Latest news with #BrianTyreeHenry
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘He really pissed me off!' Emmy nominee Brian Tyree Henry on why he loved to hate his character in Dope Thief
The third time might be the charm for Brian Tyree Henry, who's already been nominated twice before for his work on Atlanta and This is Us. But the nod for Dope Thief is the first time he's being recognized for a leading role. It's also the first time he's been nominated since 2018, so he's looking forward to a 'crazy prom' at the upcoming Emmy Awards next month, where he'll get to hang out with his friends. 'It just feels like it's going to be a big class reunion,' he says. Here, Henry opens up to Gold Derby about why he felt he had to play Ray, what he learned from being an executive producer, and why Girl Scout cookies saved the day on set. More from Gold Derby TV cinematographers roundtable: 'Life Below Zero,' 'Ren Faire,' 'The Righteous Gemstones,' 'Tucci in Italy,' and 'Chef's Table' 'Tucci in Italy' cinematographer Matt Ball on avoiding 'food porn' and what the audience doesn't know about Stanley Tucci What was your reaction to the news that you were nominated? I forgot that the nominations were that day. My reaction was me in my kitchen, early in the morning, being upset about home ownership because home ownership is a scam! My dishwashers were broken, and I was like, you've got to be kidding. I was looking for the warranty. And then I get this text from my manager and my publicist that was, 'Way to go!' It all clicked in but I was still upset because the dishwashers still aren't fixed. So was it was fraught with anxiety at first because of home ownership, but then it was made better because of the nomination. This is my first lead nomination. So I'm incredibly proud, incredibly happy. But what about the dishwasher? I still don't want to talk about it, man! Homeownership is a scam. Hold onto your warranties! I love my home, though. But there's stuff that they don't tell you that you have to deal with when you become an adult. So let's talk about Ray. What drew you to the role? Quite a few things. I could tell you all the things that made me want to run from it. Because, you know, television is hard. Television is really, really daunting and time-consuming, but can also be so impactful. I was on a run of television at the time when Dope Thief was brought to me, and I knew I wanted a break. I was like, I just don't know if I can do episodic for a little bit. It just takes so much. And my wonderful producing partner and manager was like, just read it, see how you vibe with it. And within the first six pages I was like, well, I'm not doing anything if there's not a second script. And before I even put the period on end of this and it's the second script was right there. I just couldn't put it down. What was it about the script that you responded to? I remember reading the very first scene of Ray and Manny (Wagner Moura) having this conversation about, is that candy? What kind of candy is this? Just the banter and the relationship and the levity between the two of them was just unlike anything I read before. And then I was like, oh, they're about to rob this house. I loved the humor of it. I immediately connected with Ray in so many ways. I had never seen a character like Ray. I knew that there was something that I wanted to bring to him, because I felt like Ray really needed a lot of guidance. And I was like, maybe I could come in and get Ray to the other side. And then I was also offered the executive producer position, which was so generous and so amazing to know that they trusted me that way. And so I couldn't turn it down. And it was the best decision I've ever made making this show and playing Ray was one of the best moments of my life. I was forever changed. How so? I felt like people had not seen me in this way. I really wanted to show people more of my range, and I wanted people to see me play something that was a complete antithesis to what they may know me from, be it comedy, be it whatever. I wanted to really dive in and show those layers. So, I have [showrunner] Peter Craig to thank for that because he wrote something so amazing. It was a no brainer to jump on board. When did you get to see the full season? When did you know everything that was going to happen? That's the other thing about television. It's wonderful. But it's also like, what's happening? You're kind of going with it, right? Peter Craig wrote every episode, like every single episode, which is such a feat to do. But he knew the story so well, and so you don't necessarily know where you're going, which is something I really do like about television, because it's like a it's a never-ending game of Clue. And so just like, where do we end up? What's going to happen? But it also is kind of gut wrenching because you get attached to certain characters and, you know, as you well know in this show, they may not be there. You can't really be attached to that many people. You have to be incredibly vulnerable. It was an emotional rollercoaster, honestly, to see where Ray was going to go. And it's so funny when I talk to people who are watching Dope Thief to hear their response. What responses did you get? For example, [Adolescence star] Stephen Graham and I have become really good friends during this [campaign season]. To hear his journey of watching it, because he watches it with his dad, and everyone is like, it's a panic attack every week. Everyone is in a place of having this visceral reaction to this show that they feel like they need Prozac at the