Chris Perfetti is just as much of a fan of DTF St. Louis as the rest of the audience, and he wants everyone to know it.
Sitting down with DECIDER to chat about his guest-starring role in the HBO miniseries from Steven Conrad, the Abbott Elementary actor spilled on stepping into the twisted world to play Tiger Tiger — a persona hired by Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman) to meet up with Floyd (David Harbour).
In Episode 6, “The Denny’s Plan,” Perfetti’s oddball character is first introduced as he peers out from a booth at a Denny’s to accept $900 to get aroused by Floyd. It’s exactly the type of offbeat role, project, and entry into a show that he was looking for.
“I think we find him on either a really great day or at one of his low points. But I was so fascinated when I first read it and talked to Steve, because that’s why I became an actor. I want to be able to thread that needle, I want to explore things that aren’t a part of my everyday life. And there’s a lot of characters in Steve’s work that make you think, ‘How did that person get there?’”
He added that in searching for the truth of his own character — who eventually backs out of the deal to meet up with Harbour’s character — he discovered the intention of Conrad in having the audience investigate the show as a whole, on top of the mystery at the heart of the series.
“It’s obviously a detective show and the audience sort of becomes detectives in watching it,” Perfetti said. “What I love so much about Steve’s writing is — as I was just saying — it’s so sort of heightened and peculiar, and actors really have to become detectives for why people would do the things that they do.”
As for his take on his entrance and how DTF St. Louis helped bring out an even better performance in Abbott Elementary, keep reading for DECIDER’s full interview with Perfetti.
DECIDER: Chris, I have to say, you have made me laugh so many times over the years in Abbott Elementary, but nothing has made me laugh quite as hard as your little peek out from behind Jason Bateman’s character in Episode 6. Please walk me through getting the timing of that down perfectly.
CHRIS PERFETTI: Wow, I love that, I don’t feel like I can really accept props for that. You can really pin it all on Steve, he has such a handle on the visual language of what he wants, how he wants to tell the story way beforehand. So, that’s a sight gag that only he, you know, could pull off. It’s why I’m a big fan of his. Certainly, DTF could have been told really in one episode, and instead, he really digs in and puts it in a blender and creates something completely new.
Not coming in until Episode 6, how much of the broader story had you been keyed into prior to walking on set?
A fair bit, I like to know, I like to fill my body with information and then I can really be free to go about my business. I had spoken to Steve a couple of time before I read all the episodes to try and really understand the context that I was jumping into. And he’s such a gifted writer as well as a director, he has a really peculiar — beautifully peculiar — tone, and the language is somewhat heightened. I think it was helpful for me to hear everything that had happened up to that point.
“Beautifully peculiar” is so accurate. What have the people in your life been saying about the show?
I haven’t talked to too many people about it. Some people have reached out now that Tiger Tiger’s popped up. But yeah, I feel like I’ve just been trying to spread the gospel of Steve Conrad for a very long time. It is peculiar, but again, it’s getting at something deeper, I think […] It’s obviously a detective show and the audience sort of becomes detectives in watching it. What I love so much about Steve’s writing is it’s so sort of heightened and peculiar, and actors really have to become detectives for why people would do the things that they do. Particularly Tiger Tiger, I think we find him on either a really great day or at one of his low points. But I was so fascinated when I first read it and talked to Steve, because that’s why I became an actor. I want to be able to thread that needle, I want to explore things that aren’t a part of my everyday life. And there’s a lot of characters in Steve’s work that make you think, ‘How did that person get there?’”
It’s funny you say that because my next question was — knowing you like to build out a backstory — how do you think Kevin ended up in that Denny’s, saying yes to someone wanting to pay him $900?
I mean, that was the true joy of playing this character. Stepping in, day one for the audience is day 50,000 for Kevin. I thought it would be interesting if he was at a relatively low point. I think anybody who would take on what Kevin takes on in the context of the show kind of needs the money and maybe just needs a radical shift in their life. But I love that, at the same time, I could be part of a super dark aesthetic to sort of complement the more family-friendly, polished Disney sitcom thing that we’re doing on Abbott. I always find that when you can hold two projects like that at the same time, they really inform each other. It’s always nice to do something completely different.
You held so much quiet intensity in that scene with Bateman in the diner. How did you find and channel that?
It’s really just being with him and trying to show up for him and receive from I’m getting from him. I’m such a huge fan of his, I think he’s one of the best we’ve got, I’ve enjoyed his work so much over the years, so I was really just trying to live up to that. There’s also sort of a tone and an aesthetic about what Steve is after that sort of wants to invite the audience to put their take on the character in the situation and the place.
Tone and aesthetic, for sure. What did you think of that final script and that final episode?
Chekhov is my favorite playwright and I think there’s sort of an obsession with the tragic, comic irony that Steve really found in this piece and sort of the quiet hopelessness of being alive, or in some people’s cases, being dead. I thought the ending was just fabulous. I thought so many times throughout the show, you know, when I was reading, he sort of took care of the audience and sort of left them high and dry and I’m impressed by that bravery. I think people who are writing for themselves there’s something that really attracts me to that. I thought that’s exactly how the show ended. I think it’s truly masterful, the way in which he kind of held that string as long as he could. So many things could have happened, so many different outcomes could have been the case. I know that’s not easy to do.
You’re no stranger to going into the Emmys. I’m predicting that the show is going to pick up its fair share of noms this year. What would it mean for you to get a nomination among this cast?
Oh, geez. I’m already on cloud nine. Just having been a little part of it. I’d like to think that I do a good job of guarding myself against all of that — I typically don’t enjoy watching things that I’m in, and I think just because I’m in the very end of this, it’s been such a joy to see Steve’s writing realized. So, anybody that wants to say a good thing about DTF, I want to hear it. I think there’s some truly gorgeous work all across the board, so thank you for saying that. I hope you’re right.
DTF St. Louis is now streaming on HBO Max.
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