“In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast” features in-depth conversations with today’s most noteworthy actors and creators. Join host and Awards Editor Jack Smart for this guide on how to live the creative life from those who are doing it every day.
Michael Shannon can give a quietly nuanced supporting turn—or flat-out steal the show—all in service of whatever story he’s helping tell. What are the secrets to his endlessly compelling performances?
Although Shannon is wary of putting a name to his techniques, listeners of “In the Envelope” are treated to glimpses of those overall vibes that inform his approach to a new role. Ranging from general (“If you’re going to pretend to be somebody, you better know as much about them as possible”) to specific (“I don’t take my phone on the set”), this interview offers first-rate advice for up-and-coming artists and aspiring character actors.
“Usually if you want to have a career in this business, it’s gonna involve doing a lot of things that scare you, and at first may seem unwise,” Shannon tells Backstage. “But you just have to be willing to take those risks.”
With roots in Kentucky and Illinois, the actor-producer-musician got his start on Chicago stages, collaborating with Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Tracy Letts on “Bug” and “Killer Joe” and founding A Red Orchid Theatre. His early career days were focused much more on passion for the craft than on the nitty gritty of a life in showbiz. “I was terrible at all the things,” he remembers. “I never updated my résumé, or people would have to scream in my face to get a new headshot—things like that. But I just like making plays. I just like telling stories.”
That theater work eventually led to a Broadway career, including a Tony nomination for “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and 2019’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” Meanwhile, his on-camera work steadily grew—thanks in part to a call from Lee Daniels asking to manage him—from appearances in “Groundhog Day” and “8 Mile” to star turns in “Kangaroo Jack,” “99 Homes,” “Take Shelter,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Man of Steel,” “Midnight Special,” “Elvis & Nixon,” “The Shape of Water,” “Knives Out,” and more, to Academy Award nominations for supporting roles in “Revolutionary Road” and “Nocturnal Animals.”
He can now be seen as the upbeat but grieving family man Napoleon Marconi on Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers,” adapted from the Liane Moriarty novel by creator David E. Kelley and producer-star Nicole Kidman. “It felt a little different than what—I hesitate to say what I normally get asked to do, because to me, everything’s different,” reveals Shannon. “But it definitely seemed a little outside of my colosseum, so to speak.”
That’s in part because portraying heavy emotions requires both honesty and avoiding sensationalization. “I felt a huge responsibility to not screw this up and not get it wrong,” says Shannon. “It was going to be a very fine line. I didn’t want to use the event of what happens to my character as simply a way of making captivating television.... I didn’t want it to be over-the-top or manipulative or schmaltzy. I wanted to be as genuine as I’m capable of doing, considering that [losing a child] has actually never happened to me, personally.”
The key with such circumstances, he adds, is simply to take the role seriously. “I know that sounds like a ridiculously obvious thing to say, I mean, who doesn’t take their job seriously? But even though this is a fictional character, I [felt] that same sort of responsibility that I usually feel playing an actual person.”
As for advice for those stepping onto a film set for the first time, Shannon says it’s all about working past the initial (and inevitable) discomfort. “Just being in front of a camera is hard. It’s weird. It’s not comfortable. You just have to do it a few times; it’s like jumping off the high dive: the first time you do it, you’re terrified. And then you do it 20 more times, and you’re doing cannonballs.”
Also in today’s episode: Backstage’s Kasey Howe once again joins Jack to preview the year’s upcoming film festivals and awards. Click here for more thoughts on the current state of that season and stay tuned with our awards coverage here.
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