Steve Carell portrays a character who goes to college for the first time as the lead in the new HBO comedy Rooster.
For creators Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, the inspiration comes from lived experiences.
“I stink at writing stuff that I don’t at least have even a slight personal connection to, and the main reason the show exists is when Steve Carell was dumb enough to talk to us about doing a TV show, one of the shared experiences we all have is we all have daughters about the same age, recently entered into adulthood out of college, trying to find their way,” Lawrence told Blavity’s Shadow and Act during our interview with the cast and team.
Tarses added, “It’s this transitional time we’ve dealt — you know, we’ve kind of all had some hard stuff in our lives. Our lives are relatively good, but I think there are things about them that we wish had gone differently. And I think there was this kind of fantasy or this question of whether you can, at this age, which is not that young anymore, still reinvent yourself, still change your trajectory, as it relates to your relationships, as it relates to your career, whatever. It felt very personal to put this guy, who was kind of recovering from some hard stuff, in a new kind of — a new, unfamiliar place, and see if he could turn this into a positive.”
Steve Carell gets a fresh start at life as Rooster
As he works to be at his daughter’s side during a seemingly tumultuous time in her life, Carell’s title character stumbles upon a chance to reinvent himself along the way.
“I think he is making a fresh start,” Carell said. “Doesn’t start that way. I don’t think it’s a conscious decision. I think there’s a night where he and a bunch of students go out and party, and it’s something that he had never done, because he had never gone to college. So, it was a new experience for him, and rather than even relieving a part of his past, he was living it for the first time at an advanced age. I think it’s odd for him to have all of those emotions and that experience at such a late period of his life, but he’s still who he is. And I think he fantasizes a little bit about being closer to this character that he writes in his novels. But I think in his heart of hearts, he knows that he’s truly not that guy, nor will he ever be, but that eventually maybe he can be a better version of who he presently is.”
Danielle Deadwyler shifts into a comedic role
Although this will be the first time fans will see Deadwyler in a role that showcases her comedic chops, it’s not too far off from her own lived experiences.
“Here’s a gift that Danielle Deadwyler gives,” Lawrence mentioned. “She could do anything she wanted, and she’s one of those actresses that is challenging herself to new things. I guarantee you she had some trepidation about doing comedy, but I think the cool thing is, the comedy on this show only works if the emotional stuff and the other stuff feels authentic. And to find out that she had an MFA in poetry and lived in this world, and almost found herself dragged to academia, and then to kind of personalize it and talk about what it means to not only find yourself at a place that’s transitional because of who you are and what you’re doing, but maybe wanting your voice to be heard more. I think it read very specific to her, but she’s influenced us with the character so many ways.”
Deadwyler explained the difference between her and the character.
“Dylan’s quite direct,” she said. “I am not like that. I like the poetry nature. I think she’s just writing poetry; I’m living it. Let’s metaphor, baby. I think that that boldness is fascinating, but she’s now being forced to find, or encouraged to find, other ways to do that. And I think that that’s the fun nature of humanness and complexity, right? Like, ‘How do I get to the other wavelengths, the other rhythm of how I can do a thing?’ I think that that’s what’s fun for me, and we are learning more and more about her, her background as the season goes along. And I think it’d be cool to delve into that in the future. She’s a Southern girl,” adding, “And that, I think, infuses into who she is in conjunction with her being in this kind of northeastern environment.”
Rooster airs weekly on HBO. Watch the full cast interview below: