They say that the actors are divided between those who respond as if they were WhatsApp’s AI and those who throw themselves into the talk. Some make themselves in all films and series, reiterating winks for a captive audience, others are chameleons that transmute in each character. Murray Bartlett It belongs to that group.
He knew how to fight it from below and for years, since he left his native Australia to pursue a career in the major leagues of the industry. He stood out in series as “Looking” or “Sex and The City”, But it was Armond, the crazy host of“ The White Lotus ”, who changed his career forever. Thanks to that character he won the Emmy, the Critics Choice and was nominated for the SAG Awards. It was the beginning of other memorable roles like Frank’s “The Last of Us”where he gave us the most moving performance of the last decade.
Fame grabbed him with great and knows that it is pure story, so he uses it to work in the best series, as this hopeful second season of “nine perfect strangers” that has just been released in prime video. There is Brian, a famous driver of children’s programs who must fix accounts with his past in that mysterious spa led by Nicole Kidman in the Austrian Alps. Your therapeutic companions? Mark Strong, Henry Golding and Christine Baranski, inter alia. Murray Bartlett’s character is clinging to a suspicious suitcase. Will it be light luggage for such a long trip? That and many other wonderful answers in this exclusive talk with news.
News: Without spoilear too much, let’s say Brian, his character in “nine perfect strangers”, arrives accompanied by a very particular doll. How was that Jim Henson from hell interpreted?
Murray Bartlett: Poor Jim Henson (laughs). Well, the character was already very well outlined in the scripts and that helped a lot, which is spectacular, but I was still doing several things. I saw a lot of television shows for children, I tried to capture the essence of that world and tried to join the pieces to assemble Brian’s own characteristics in the children’s program I was driving. The truth is that it was a very enjoyable process, it is extremely fun to get into the themes of the series. And I do not talk about watching TV for boys but to internalize myself about what is done in that spa led by Nicole Kidman …
News: That Searching It can be more disturbing than that of the doll.
Bartlett: I already believe it (smile), because in the resort of the series psychedelic drugs are used for the treatment of traumas, exploring them in different therapeutic ways. These therapies exist and have given results in people who need to overcome traumatic situations they have experienced. Personally I had no nearby experience, but I have dived quite a lot on the subject, how they work and also how they can hit you. I am fascinated by the search process prior to a job, read, investigate, discover how the character dealt with his circumstances.
News: All the characters in the series have something in common: a past that torments them. Is there a possible future if you are unable to hug your past?
Bartlett: The future can become a vampire if you don’t hug your past. One of the best things that the series proposes is to look directly in your own memories and ask yourself if you really can assume them, continue living and project yourself forward. I think that is really important, because being anchored in the past can destroy you, but also ignore it. In that sense, “nine perfect strangers” is a very funny series, extremely funny in many ways, but at the same time it has a certain inspiring component, if you want, because it tells people that it is possible to overcome, look forward and win the opportunity of a future. To get to that you may have to get into tremendously dark places, but at some point, if you ban the trip, you can leave the other side of the tunnel.
News: You have played iconic characters for the LGTBIQ+ collective in series such as “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us”. At the moment the diversities and minorities are the objective of constant attacks. I would like to know your opinion about it. How can we resist?
Bartlett: I absolutely believe in the need to plant resistance from art. We have to try to amplify our voices of all possible ways, get them not to be denied or silenced, and art is a great vehicle, although it is not the only one. We can face this situation in a thousand ways, but at least let’s start for loving ourselves, among us and others. Raise the mood to which you are next to you, not let it go down, hold it. Or go to the streets, move, protest, donate money to organizations that actively take care of giving a hand to the people who need it. Anything we do is vital at this point. The worst thing that can happen to us is that we see the anguish or get trapped in anger. That will not help us at all. We have to be proactive in a fundamental issue: to live with love.
News: Speaking of the love that sometimes is missing, his character is someone who was canceled. We are discussing the issue of cancellation and separating the artist’s work. What is your position?
Bartlett: It seems to me that it is a complex issue. We are at a time where a lot of horrible behaviors are no longer accepted and that is great. But also the cancellation issue contains great complexity, because who decides how already to cancel? We need to consider different looks. It is not simple, there are different facets to take into account. In the case of Brian, he behaved in a frightening way, but one begins to know where this guy comes from, what was pushing him to react in the way he did and how he ends up exploiting like this. Of course, none of that is an excuse for your behavior, but it leads you to question yourself if you are well to cancel a person so lightly. It is a topic that is explored very intelligently in the show, poses questions and generates conversation.
News: Seeing your characters, one would say that you are an actor who fears anything. Since we are getting into some demons that we all have, did you ever feel fear in this profession?
Bartlett: I confess that I spent my veins and my thirties being completely terrified to be an actor (laughs). I am very familiar with fear, I have paralyzed me, I felt frustration, anger with the trade, everything you can imagine. It took me a long time to go through all that and become the actor I am. The beautiful thing at this point in my life is that, after years and years of fighting it, I feel that I no longer fear as before … and I just realized the terrible work that implies that. You have to work hard to achieve it (smile).
News: How is it done?
Bartlett: I think you have to make your way among all those fears and prevent them from dominating you. Eye, I do not say that they have disappeared, all the actors deal with fear. The thing is to take the reins and convert that energy in a weapon to let go. It is good to accept it, say: “I feel this insecurity because I really care what I do, but I will use it to overcome my barriers, so I can express myself freely.” In this job you face that every day because you work with emotions. What I achieved is to prevent this fear from pretending to be the one who wants and fucks my work. We return to hugging our past: it is also necessary to embrace our greatest fears, because they can throw you towards what will come or locked you up forever. The same, what to tell you … The fear sometimes returns! (laughs), he is always going around as that demon that does not end up disappearing.
News: In your case, success is a product of many years of work. But can fame become the worst enemy?
Bartlett: I think so, definitely. You can dizzy. There are people who have a hard time managing it in certain circumstances. If you are not surrounded by people you can trust, you are not clear about what is best for you or where to face your career, it is complicated. If fame surprises you as a young man can be quite cheat, because you lose the limits of who you are or what you can become. Some navigate it very well, but it is not so common. In my case, one of the best things that happened to me was to have my greatest job opportunities already in great. There I could finally choose because they saw what I could do as an actor and have the necessary experience to make good decisions. This kind of notoriety reached me at a height in which I am very aware of me and the things that really matter. I live in the field, not in the middle of the industry. I like to be in other places and do things that keep me with my feet on the ground. That my work generates attention is a great adventure at this stage of my life. Thanks to my age I have another perspective of things, I don’t take anything too seriously. I feel very happy for opportunities and for working with incredible people. I tell you that it seems almost unreal. But I think I enjoy it more in part because I live in the forest, I have my dog, my partner, my friends and my time to chat. Those are the important things in life.
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