Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: A Man In Full, david e kelley, exclusive, interview, jeff daniels, Josh Pais, netflix, Regina King, thomas schlamme, Tom Wolfe

A Man in Full: Josh Pais on Contrasting Jeff Daniels's Approach & More

Josh Pais (The Dropout) spoke with us about Netflix's limited series "A Man in Full," David E. Kelley and Jeff Daniels & much more.

Josh Pais is one of the most versatile actors across film and television, spanning five decades, appearing in projects like STARZ's Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Hulu's The Dropout, Showtime's Ray Donovan, and Warner Bros' Joker (2019). His latest is the Netflix limited series A Man in Full, which centers on Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Jeff Daniels), who defends his empire from those wanting to capitalize on his sudden bankruptcy and fall from grace in a clash of business and political interests. Based on the Tom Wolfe novel of the same name from David E. Kelley, Pais plays Herb Richman. The actor spoke to Bleeding Cool about what intrigued him about the project, how he prepped for the role, working with Kelley and directors Regina King and Thomas Schlamme, and playing off Daniels.

How Josh Pais Went "Stealth" in Netflix's A Man in Full

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with 'A Man in Full?'

What caught my eye was the people who were involved in the production and Jeff Daniels. When you know someone by their work, you can get a sense of who they are. I hadn't met him before [going in I was thinking], "Is he going to be this cool guy, or hard to work with?" He was amazing to work with and so committed to the craft of acting and creating. You also have Regina King and Tommy Schlamme directing and David E. Kelley writing. It was a dream team. I couldn't say "No."

Before production, did you read the Tom Wolfe novel?

I didn't read the full novel. I read sections where my character was in, in particular there's a horse-breeding scene I read, but it was pretty much…I got the call. I got an offer to do it and got a bunch of scripts, and I immersed myself in the scripts and then we were off to the races filming.

Were there any external inspirations that went into your role as Herb Richman?

On the first day of filming. Jeff came up to me and was like, "Josh, I'm going big for this…" and I thought to myself, "If he's going to be going big, I'm going to be stealth, like a submarine, like going subtle in a sense, like a reverse energy." In a sense, my character knows he has power and doesn't have to prove it to anyone, whereas his character does constantly push the edge of being larger than life and, in some ways, pays the price for that.

How do you contrast the directing styles for Regina and Thomas?

They were much in alignment, and sometimes both were on set. I had done a movie with Regina called 'Year of the Dog' (2007) that Mike White directed many years earlier. She has got such a big heart, and it's a very nurturing energy. Tommy is incredibly smart like his center is his brain, and that's where his creativity comes from, and Regina feels like her center is her heart, and that's where her creativity comes from. They both have a counter to that, and that's how they lead.

Was there a unique approach to your character you haven't done before in your other roles?

In a sense, it was trusting that I could be powerful and focused, but with my energy, but letting the energy be low and concentrated in a way that was different. A lot of the characters that I've done before are bursting with energy, and the energy comes out in jagged and crazy ways sometimes. This guy is contained, low grounded, solid without being stiff, and a business Zen master.

A Man in Full, which also stars Diane Lane, Tom Pelphrey, Aml Ameen, Chanté Adams, Jon Michael Hill, Sarah Jones, William Jackson Harper, and Lucy Liu, is available to stream on Netflix.

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