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'The Audacity' star Billy Magnussen stopped by THR's Studio at Park City to chat about the series created by 'Succession' and 'Better Call Saul' writer Jonathan Glatzer. He talks about wanting to play the role of Duncan Park and creating what he was going to look like in the show. Plus, he shares his thoughts on the power of technology and Silicon Valley, his must-have apps and more.

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00:00That is what makes the audacity so special Jonathan Glatzer is a genius you
00:04know he wrote Succession I know what yeah what were I assume you were a
00:07Succession fan before this or what was your oh my god with that actually
00:13incredible that's never seen Succession no he doesn't know that's incredible
00:19sorry here's the funny part okay so when a little insider trading or whatever I
00:29did a show a pilot called the money okay that was two years before it it was the
00:34guy who did Deadwood same setup same show everything the the show creator and HBO
00:43did not get along our show disappeared and then Succession was what what like
00:48role in that were you Rory no Culkin the Culkin okay oh you were the nasty one
00:54yeah that's the fun one okay same exact show incredible did this come to you
00:58with like a pitch for the show no like I read like a pilot or funny enough you
01:04know where I am in my career there's opportunity like scripts come my way or
01:08whatnot it wasn't an offer or anything I actually got to read Jonathan Glatzer
01:12script and then I was like I want every I want this I want this job I want to work
01:17so hard for it and it was me auditioning testing with Sarah Goldberg who's
01:22fantastic um yeah I had just auditioned for it I went through the ringer to get
01:26there and convinced AMC to let me be a part of it what like what was it and was
01:32it the did you know who you were gonna be or did you like everyone in the the
01:36pilot oh no Duncan Park okay completely okay what was it about him well I think
01:41for me and my career and the opportunities I get this character is so
01:45dense and complicated he's is there is a good man there deep down but I think with
01:52the world that's around him it's narcissistic it's it's control it's these
01:56people in the tech world that are like we are deciding what your future is by
02:01stealing all your information and then making the best decision and that that
02:05crazy dynamic I think it's it makes this like dark comedic drama so intriguing
02:12and engaging how would you describe the tone of the audacity compared to the
02:16tone of the franchise which is also kind of touching on like this crazy world
02:20where there's like some narcissism play you couldn't compare it I would say at
02:25all um ours is just a grounded world with the stakes of you know the world's
02:33technology on hand like what do you do with that what do you when you have all
02:39that power can you be a normal person I don't know before you took the show
02:43what was like your opinion of Silicon Valley interactions with like kind of
02:49where you are coming in like a little I think there's a myriad of a myriad of
02:53reasons to like invest in this like over throughout history there's these times
02:59where these there's renaissance of like information and people and growing it was
03:04this film industry back when it was being created like it all sudden Hollywood
03:08became a thing Silicon Valley is one of those renaissance where like
03:11technology became the most important thing in the world and like who wouldn't
03:16want to be diving into that that universe and understanding it and being like
03:20picking it apart and seeing all the dirty secrets it has so do you remember
03:23that makes sense yeah yeah totally do you remember when you got Facebook I did I was
03:28I was like almost out of college you were okay yeah but were you during the era
03:32where you needed still a college email address to sign up like were you there
03:37yeah I was there pioneers okay I didn't get a smartphone until I was like 27 or
03:41something I was already out do you feel like because of that are you like how
03:45attached are you to your technology funny enough for me personally technology I
03:50have this weird love-hate relationship I think there's so many wonderful things
03:53you can get out of it but I find myself comparing myself to the world in a way
03:59that it's just too much information at one time and I can't you don't you lose
04:04connection with your community I think a lot and like I'm down not engaged with you
04:09you know yeah so it's a love-hate like because like you have information and
04:12everything you need at the same time it's such a distraction social media
04:16aside what is an app like what apps are your like must-haves like a door dash
04:22gin for golf oh I don't know that one okay we got golfers here no no one is it like
04:28you record your yeah just keep that like Strava but for golf um my chess app I love
04:33my chess app I always have to play chess I think Duolingo I love learning
04:37languages I think that's like again technology is an amazing thing I do this
04:41this app every day and I learn a language and it's it's unbelievable
