Warning: This article contains spoilers for “dope thief”
Between its high -top action sequences and quippy dialogue, Apple tv+’s “Dope thief” may seem like a typical crime thriller. But Brian Tyree HenryIt was a chance for him to go further than his most famous role that rapes Paper Boi in Donald Glovers “Atlanta” and through the grief of losing his mother in 2016.
“I remember when I lost my mom, at the same time I lost my name, because suddenly, here are people who greet me on the street,” Oh, paper Boi. “But I’m my mother’s son.” I had to deal with the loss of what my life used to be. A large part of why I put on (‘Dope Thief’ character) Ray was to find my name again, honestly, to find out who I am. This show gave me a place to regain a lot of things. ”
It also got Henry, also an EP on the series, an Emmy Nick for the main actor in a
Limited series, his third nomination after “Atlanta” and “This is us.” Created by Peter Craig, “Dope Thief” is the story of Ray and Manny (Wagner Moura), best friends who met as teenage prisoners and whose system to pose as Dea agents and robbery drug dealers put them in serious danger.
Thewrap: How did you create the relationship between Manny and Ray?
Brian Tyree Henry: You have these two men who were not only imprisoned when they were 15-year-old boys, but peeled off their freedom. This system has told them that they will not be S – T. and you must feel that need and that longing for each other. You have to feel that kind of reaching out to see if the other is there. If you notice, throughout the series, we are near each other all the time, whether in a car, in the church, on a bus. Because I think the type of connection between men that has been imprisoned is real. And I think we were both in a place in our careers where we really wanted to turn the viewers’ focus for how they saw us on our heads. It’s really easy to see Wagner and walk, “Pablo Escobar.” But it is another thing to see him hold a gun and be
afraid.
Ray shows vulnerability throughout the show; We see him cry at least once. How do you channel it?
The thing to remember about Ray and Manny is that they are not professional, right? They are over their heads, and they really do not have systems in place to take care of (themselves). And the systems they have, they manipulate. You know, Ray comes to (drugs anonymous) meetings and he still uses. Seeing his struggle with sadness and loss was real to me, to see him struggle with being an uncomfortable (parentless) child. It was important for me to see him fight addiction and fight with the truth.
I really wanted to see Ray doing it on the other side. I didn’t want him to be another black man lost to a statistics and be a number that was just forgotten, which is how I feel for every man I play. I always want people to have a desperate desire to see me to the end, because that’s where I come from.
In the final section, I was waiting for Manny to show up, even though he has died. But he never does. What was it like to film the final without Wagner?
It’s loss, right? It was difficult. His last scene was overdose in a cell. I came to set up that day and I sat outside that cell all the time and sat on the ground. I had a whole party for him, like four cookies, all the Brazilian food that someone could eat. I wore a boombox – like “Say Anything” – to play Brazilian music. I think I put a “cat in the hat” hat on top of him. And to see the joy of the face, everyone knew it. I was determined to send him with a blow, and we did.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
This story first ran down to the Wire Drama issue of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine. Read more from Down to the thread dramal question here.
