Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel): Was Midge wrong to walk away from Lenny Bruces motel room? I have to plead the fifth [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO…

Posted: May 30, 2020 at 6:43 am


without comments

Luke Kirby, who continues his role as the taboo-flaunting comic Lenny Bruce on Season 3 of Amazons The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, won an Emmy as Best Comedy Guest Actor last year. He managed to beat out such A-level talents as Matt Damon and Robert De Niro, who were both up for their appearances on Saturday Night Live.

Kirby, who is sporting a rather impressive quarantine mustache these days, was rather calm as he gave his acceptance speech onstage and offered thanks to all the right people as he read his speech off a card. Was that just an act?

In our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above), he reveals, I think it was likely an act. My adrenal glands have a tendency to lean towards a more laconic, lethargic tone. I think sitting there for the two hours that it took to get to that category. All the blood had been drawn from my body. I was slamming my hands down on my thighs just trying to get a pulse. Thats probably all it was. Restarting my heart beat.

His portrayal of the controversial stand-up on the first season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was a little rougher around the edges, considering that Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) had to bail him out of jail, but his take on the legendary comic has greatly evolved since then.

He says, I wasnt sure at the beginning what it was going to be. How much of Lenny Bruce was going to be involved in the storyline. And I sort of felt like because we were taking liberties with history because of her story that really he wanted to exist more in the realm of fable. Ive said before its like a fairy godmother. Its sort of his role. This person who appears at moments in Midges life that are remarkable and I kind of went with that and it in some ways opened up a lot of possibilities because I didnt feel the pressure of having to play a strictly historic Lenny Bruce or adhere to the sort of timeline of his life.

His interpretation is also quite different than Dustin Hoffmans approach in the 1974 biopic movie Lenny, which was directed by Bob Fosse and earned six Oscar nominations. Kirby says he saw it as a teenager: I kind of had a little dalliance with Lenny Bruce in high school and Lenny the movie was one of (my) first ins to him. And I just adored it. I just sopped it up. I was just so compelled by Dustin Hoffmans performance and Valerie Perrine and the movie itself is very beautifully composed.

On the third season, Lenny shows up in two episodes. The character gets to meet Midges dad, Abe (Tony Shaloub), after she tells her father about his act and that he tackles issues of freedom of speech. Abe ends up at The Gaslight club to see him perform and stands up for his rights to pull out a Playboy centerfold. That is when the vice cops move in and both men spend the night in jail. Midges mom Rose (Marin Hinkle) ends up bailing them out.

Lennys second appearance on the most recent season is when he catches Midges act at the famed Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. He stops by to check out her act, of which he heartily approves, and she joins him on a TV show called Miami After Dark, a take-off of the type of hip late-night show that Playboys Hugh Hefner hosted and one that Bruce visited.

Kirby adds, That was super fun. I also familiarized myself with Playboy After Dark. Its so peculiar. The most striking thing about that clip now, when you watch it, yes, theyre all sort of dressed up and they look great. But the newness of television, the medium of it, is so new and theyre so clearly trying to riff in a way that in some ways I dont know that the medium allows and theres a sort of self-awareness to them thats a little discomforting and sort of endearing as well at the same time.

SEEAmy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) says of stand-up comic, Midge: Shes a streaming gal [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]

After their TV appearance together, the evening continues as Lenny and Midge share a lovely dinner and dance to Till There Was You from the musical The Music Man. The pair take a romantic walk along the water and end up at Lennys rather chintzy motel room as he invites her in but she turns him down. Was she right to not go there? Kirby says, I think I have to plead the fifth on the right or wrong of that. In situations like that, the odds are always 50/50. You have to honor her choice, certainly.

Kirby also talks about the time when the comics daughter Kitty Bruce visited the set on the second season, his rendition of Bruces song All Alone that the comic sang on The Steve Allen Show, where he keeps his Emmy trophy and whether his character will continue his journey on Season 4.

PREDICTthe 2020 Emmy nominees now; change through July 28

Be sure to make your Emmy nominations predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before the nominees are announced on July 28. And join in the thrilling debate over the 2020 Emmy Awards taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our TV forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.

SIGN UPfor Gold Derbys newsletter with experts latest predictions

View post:
Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel): Was Midge wrong to walk away from Lenny Bruces motel room? I have to plead the fifth [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO...

Related Posts

Written by admin |

May 30th, 2020 at 6:43 am

Posted in Self-Awareness




matomo tracker