04:45is that where you learned French is on Duolingo Duolingo Italian French yeah
04:50honestly it's just every day going tavolo tavolo tavolo tavolo you know in the show
04:56you have like this curly mop of hair right was that like written into the script or
05:02did you kind of like figure out like what's this guy gonna look like I think that's you
05:05know 20 years being in this industry you read something as beautiful that Glatzer
05:09wrote and you go like I want to create some crazy character that I've seen in
05:14the tech world and I won't be like how can I bleed it together like that's that's my
05:18candy like I get an opportunity to build these these these characters and Duncan
05:23Park is by far my favorite character because he's so so dense so deep Glatzer's
05:29words really are like a Shakespearean play it's it's wild yeah what was it did you try out
05:34any other like in your head try out any other versions of what he was going to
05:38look like or be or did you know that's like that's the best part about this
05:41industry is we're in a communal industry and so you're working with Glatzer with
05:45Lucy Forbes who directed the pilot and you're building it you're trying to see
05:50who this guy is where he lives and yeah how he breathes how he moves how he
05:54interacts and yeah it's it's a gift honestly every time I'd like wake up I'm
05:59like I'm so grateful for the challenge of building this guy how did you find out
06:05because you so that you were auditioning you said you did then you read with
06:08Sarah and then did another thing when did you like so then it was a call like
06:12it's you I got a call thing okay I got a call I had other buddies like whispering
06:16into some AMC's here yeah it was just audition I remember we were it was like
06:22around Christmas time and like I'm walking around my my fiance's parents house just
06:28talking to myself doing these lines over and over again and then they're like is
06:32he okay and then when I got the call but hey it's yours it was I was elated I was
06:37I was in Georgia actually at the time and I didn't know what to do I was like oh my
06:42god my life's changing you know you always think that with every project but the
06:46audacity something about this I don't know I've been doing it for a long time and
06:51it it's I feel like is it your longest dialogue that you've done like does it
06:57stick out as the most dialogue in chunks like monologues no yeah I just think the
07:03dense the density of the idea or the the specificity of the idea is what is
07:07really beautiful like Tina Fey did the same thing with her shows like her jokes
07:11only worked that because they were so specific and I really believe that the
07:15more specific you are with a character with dialogue with with art the more
07:19universal it becomes because art the purpose of art is to not feel alone because I
07:25I have a feeling I just need to express it and to have someone else go oh my god I
07:30feel that too to not feel alone that is the magic and healing power of art in my
07:34opinion where did you film this uh Vancouver oh and and and Sylvan Valley a
07:40little bit Palo Alto yeah okay a couple questions I'm asking everyone who comes in
07:44okay did you ever have um another job like your sliding doors moment if you weren't ever going
07:51to be an actor yeah no like I in college I waited to again this whole like it was so
07:57random how it
07:58all happened I was a um a big wrestler in high school I've ripped a hamstring couldn't take a
08:02uh gym class so they threw me an acting class fell in love with it I thought I was going
08:06to just go to
08:06some university in the southeast and then I had a teacher just go hey go audition for North Carolina
08:12School of the Arts this prestigious acting school I got in and then these two deans Bob Franciscone
08:19and Bob Bessida just the opportunity it was just these two guys just give me the opportunity to like
08:24follow a passion that I didn't know I had and they saw it and like everywhere in my career these
08:30opportunities happen Jonathan Glatzer giving me the job um directors I've worked with to get these
08:35these opportunities they're always a sliding door I guess yeah did you have a major in mind when you
08:41were thinking you were going to go to a call go to college no I just knew I didn't want
08:44to be a
08:44carpenter I grew up in a carpenter's house I was like I'm not doing this I'm glad I have the
08:48skills
08:49but I know every opportunity has just been a gift the other one we're asking do you remember with your
08:56first acting job that you made enough where you could buy yourself something do you remember what
09:01you bought like your first gift to yourself my first gift to myself so I remember and so the
09:07fortunate thing when I got out of college I actually got on a soap opera I was on a soap
09:12opera for like
09:13three years as the world turns in New York City I'm 21 years old making 2,000 bucks a week
09:20and I'm
09:20like holy cow I'm rich I think it was paying rent in a decent apartment instead of like living in
09:27a
09:27buddy's place yeah that's probably the first gift I gave myself
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