Tom Pelphrey Is ‘Enjoying the Ride’ After ‘Ozark’ Success

Tom Pelphrey isn’t slowing down — and his subsequent position is anybody’s guess. The chameleon actor made his Broadway debut in 2012, gained accolades for his position on the daytime cleaning soap Guiding Light and just lately portrayed a real-life fugitive on this yr’s true-crime film American Murderer. And audiences gained’t quickly overlook his standout arc on Ozark as Ben Davis, which landed the New Jersey native an Emmy nomination.

Ozark’s Series Finale: Where Characters Are Today

“TV is really good. TV is so exciting because when I was a kid, I loved reading books. I still love reading books. But there was always that feeling when I was a kid [when] I’d read a book and then watch the movie and maybe I was a little disappointed in the movie,” Pelphrey, 40, completely tells Us Weekly. “And the fun thing about really good TV now is it feels a little bit more like the book. That we have more time to really get into the details and really see the different aspects of characters. And when it’s done well, to me, that’s exciting to be a part of. And also, just to watch because you think of the really great characters and how much time you get to spend with them in a TV show versus a movie.”

Pelphrey performed Laura Linney‘s brother in the Netflix drama, which ended its four-season run in April. Ben’s heartbreaking story line, which noticed him grapple with bipolar dysfunction, ended when he was killed off in season 3. (He’d later reappear in a flashback sequence.) For Pelphrey, the materials on the web page is his essential motivation to exit for an element.

Stars on Broadway

“Script, always the script. There are ways to answer that differently because there are certain directors and stuff that are so good that if they’re gonna do something, the script is gonna be that good. But it really just boils down to the script,” he explains. “When you have a really good script, you just have a really good blueprint to make something amazing. And that doesn’t mean that it always happens, but if everybody does their job and we get lucky and the right things click at the right time, a good script can really turn from that seed into the big, beautiful tree. And if the script isn’t that strong, in my experience anyway, usually even if you have some really good people doing really good work, it just will never be much better than mediocre. … Sometimes they’re just so well-written and the story is such that you’re so moved by it, you just wanna be a part of it.”

Case in level: American Murderer. Pelphrey stepped into the sneakers of felony Jason Derek Brown in the Matthew Gentile-directed movie, which additionally stars Ryan Phillippe, Idina Menzel, Paul Schneider and Shantel VanSanten.

“The character is so fascinating. And the story is so strange and weird,” Pelphrey tells Us. “I also thought it was kind of fun that the first half of Jason’s story almost seemed like a comedy in a sense. This guy’s obnoxious and he’s annoying and he is a bit much. But he’s kind of harmless. It’s kind of funny. And then all of a sudden, it’s horrible. That kind of appealed to me. That we’d almost get to make two different movies in a way. … To me it’s always about the script … We still have a million chances to mess it up. But at least if it looks good on the plans, you’re like, ‘Oh, if we do this right, it could be really good.’”

Tom Pelphrey and Kaley Cuoco’s Romance 

Unlike tv, Pelphrey appreciates that movie provides “much more time to prepare” and “can be that much more deliberate and intentional.” That proved to be true as he researched Brown’s background, which made headlines in 2004 when he grew to become needed for first-degree homicide and armed theft in Phoenix, Arizona. He was faraway from the FBI’s Most Wanted record in September however continues to be at giant.

“Sometimes with the real people, you end up doing things that are stranger than you do with the fictional characters. So much of Jason almost didn’t add up to me or make sense. But also, it’s helpful because then you have real pictures you can look at and research you can do,” the Outer Range star says.

“What was fun about Jason is that he seems like a real con man. And when I think of what would make someone a good con man is just that they’re very convincing, almost to the point where I wonder if they sort of convinced themselves sometimes. And so the actor in me is like, ‘Oh, he’s just constantly acting, and he is good at it,’” he provides, laughing. “Like, he understands what he can bring to any moment to sort of get the desired effect from the people he is interacting with. And so I just kind of looked at it like that. … It’s kind of fun to see how far you can push that.”

The character at instances will get gritty, with Jason getting beat up in a single bloody scene exterior a nightclub. The Banshee actor jokes that “maybe subconsciously” he seems to be for extra physicality in his work. “I’m not aware of looking for it,” he notes. “But I don’t shy away from it.”

As for Jason nonetheless on the market, he admits “it’s very weird” to suppose he may watch the film in the future. “It is strange. It crossed my mind a few times.”

Pelphrey started his appearing profession in 2007, making his Broadway debut as Mickey Deans in End of the Rainbow 5 years later. He’s since jumped from TV to movie and humbly admits that Ozark’s recognition has made auditioning a bit simpler today. As for the stage — “there’s nothing like it.”

“That’s probably the most actor medium. You rehearse with the director and, obviously, the playwright is extremely important, but then when you get to performing the play, it’s just you. There’s no cut, the director usually isn’t even there. The writer usually isn’t even there. So it’s just actors on a stage. You can’t zoom in, zoom out, you can’t cut, you can’t edit it later. It’s just live,” he tells Us. “[It’s] that pure feeling of being an actor. That’s where theater’s really special.”

Pelphrey is full pace forward — and nothing is off the desk. “There’s so much more I’d like to do. It’s so much fun getting to do this. Every job I’m learning something new. I’m getting to work with different people who I admire,” he says. “And right now [I’m] just enjoying the ride.”