In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast, co-host Mike DeAngelo dives back into “Under the Banner of Heaven.” The show follows a devout Mormon detective Jeb Pyre (played by Andrew Garfield) whose faith is tested as he investigates a brutal murder seemingly connected to an esteemed Utah family’s spiral into LDS Mormon fundamentalism and their distrust in the government. There’s a terrific supporting cast involved too, including Gil Birmingham, Sam Worthington, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Denise Gough, Wyatt Russell, Billy Howle, Chloe Pirrie, Adelaide Clemens, Rory Culkin, and more.
Of the many incredible performances on the show, Wyatt Russell’s Dan Lafferty stands out as a particularly warped yet human take on how religious fundamentalism can lead to a dark moral-bending spiral and, ultimately, a complete loss of decency. Wyatt Russell sat down to discuss getting this particularly dangerous role.
“I had a meeting with FX and said, ‘You know, I’ve loved this for a long time, and I think I actually am in a place now where the role of Dan is someone that I could do well,” Russell said of pitching himself for the part. “I thought it was important to do it well, so that [Dan’s] evil was seen correctly. It wasn’t seen like someone putting devil horns on the guy because it just wasn’t the way he was…it was important to remember that Dan was a funny guy. Dan was goofy. And that goofiness can be really evil because it can be manipulative.”
It’s yet another excellent performance from Russell, who has been on a streak, which includes a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as John Walker or U.S. Agent, who many are speculating will return in the recently announced “Thunderbolts” film from director Jake Schreier. At the time of the interview, Russell was not sure that would be the case.
“You know the idea, right? I’m not a moron. I mean, I know what they’re thinking of, but you don’t know when they’re going to do it, if they’re going to do it, what’s going to happen,” Russell said of Walker’s future in the MCU. “When you get the phone call, you get the phone call. And they do a really good job of keeping it from everybody because, you know, they’ve got something to protect and I always say like, I’d just rather not know. Just don’t tell me. I don’t need to know. Just tell me when you want me to show up. Other than that, just keep me in the dark. I don’t care. And if you do tell me, tell me in enough time where I can get to the gym because right now, I don’t look like John Walker, I look like Dan Lafferty.”
As for if he’s received the call, Russell insisted he has not.
“No, I’m just waiting on it. You wait on it until, like, they announce it. They keep it really, really tight, and it’s like, you respect that because they’ve got other bottom lines to look out for than what they think I need to know,” he said.
“Under the Banner of Heaven” is currently streaming in its entirety on Hulu. You can listen to the entire podcast below:
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