‘Maybe Happy Ending' star Darren Criss on his Tony nomination for playing a robot: ‘Getting to do this is the true win'

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2 days ago

'I'm just, at a very base level, always so grateful to be getting to do this — that is the true win,' confesses newly minted Tony nominee Darren Criss. The actor is recognized for his performance as a 'Model-3 Helperbot' named Oliver in the touching new musical Maybe Happy Ending. While the accolades of awards season are appreciated — the tuner scooped up a whopping total of 10 Tony nominations — Criss is most affected by the opportunity to work on a show that has formed a deep connection with audiences.
'What art can and should do at its highest function, is connect people to their own human experience with other humans,' he tells Gold Derby (watch the full interview above). 'It's all just part of the amazing divine pleasure that it is to get to work on something that has an additive, if not positive, substantive effect on people who are experiencing it.'
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Maybe Happy Ending marks the first time Criss has been able to originate a role in a new Broadway show. That was always a career goal for Criss, but he admits that 'you can't dream up something like this ... its presence in my life is absolutely miraculous.' The actor admits that he had no idea how long the unique musical about robots would last, but it gave him the right opportunity at the right time.
Part of his work in originating the role was finding a specific physical characterization for Oliver. His mannerisms have to telegraph the fact that he's playing an android, yet Oliver needs to have a distinct personality and emotional life. Criss explains that he paid close attention to the concept of the 'uncanny valley' when crafting his role. 'The characters, the closer they are to humans, the more we're endeared to them. But then there's this threshold where once it gets a little too close, it starts becoming repulsive,' he describes, 'so I always kind of wanted to be aware of that line, but also be able to present as much as I could that this was not a human being.'
Luckily, Criss has an interest and background in physical theater, having studied Commedia dell'arte in Italy, learning techniques such as clowning, mime, and mask work. The actor pulled from those theater traditions to create Oliver's physical language. 'There's no subtlety with expression. It's all out there for you to see. Everything is telegraphed very explicitly. And that actually is a really fun playground for an actor because you can kind of exist in these big, over expressive places,' notes Criss. The resulting effect is a non-human character who delivers strikingly human emotional beats, which takes the audience by surprise.
It's nearly impossible for audiences to watch Maybe Happy Ending without imprinting their own human experiences on these inhuman characters. Criss isn't surprised by their emotional responses, since a similar effect occurs with the cast. 'I think anybody that brings their experience into a piece, you're not necessarily evoking those specific moments or those or specific people, but rather the understanding of that emotional sensation,' he says of connecting with Oliver's journey.
The musical, just like our brains and memories, is less concerned with minute details of a memorable event, but more so the lasting emotional impact. 'I apply that to the way that I summon feelings in any piece that I do where my brain may not remember or tap into the exact details of every little moment. But, I do remember, the hard drive remembers the feelings and how they feel and how they make you think and act,' explains the actor, putting things into robot terms. 'So those inevitably go into the character.'
Criss won the Critics Choice, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Emmy Award for his performance in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. He received an additional Emmy nomination for writing the music and lyrics to the song "Dreams Come True" from Glee.
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