end. And I'm like, that's great. That means that we're actually affecting you, and you are attached to these characters. It was cool to do something so experimental and something so on the razor's edge every week. How did you take care of yourself while you were doing this? You're giving people panic attacks — how did you not give yourself one? Who sent you? Have you been talking to my therapist? I know for a fact that if this show was presented to me like six years ago, seven years ago, I don't know if I would have made it to the other side. I don't think I had the tools, I don't think I had the life experience yet to really understand it. Because that kind of been my journey. I would play these men and I didn't know how to put them to rest. So whatever their troubles were, it kind of latched itself to me. I was carrying around all this grief of leaving these characters, building these characters, my own personal grief and losses. And when I got Dope Thief, it felt like for the first time, I saw a character that was looking right back at me. I feel like because of the work that I was doing personally, I was able to really guide him to the other side. Now, he pissed me off a lot! But I really understood him. I really felt a calling to play him. The show succeeds because of your chemistry with Wagner. How did you build that bond? To meet Wanger is to fall in love with each other. You know, it's so interesting because we both played such characters that people kind of associate us with for the rest of our lives. People are always going to think of him as Pablo Escobar [Narcos] all the time. People are always going to think of Paper Boi [Atlanta] for me. And so when we got a chance to come to Dope Thief, it was such a departure. You know, when you really pull back the story of Dope Thief, it really is a love story between these two men who have been incarcerated since they were 15 years old. This system told this black and brown boy that they can't be anything. All they have is each other. And now here they are as grown men, and they're just trying to figure out how to do things. But with a 15 year old mentality at the same time. I remember his first day, and he just grabs me by the forearms. And he says, 'My name is Wagner. I'm a father of three. English is my first language. I'm really scared.' And I was like, oh, I was like, 'Well, I'm Brian. I've been here for a while. I'll be playing Ray. I'm not going to leave your side. Anything you need, I promise you.' And in that moment, I was like, oh, this is it. And this is how it should be for the rest of the show. And I promise you, we really never left each other's sides. What did it mean to you to be an executive producer on this? Everything. So much so there's no going back now. I talk about my theater background when it comes to this because theater requires such collaboration. You can't do it alone. Even a one woman, one man show requires multiple people. Being an EP, you get to be what I call a bridge. Now I'm also at the meetings and a part of the emails because there's so many emails! As an executive producer, they need to tell you that when you sign on. When you're out there in the field with your actors, you got to talk to the producers who are over here, or you want to make sure hair and makeup knows that location is doing this. I loved it because I'm nosy. I'm a nosy actor. And being an executive producer gave me agency. It gave me agency to really stand up for people who didn't feel like they were there, like to be there for the people in the community. There was one day we were filming and this scene is literally me running for my life, and this woman is like, what is going on here? And I'm like, I was so sorry. I thought that someone came to talk to you. And she's like, oh. Y'all want to some Girl Scout cookies? So between takes I got some people down there, and got some of these Girl Scout cookies. There's nothing funnier than when you're running for your life for about four hours, and in between each take, you see the entire crew eating Thin Mints and Trefoils. It just felt like a community. What's the scene that you're proudest of? I will always talk about the grenade scene with Wagner, because I don't think I've ever been challenged with something like that. Because you can read it all you want, but nothing is going to prepare you for when you are literally in the back seat with your best friend and he has decided to end his life with the grenade. And we just went for it. And then also getting the news when Manny dies. That one was really hard. Harder than I thought it was going to be because you know, that moment is coming, and you have to play the news as it comes. It still sits with me to this day, because I just remember that receiving the news of a loss of someone that you love so much, and again, nothing you can do, you feel like you're falling, literally. The earth just falls out from underneath you. Those two scenes, I'm really, really proud of because I wasn't sure I would be able to show that or be as vulnerable. Because a lot of me is still trying to protect a lot of things, but don't require me to absolutely be as open and vulnerable. And I felt so safe at the same time. So maybe television isn't so bad after all....? No, it's not. I mean, I still need a break, but no, it's incredibly rewarding. Best of Gold Derby 'Australian Survivor vs. The World' premiere date and cast photos: 'King' George Mladenov, Cirie Fields, Parvati Shallow … 'Five new life forms from distant planets': Everything to know about 'Alien: Earth' as new trailer drops Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2, including the departure of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Collins Click here to read the full article. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Brian Tyree Henry's 5 Favorite Places in Philadelphia
