'Black Bird' Star Paul Walter Hauser Explains How Playing Larry Made Him Get Sober

If you watch the detective series 'Black Bird' on Apple TV+, you've no doubt been haunted by Paul Walter Hauser's performance as serial killer Larry Hall.

Hauser played his fair share of unlikable people but, for him, Hall challenged him at every turn. It was one thing to play a real character, but quite another to confront the dark demons at Hall's heart, as well as what series creator Dennis Lehane had conceived of the character Hauser would play. Hauser told IndieWire via Zoom that while he doesn't usually bring characters home, that might not have been true here.

Hauser then discussed his work opposite Taron Egerton, why playing Hall was a challenge, and upcoming episodes he struggled to play. "I have a very gentle spirit and I don't like to let the darkness in," he explained.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

IndieWire: What first struck you about Larry Hall?

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Paul Walter Hauser: I was interested in writing because I think Dennis Lehane is really, really talented. There are a lot of good drama writers out there, but what he does is he invades people's psyches, the dark places of normal people and the normal places of dark people. [It] was interesting how cleverly and emotionally weaved the story. Besides, I was a big "Rocketman" fan. Taron is one of those exciting new actors, like Adam Driver and Jesse Plemons, where everything they do becomes a must-have project.

Did you engage in a research process?

Not worth over-analyzing. I just tried to honor what Dennis was writing, what he wanted to do with this character. There were so many on the page. When I was shooting this project, I was going through a rather dark personal phase. So I don't think it would have been my place to research serial killers. More than anything, it was about researching yourself and saying, “Well, I don't kill people and I don't kidnap people. But what do I have in common with this person? What I share with Larry is the same desire to feel seen, occasional bouts of depression, loneliness and dark thoughts. It's quite human. It's pretty universal. And then you just act when it comes to scary stuff. You don't try to inhabit more than necessary.

Your vocal cadence in this series and your facial reactions are so unique. How did you manage to remove them?

Voice choices are based on real life. I heard 12 seconds of composite audio from Larry Hall. I don't speak exactly like him, I sound close to him. I tried to honor the real voice, but there's so much I do that people won't really know why I do it. I know why I do it, but they probably don't. The scene might be about Jimmy trying to extract information from Larry and they eat a sandwich, but this scene is about seven other things to me that aren't in the scene. [It's] what I call mental multitasking. [It's] what's going on that gives people this thing of, "I think I'm following his emotions, but I can't really predict them." It leaves them with a sense of unease, and equal parts fascination and confusion, which is what I wanted to do.

It's also like, unfortunately, a lot of kids grow up with parents who have alcohol issues or anger issues, and when they come home from school, they don't know which version they're getting. 'a parent. I think Jimmy doesn't really know what version he has of his cellmate here, and that's scary.