Billy Magnussen stars in AMC’s “The Audacity.”Photo by Andrew Eccles
In The Audacity, the new AMC series that premiered in April, Billy Magnussen delivers his most explosive performance yet. After 20 years on stage and with a host of hit TV shows under his belt, the Tony-nominated actor takes on the role of a tech mogul navigating the ego-filled world of Silicon Valley. Magnussen, creator and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Glatzer, and the cast talk about bringing the complex characters to life in the latest issue of Emmy Magazine, on sale May 1.
“Rather than doing something directly about tech,” Glatzer says, “I wanted to focus on the denizens of Silicon Valley, the also-rans, the wannabe titans, and spider web it from there with a big-enough lens to encapsulate spouses, kids, their tutors, their private schools, psychiatrists — all of them able to collide with one another. The tech world is the backdrop, but it’s also imbuing everything.”
Billy Magnussen
Emmy Magazine
Quotes from the article:
Magnussen on the timing of his new role in The Audacity: “It’s an absolute gift. It’s like the culmination of everything I’ve put in — getting to build this thing from scratch. I’m in a crazy place.”
Magnussen on his character, tech mogul Duncan Park: “Duncan believes he’s changing the world, making it perfect — and his life’s a dumpster fire. There’s that saying: If you want to change the world, make your bed in the morning. This guy doesn’t understand that. He has no clue what’s going on with himself. To dive into a character like that is awesome.” Creator Jonathan Glatzer on what Magnussen brought to the role: “You could see and hear the gears grinding in a way that was very human, looking for that doubt inside somebody so confident. It’s a tough thing to play, but Billy has this twitchy, frenetic ability to do that, and it’s really magnetic.”
Costar Sarah Goldberg on working with Magnussen: “He takes the work very seriously but doesn’t take himself very seriously. What I love about Billy is you can be screaming at each other at the top of your lungs, crying, whatever the scene requires, and the next minute, we’re letting it go.”