If your memories of summer camp don't involve eight-course tasting menus and vintage fashion shopping sprees, well, perhaps you weren't doing it right. Or you were never in a stalled Apple TV+ production with Brian Tyree Henry. Mr. Henry, 43, who recently received the Gotham Television Awards' first Performer Tribute for his role in 'Dope Thief,' is the star and an executive producer of this crime drama about two friends who try to earn a living as fake drug enforcement agents. The limited series was not quite halfway through filming in Philadelphia when Hollywood writers went on strike in 2023, soon followed by actors. He decided to make the best of a bad situation by staying put and diving as deeply as possible into his character's hometown. During the work stoppage, which lasted six months, 'the Philly crew was still there, and they were my friends,' Mr. Henry said in a video interview. 'So my time in Philly felt like sleep-away camp.' He learned a lot. For starters: 'Philly natives love Philly,' he said. 'If I walked out of my house in anything green and white, it had better have an eagle on it.' He also discovered that he didn't need to stray far from his Center City rental to find a happy place: the tiny 17th-century Rittenhouse Square. 'You can sit in the park and read a book, and then go and chill out and have a good meal across the street,' he said, citing the steak, popovers and tater tots at Barclay Prime among his favorite examples. Another neighborhood staple was the Rittenhouse Spa & Club, where regular facials helped mitigate the 'sweat, blood, smoke and gunpowder' he was covered in during filming. 'They would be like, 'What did you go through this week?'' he said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Los Angeles Times
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Brian Tyree Henry is going to start a fight over Wawa Hogies
'Dope Thief' star Brian Tyree Henry has strong opinions about Wawa hoagies and talks working with Ridley Scott during our Very Important Questions presented by Disney also told us about his favorite Trader Joe's treat and a tip for keeping it from making a mess. Watch The Envelope Roundtable with Henry, Elizabeth Banks, Renée Zellweger, Javier Bardem, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jenny Slate and Stephen Graham.
Los Angeles Times
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Limited/TV Movie Roundtable: Stephen Graham, Elizabeth Banks, Javier Bardem, Sacha Baron Cohen, More
Brian Tyree Henry ('Dope Thief') joins Jenny Slate ('Dying for Sex'), Renée Zellweger ('Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy'), Elizabeth Banks ('The Better Sister'), Javier Bardem ('Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story'), Stephen Graham ('Adolescence') & Sacha Baron Cohen ('Disclaimer') on the L.A. Times Limited Series & Television Movie by The Walt Disney Studios.
The Guardian
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Guide #190: From Dope Thief to Families Like Ours, here's what to watch on every streamer
It's time for another instalment of A Show for Every Streamer, where we recommend a TV series to watch on each of the approximately 3,082 streaming services currently vying for your limited recreational time. (You can read our previous attempts here and here). As ever, we've focused on series that haven't been discussed endlessly – so no Adolescence or The White Lotus. Instead, you'll find Danish flooding sagas, football-based gastronomy and Martin Clunes attempting a Welsh accent … Apple TV+ | Dope Thief The 'Apple paradox', where incredibly talented people combine to make shows that no one seems to watch, is alive and well here. Despite having Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura as leads and a pilot episode directed by Ridley Scott, this crime comedy-drama about two childhood friends who pose as drug agents to rob dealers seems to have had next to no cut-through. A shame, as it builds to a tense, dark and funny climax. BBC iPlayer | Families Like Ours The title screams daytime soap, but this is actually something far more intriguing: a climate-change drama from Festen director Thomas Vinterberg. Families Like Ours imagines a Denmark where citizens have to evacuate the country due to flooding. It's a terrifying prospect that Vinterberg handles with Dogme 95 levels of naturalism, finding small personal stories amid the creeping apocalypse. Channel 4 | GBH We've flagged a new C4 release in Take Five (see below) so instead here's a word for its cavernous archive, which contains many of its most groundbreaking dramas over the decades: A Very British Coup, Queer as Folk, This is England and GBH, an ever-timely 1991 drama from Alan Bleasdale about city council corruption, featuring a ferocious performance from Robert Lindsay. Disney+ | Suspect: The Killing of Jean Charles de Menezes The politically charged new series of Andor is Disney's water-cooler show of the moment, but that has received props elsewhere. So instead let's spotlight this four-part drama about the notorious 2005 police shooting from socially conscious TV king Jeff Pope. It's a meticulously researched and utterly damning piece of procedural drama, with a cast that includes Russell Tovey, Conleth Hill and Emily Mortimer. Discovery+ | Adam Richman