Brian Tyree Henry on how ‘Dope Thief' let him ‘reclaim' his name: ‘I was just Paper Boi to people,' and now ‘I became Brian again'
"Dope Thief allowed me to reclaim my name," says Brian Tyree Henry, the star and executive producer of the Apple TV+ limited series. The Oscar, Emmy, and Tony nominee tells Gold Derby, "I was just Paper Boi [from Atlanta] to people for quite a few years. And so with this one, I think that I became Brian again, and that is very special to me." Watch our full interview above.
Henry plays Ray Driscoll on Dope Thief, a con artist who, along with his lifelong friend Manny Carvalho (Wagner Moura), robs from drug dealers by posing as DEA agents. Unfortunately, they steal from the wrong people, and mayhem ensues. The program is written by Peter Craig and based on the 2009 novel by Dennis Tafoya. "Everything that happens is absolutely terrible, but in the end, it's a fun ride," the actor recalls.
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"Wagner Moura is truly one of the best that's ever done it," Henry says of his costar. "Being able to do this show with him was the greatest gift I've ever been given, honestly." On their first day on set, he recalls Moura pulling him aside and revealing that he was "really scared," to which Henry responded, "'Regardless of what goes on, I promise you I won't leave your side. We've got each other.' And from then on, we were just connected and locked in."
Henry calls Dope Thief a "love story between these two friends who are more than friends. I don't even think the word 'friend' is appropriate. They've been through so much together. It's very easy to see series where it's a Black and Brown man paired together — violence, drugs, all the yahooey — but you never really get to the core of who they are. But these two men are afraid and vulnerable, and there is grief, there is regret."
Apple TV+
Henry sees a connection between his roles as the lead actor and executive producer, and takes both positions seriously. "What I realized by being the star of the show and also the EP, is that there's this phrase that floats around on sets that says, 'It starts from the top.' Whoever is considered the top of the show, their tone dictates the rest of how the show goes and is felt. And so, in this particular project, I felt like being No. 1 on the call sheet meant that I set the tone, and I didn't want anything but joy."
The tone of Dope Thief shifts between incredibly dramatic and hilariously light-hearted. "Even if I'm on the ground covered in blood with a hole in my leg, in between takes, we're going to get up, I'm going to play music, we're going to talk," says Henry. "Peter would let us improv all the time, which is my juice. I love it. I just always want to be truthful in where the characters are."
Regardless of what happens at upcoming awards shows, Henry is happy that Dope Thief gave him room "to show people my range and that I'm not just one thing." He's already been nominated at the Gotham TV Awards for this project, and the Emmy nominations will be unveiled on July 15. "I don't ever win sh-t," he laughs. "It's cool, but I'm always so wrong about what I think people will recognize. Let me tell you something: I'm honored."
Henry opens up about how the sixth episode, in which Ray was in a "delirium" after being shot, came on the heels "of a major loss in my life, when my father died." He explains, "This episode also dealt with Ray and his father [played by Ving Rhames] and all these different things, and I was like, you have got to be kidding. There is no way that you can make this up. It was incredibly cathartic. It is an episode that I truly, truly, truly love. It was incredibly hard to make, but at the end of the day, it was so rewarding."
The actor is proud of all of his collaborations and has nothing but thanks for Craig. "I tell Peter all the time, thank you for putting dialogue like this in my mouth," he says, "and for allowing space for me to actually show all these different emotions that they normally just don't let us as Black actors play."
What does Henry think his character will be up to five or 10 years in the future? "I hope that Ray is on a farm in a garden that he has procured somewhere in New Hope, Pa.," he says with a smile. "I hope that he makes candles, is in love with his mother [played by Kate Mulgrew], that they're running a shop. I really want him to wear cardigans, but I want him to really feel like he's free," Henry continues. "I think that freedom is the thing that he needs."
Dope Thief is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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And so even though we were playing sometimes to emptier houses or just trying to get the word out, it felt like we were shouting into the void sometimes. But whoever came really resonated with it. The sentiment of the show personally helped me stay present throughout all of it because Claire, her whole motto is that, it's the way that it has to be, and tomorrow is not promised. So instead of using that to make me feel dread or there's an expiration date, and that being an impending doom feeling, it can feel like release — that I can just experience now to the fullest. I remember when there was a lot of doubt floating around the internet, all this internet gossip, all of these things that were really scary. I said to one of my castmates, if I can get one thing out of this, I just want to do this for one audience one time. I really hope we get there. There was also a world in which that didn't even happen, that we didn't even get to previews. So every step was a new dream come true. The fact that we got to opening, and then when we got to opening, we got so many amazing reviews. We got those reviews and our producers still said, don't relax, because we still don't know — it's still never a guarantee. The industry is just so hard. It's so hard. All of these amazing shows closed after fall openings, and that is not a testament to how hard they were working or how much they believed in their pieces. That was so out of their control as well. I think that really sobered us up and made us feel grateful for every single audience that we ever had. HS: Yes! We call them the 'fireflies.' They have been instrumental in getting this word out, especially in the beginning. Someone told me that a couple of the fireflies pooled together and helped pay for tickets for people who couldn't afford to do so. It's a testament to how much they believed in this show. At every turn, they've been so supportive. And they support our standbys so much too. Whenever a standby goes on, they're pooling to the theaters to go see them and it's really amazing. They're so kind. They're a kind group of people. I think our show invites a kind of person who… there's a cerebral-ness to the show, there's a softness to the show, maybe it's the jazz elements and Marcus, and there's a warmth to it that I feel a lot of familiarity and kinship with these people who resonate with this show. I resonate with it. If I wasn't a part of it, I would be a firefly. HS: It's for you. It's for you. I haven't seen John Proctor yet, but I've read a couple of script dialogue moments, and what I appreciate about Kimberly Belflower's writing is that it doesn't talk down to the youth. Actually, it reveres and respects and has dignity to the young voice. And I think that's what a lot might've been missing from representation of young people in the past — it's been people writing from a point of, look how naive this kid is. Look at this kind of perspective. 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But especially with live theater, there's no substitution for getting into a space together and experiencing one thing and being affected and being open to it. So I'm really excited that John Proctor and Romeo + Juliet and all of these pieces are resonating with young people. We have a lot of Gen Z people resonating with Maybe Happy Ending. There is an accessibility issue. Tickets keep getting more and more expensive, and that's just tough, because it's for the people and shouldn't be gatekept from people just because of prices. But there's rush and there's ways that people are trying to make it more affordable and lower that accessibility. I would say just get in a rush line, see something and think about it and form your own opinion about it. It's irreplaceable. HS: Well, first of all, in their creative collaboration, [co-writers] Will and Hue are very Claire and Oliver-coded. They do switch off between which one's which. Will is more Oliver and Hue is more Claire. 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