Quentin Plair (‘Welcome to Chippendales,’ ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’): Going from exotic dancer to family man was ‘eye-opening’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Rob Licuria
·4 min read
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“To have two shows that I’m actually a part of,” sighs Quentin Plair in our recent webchat, adding that “it’s really been kind of this really eye-opening and a beautiful and validating process that is still going on right now.” Plair is having a real moment this season, co-starring in not one, but two acclaimed roles in two very different but equally high-profile series — playing an exotic dancer in the glitzy and tawdry semi-autobiographical “Welcome to Chippendales” and an emotionally numb father and husband in the intimate comedy/drama “Tiny Beautiful Things,” both streaming on Hulu. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

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In “Tiny Beautiful Things,” Emmy nominee Kathryn Hahn (“Transparent,” “WandaVision”) stars as Clare, a writer who reluctantly becomes a popular advice columnist during a period of turmoil in her life. The limited series was adapted by Liz Tigelaar, based on the Cheryl Strayed book of the same name and co-produced by Oscar and Emmy nominee Reese Witherspoon and Oscar and Emmy winner Laura Dern. The comedy/drama follows Clare as her personal and professional life is spiraling out of control. Plair portrays her husband Danny, who is considering a divorce after learning she’s been emptying their daughter’s (Tanzyn Crawford) college fund to loan her brother money. In non-linear flashbacks, we learn more about her coming of age, with Sarah Pidgeon portraying the younger Clare throughout her college years and Emmy winner Merritt Wever playing her mother.

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Plair’s earlier breakthrough this season was in “Welcome to Chippendales,” which was created by Robert Siegel (“Pam & Tommy”), inspired by the book “Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders” by K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca. It stars Oscar and Emmy nominee Kumail Nanjiani as Steve Banerjee, who founded the famed Chippendales stripper troupe. The limited series charts his rise from an ambitious immigrant gas station attendant to entrepreneur and his fall from grace as he masterminds the murder of his business partner and ultimate rival, Emmy-winning choreographer Nick De Noia, portrayed by Emmy winner Bartlett (“The White Lotus”). Plair features as Otis, the only Black dancer in the troupe.

“I’m pretty reserved. Stripping is not something that I was on my bucket list,” Plair jokes. “It really wasn’t, so just to have this opportunity to do it, and in such a realistic way, that was a moment in time, you know what I mean? Especially with the character of Otis, having to deal with so much, being the only Black dancer at the club at the time that it was; the early eighties in Los Angeles. I think there was a lot to deal with there, with it being a period piece,” he explains. “And then to go straight from that to acting directly across from Kathryn Hahn in a very, very grounded, very in a sense ‘slice of life,’ you know, father, with a child, a family unit trying to figure out, going directly from that, it was such a fulfilling time as an artist to really be able to just hit all parts of things that interest me. I really did love the big glitz and glam of being on stage and dancing, with people cheering for me in ‘Chippendales.’ But, I also really loved the very intimate two people, either in a therapist office, or two people in a living room, or three people in a living room as a family unit, that intimate, grounded, very personal acting. And to do the two back to back, it was just really a blessing.”

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