Created by Jonathan Glatzer, “The Audacity” is returning for a second season, and its stars are ready for it.
“The stakes are high,” Billy Magnussen tells Variety. “Jonathan has set up so many twists and turns,” adds “The Big Bang Theory” veteran Simon Helberg.
“As actors, we don’t tend to think ahead much, but these characters are so well-defined that you really want to see what will happen to them. You feel like you know them, you feel so invested in that world. That just comes from good writing.”
Magnussen adds: “The sad reality is that because of technology, people’s attention spans have died. They move on so fast. But I always gravitate towards shows where I relate to the characters.”
“Don’t plot me over the head: I want to live with these characters every week, and that’s what I hope we’re conveying. We want to make them so real that you want to show up to see what they’re getting into and how they overcome their hurdles, flaws and mistakes. I think that makes for a successful show.”
Sold by AMC Networks, “The Audacity” takes on the poisoned bubble that is Silicon Valley, with its ruthless inventors, billionaires, tech bros and even their long-suffering psychiatrists. As a writer and producer, Glatzer is also behind “Succession” – another show full of characters that people love to hate and yet can’t look away.
“It’s like watching a train crash. It’s an amazing compliment to be compared to great television like ‘Succession,” but I do love that we’re creating our own story and our own journey,” notes Magnussen, who plays CEO in crisis Duncan Park.
Helberg, cast as inventor Martin Phister, opens up about their characters who are trying to be virtuous and end up getting corrupted instead. Zach Galifianakis, Lucy Punch, Sarah Goldberg and Meaghan Rath also star.
“We’re watching them at a point in their lives and careers where there’s a lot of temptation and power just out of arm’s reach. But we had to find something that was good about them initially. If they were pure evil, it would be a caricature. They had some idea of what they wanted, but they have strayed from it. That’s what’s so amazing about Jonathan’s writing. When you watch ‘Succession,’ you’re also watching an internal conflict within each of them.”
Their bottomless ambition and greed make them scary. They also make them funny. “They say all these audacious phrases and you’re just like: ‘What?!’ How can you be so close-minded and horrible? Their blind spots – that’s the humor,” says Magnussen.
Helberg adds: “All the actors would come up to each other and ask: ‘Tonally, what are you feeling when you’re doing your scenes?’ I’m doing half of mine with a robot, basically. There’re farcical moments and tragic moments, but we just always wanted to play it real.”
This is no small feat, given that real-life Silicon Valley stories often seem too bizarre to be true.
“Everything that happens in our show is happening in Silicon Valley. We screened it for CEOs in San Francisco and asked: ‘Did we nail it?’ They said: ‘Guys, it’s too real.’ But they also never think it’s actually them,” recalls Magnussen.
“I think there was innocence in a lot of these people, and it just shows what corruption, power and money can do to you – and to your family. They are fake idols. It’s sad they’re still celebrated by so many people.”
“Yeah, but they also fall very quickly, you know?,” says Helberg.
“Some smoke and mirrors that can go a long way. A con man tells you one thing, and it may take a while before you realize you’re being scammed. It’s not a political show, but it’s about power in many ways, even though the characters are somewhat titan-adjacent. They’re not there yet; they’re still clawing their way up that ladder. When we see what’s really going on there, it’s hard to imagine anyone trying desperately to become like that. But they are.”
“These people are miserable in the show, but they’re striving for happiness. They’re just going in the wrong direction. You still need your wife or your husband look you in the eye once in a while, and you still need to connect with your children. You need to go out and be social, and experience culture and life. That’s what you need.”
Which makes them human, although for the longest time, only their children seem to notice their flaws.
“The adults are all trash fires. The kids are the hope. I think the children in this show are one of its most important aspects, because they’re innocent, and then you slowly see how the world around them corrupts and destroys them,” says Magnussen.
“Down the line, you really start empathizing with these people.”
English (US) ·