American actor Scoot McNairy, who grew up working all sorts of odd jobs, had no idea that one day, he would become a globally recognised actor with roles in films like Killing Them Softly (2012), Gone Girl (2014), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , which releases in India on August 15. “It’s been crazy. I never expected it to go this far while I was growing up… I feel I’ve been really fortunate to work on the projects I’ve been able to work on,” says the 41-year-old actor on a phone call from Dallas, Texas.
Time and Tarantino
Growing up dyslexic, McNairy realised early on that he learned better by watching and developed an interest in the visual medium. Around the turn of the century, he moved to Los Angeles to attend film school, which he dropped out of after a year to start working in film production. “Do you go to film school or do you get a job in films? That’s the underlying question, isn’t it? I learned some stuff in school which I otherwise wouldn’t have learned, but I also picked up a lot as a background actor… any experience you have in an industry would be beneficial to work in that industry. I’m a firm believer in the 10,000 hours rule: if you do anything for that long — watching movies, directing, working on a film set — you will know what you are doing and talking about, and have a large margin of success,” says McNairy, who first appeared in the 2001 film Wrong Numbers .
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While he has essayed memorable characters in many films noted for their dark cinematographic overtones, his next is one audiences around the world are looking forward to watching on the big screen — Tarantino’s comedy-drama starring an ensemble cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. McNairy, who is yet to see the film — which is based on the life and times of people employed in Hollywood in 1969 — says working on the film was an incredible experience. “Tarantino is magnetically charismatic and has a big personality. It’s incredible how much of an encyclopaedia he is when it comes to movies, and he is so entertaining. It’s not often that you get to spend time with someone like that,” says the actor, who plays the role of Business Bob Gilbert, a character in a television show in which DiCaprio is starring.
On the small screen
McNairy’s on-screen career which started with commercials (he starred in over 200 of them), moved not just to the big screen, but also to television series like Halt and Catch Fire , Fargo and Narcos: Mexico . While he says that schedules for TV series are a lot more strenuous than film schedules, he adds that it doesn’t make much difference to him because “the work we do beforehand and on sets is the same”.
His most recent television gig is as Tom Purcell, a father who suffers a terrible loss, in the third season of True Detective . “I watched the first season of the show and thought it was incredible. I loved the script for the third season and was really looking forward to working with creator Nic Pizzolatto, and alongside actors Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff. The show itself is incredibly tragic but we had a great time shooting it — every weekend was a celebration!”
True Detective Season 3 is currently airing on Star World and will be part of the channel’s Emmy Special Programming in September