Eats Football We could flag any number of grubby true-crime dramas here: Discovery churns them out at such a rate that you wonder if they may soon run out of murders to almost solve. But let's sidestep the slaughter and instead flag this cheerful series, which sees Man v Food star Richman piggyback on the 'footy scran' trend and try matchday delicacies across the UK, from pie and mash at West Ham to haggis and whiskey pizza at Celtic. ITVX | Out There 'Martin Clunes plays a vigilante farmer taking aim at county lines drug runners' sounds like the sort of pitch you might get from a malfunctioning TV commissioning chatbot. But no, this revenge thriller is real and, more remarkably, Clunes – Mr Cosy Early-Evening Drama himself – is rather good in an uncharacteristic role, even if his west Walian accent is a bit off. My5 | The Good WifeAs you might expect from a platform with a strand titled Lawless Britain, Channel 5's free streaming service largely trades in the trashy and prurient. But there are gems to be found if you look hard enough, such as all 156 episodes of the excellent Julianna Margulies led legal drama, which is also available to stream on Paramount+ too. Netflix | Turning Point: The Vietnam War It was only a matter of time that, having conquered the rest of TV, Netflix would come for Ken Burns's turf. This five-part documentary from Brian Knappenberger (The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz) relitigates Vietnam, making use of talking heads on both sides of the conflict and sifting through hours of US presidents' Oval Office meetings and phone calls, to argue that the war paved the way for a more cynical, distrustful America. NOW | The Righteous Gemstones Pour one out for Danny McBride's comedy about a family of loathsome televangelists, which has just finished the fourth and final season of an impressively consistent run. In its latest outing, the show grows loopier and more ambitious, including a stand-alone episode set in the American civil war, and Bradley Cooper guest starring. As ever, it's Walton Goggins – man of the hour due to The White Lotus – who steals the show. Paramount+ | Mobland A Guy Ritchie crime drama starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren? Frankly, we didn't know Paramount+ had that level of clout, but here we are. Written and created by Ronan Bennett (with assistance from Jez Butterworth) this London gangster series, which sees Hardy's fixer tasked with keeping the lid on a potentially devastating mob war, does very little that's radical but manages the familiar with an engaging slickness. PlutoTV | 21 Jump Street Cheerful and cheaper than cheap, this streamer seems to be mostly made up of half-remembered crime dramas from the 80s and 90s. Given that it's free, we probably shouldn't complain about a service that includes Prisoner Cell Block H, The Dick Van Dyke Show and the original TV version of 21 Jump Street, featuring a pre-everything Johnny Depp. It's got a surprisingly tolerable film library too. Prime Video | Bosch: Legacy While Amazon ploughs cash into costly clunkers like its Citadel universe of shows or its notorious golden handcuffs deal with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, its Bosch franchise trundles efficiently on. A fast-paced modern detective procedural, it's marked out by Titus Welliver's gruff anguished turn as its titular LAPD gumshoe. A spin-off from the original Bosch series, Legacy has just dropped its final season on Prime, and it sees Harry Bosch juggling a missing family investigation and a probe into his own conduct. U | Silence is Golden Another Prime series we could have flagged is Last One Laughing UK, its hugely successful comedy gameshow where stand-ups staying together in a Big Brother-style house try to not laugh in each other's company. But as you've almost certainly seen that, how about a similarly premised show on UKTV's streaming service to keep you diverted while you wait for series two? In Silence is Golden, it's the studio audience who have to avoid tittering in the presence of comics. Do so, and they'll collectively win a cool £250,000. Each week we run down the five essential pieces of pop culture we're watching, reading and listening to Sign up to The Guide Get our weekly pop culture email, free in your inbox every Friday after newsletter promotion ALBUM – Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke: Tall Tales The second name in this duo you will recognise; the first may be less familiar. But Mark Pritchard has been an important and slightly Zelig-ish figure in the history of British dance music, rocking up as a producer in every scene and subculture from jungle to ambient to grime. He and Thom Yorke first collaborated in 2016, but Covid allowed them to work together more extensively (if remotely). The result is Tall Tales, a jagged collection of forward-thinking dance music, not wildly dissimilar to the more electronic end of Radiohead's output, though more playful: Gangsters imagines Yorke fronting Kraftwerk, while Happy Days somehow sounds like a techno take on a Soviet battle hymn. Rod Liddle said in the Spectator that the album made him 'cry with boredom', in case you wanted any further recommendation. Out more? The great, funny Welsh noise-rock band Mclusky are back with their first album in two decades: The World Is Still Here and So Are We. For the rest of our music reviews, click here. PODCAST – The RewatchablesThis long-running movie podcast, which entertainingly recaps films deemed rewatchable, has somehow never tackled Star Wars. That's despite doing episodes