis hit the scene. His reason for being, the thing that gave him the crackle, was gone. He was no longer exceptional, because Mrs. Davis allowed for everyone to be exceptional. It destroyed him, he couldn't pivot. So there is this real sadness and vengeance to him, this feeling that everything was taken from him. The more a personality like that thinks like that, the more gasoline is thrown on the flame and the bigger it grows."
The first six episodes of Mrs. Davis are streaming now on Peacock.
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