on the distinctly un-rewatchable likes of snuff movie horror 8mm. This week they finally rectify that oversight, with a mammoth two-parter considering the film's massive influence, for good or ill, on movie culture, and wondering whether Chewbacca was actually good at his more? To tie in with VE Day, Today in Focus has released a fascinating episode about Frederick Voigt, the Guardian's Berlin correspondent who observed – and warned about – Hitler's rise. Plus, here's what to listen to this week. FILM – The SurferWe're in Nic Cage season, that post-Oscar, pre-summer-blockbuster silly season where the great man does his finest, strangest work. The Surfer (pictured above) is classic Cage: a preposterous B-movie revenge thriller about a middle-aged schlub who returns with his son to the Australian bay of his birth to ride the waves, only to be thwarted by a group of local toughs who don't take kindly to outsiders. Let Cage surf, dammit! Out now – and if you want some more Cage, check out the Guardian's reader interview with him, where he discusses Terry Wogan and eating rats, more? New documentary Riefenstahl looks at how the German film-maker hid her Nazi complicity from the world. Also out now. Plus, here are seven more films to watch at home. TV – The Handmaid's TaleIt's been a strange old journey for this TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's landmark dystopian novel. Its arrival, just as Trump was entering the White House for his first term, seemed eerily well timed, and its first series rode a resistance wave to Emmy and ratings glory. But some of its audience soon checked out to its overbearing mood of gloom, not to mention the slightly sketchy plotting to which the show resorted, having run out of source material. Now it enters its final season with Trump back in the White House and more unrestrained than ever: hopefully June's ending will be happier. New episodes available Saturday, Channel 4. Want more? Hurrah! Poker Face, Natasha Lyonne's stoner take on Columbo, is back for series two. Its first three eps are available now on Now. Watch out for more shows to stream this week. BOOK – Gunk by Saba SamsSams's debut, the short-story collection Send Nudes, was deservedly a big hit. In her next project, a novel called Gunk, her style continues to feel fresh: tender sentences, vivid imagery, deep empathy for difficult characters. Following a nightclub manager, the novel explores different forms of love and family. 'At the heart of Gunk is a profound message about the insufficiency of the nuclear family, and a suggestion of possible alternatives. It's a radical thought, one that Sams is well placed to articulate,' writes Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in a Guardian review. Want more? In The Illegals, Guardian central and eastern Europe correspondent Shaun Walker takes on Russia's espionage programme, looking at the lives of the spies sent on deep-cover missions abroad. Steven Poole reviews the book here. For more of the Guardian's books coverage, click here. Stuart Heritage looks at the strange world of TV merch tie-ins, from The Last of Us mushroom coffee (ugh, no thanks) to Doc Martin clotted cream fudge (go on, then). As part of its centenary celebrations, the New Yorker offers a tasteful glimpse into the living rooms of notable NYC citizens (Martin Scorsese's is quite the gaff). A single school in Copenhagen seems to be producing every new left-field pop star on the planet. For the Guardian, Sam Davies visits the Rhythmic Music Conservatory to find out why its hit rate is so high. Is pop culture getting worse? A host of cultural critics reckon so. The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber meets these new cultural doomsayers. To quote Chief Wiggum, 'they only come out at night or, in this case, in the daytime': last week we asked for the scariest scenes in film, TV or literature that take place in broad daylight. Here's what gave you nightmares in the daytime: 'What's round the back of Winkie's? Something absolutely awful. In Mullholland Drive, David Lynch created such a sense of sweaty-palmed, I-can't-bear-to-look dread I've never forgotten it, over 20 years later. A packed cinema silently cringing at what the camera might reveal, round the back of the cheery diner in sunny LA. Nobody did atmosphere like Lynch. I miss him being alive.' – Suzanne Stockton 'In the modern masterpiece It Follows, the malevolent entity is a shapeshifting, slow-walking, sinister stalker, so you find yourself scouring the background of every scene, paranoid that it's there in a new form. About halfway through the film, the camera pans agonisingly around in two full turns as the protagonist walks through a high school. You could easily miss it, but there's a long-haired girl walking straight towards the camera, head down, reminiscent of Ringu. It's not one of the headline horrific or jumpy scenes in the film, but the patient direction, eerie music, and obliviousness of the characters adds up to something terrifying, even while the plot advances in the foreground. Writing this out gives me the shivers.' – Theo Boardman-Pretty 'Jaws. When 'he' jumps up right next to boat. Then later when 'he' starts tearing boat apart!' – CG This week I want to hear your favourite song to kickstart summer, the track that signals its time to lounge around in the park, or attempt a barbecue every weekend for the next few months (even when it's raining. For me, it's Arab Strap's magnificent ode to getting on it, The First Big Weekend. Let me know yours by replying to this email or contacting me on
