Boardwalk Empire's Michael Stuhlbarg 'A serious man'

MANILA, Philippines - Excuse us for borrowing the film title that first made Hollywood sit up and take notice of Michael Stuhlbarg. But somewhat of “a serious man” was how the actor at least, sounded when answering questions from select media, The STAR included, in a phone interview about his work in Boardwalk Empire, the HBO original series from Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese in tandem with Terrence Winter, the writer of The Sopranos. (The second season of Boardwalk Empire is premiering in Asia tonight on HBO.)

Michael’s voice called to mind a person who’s rarely ruffled; it wasn’t a monotone but was distinctly steady like writing that doesn’t resort to exclamation points to stress a point. He was polite (always has a “thank you” after every question), deep and measured with his answers, given to pauses and some pondering before saying anything.

Or perhaps, he was just letting us experience a facet of his character. Michael plays Arnold “The Big Bankroll” Rothstein in Boardwalk Empire, whose dangerous life crisscrosses with that of Steve Buscemi’s fictional lead character Nucky Thompson. Nucky is the uncontested leader of Atlantic City, who is equal parts corrupt politician and hardened gangster during the early days of the Prohibition. (The Prohibition Era in the ’20s has been cited as the period in US history in which liquor was outlawed and yet, underground and organized criminal activity proliferated.)

Arnold was a kingpin who lived and thrived for real during that time. Most infamous for “fixing” the 1919 World Series for baseball, other literature available described him as a “pretty even-tempered, conservative man who was clearly of authority but didn’t necessarily have to raise his voice and show his anger unless to get his way,” according to Michael.

When one reporter told Michael how he sounded so cool and collected in Boardwalk Empire, throwing about some of the best lines in the series, he credited it to great writing. But Michael himself is interested how the notorious mobster sounded as he didn’t have any audio reference to base his delivery on.

“I looked around for any tape on him, and I couldn’t find anything, so I just used my imagination and took as much of the historical information I could find, and tried to just imagine how he would speak like. I saw as many gangster films I could and let that sort of play around in my imagination.”

But whether he’s sounding close to the real-life Arnold or not, the actor is getting attention for his portrayal.

“I think we have taken great pains to present him as well and as closely as possible to the man we know historically,” said Michael. “It’s fun pretending to be him. But it’s also a great amount of responsibility — at least, I take it as such. I have tried to delve as deeply as I can into his life, how he lived, the people he knew, what he did, what influenced him, and it changes you somewhat to learn about someone’s life, to get the chance to live in it for as long as I’ve gotten to, so far. It’s the longest time I had the chance of exploring a character. I can’t wait to see where they take the character this season.”

In Season 2, Nucky appears to have solidified his hold on power by rigging an election and getting a crony elected mayor, but he also finds it weakened. State agents arrest him for election fraud, then members of his own inner circle and even family unite in an attempt to oust him. Meanwhile, mobsters like Arnold, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and Al Capone wait in the wings, looking for the chance to grab a bigger piece of Nucky’s pie.

But an interesting dynamic emerges in Arnold’s relationship with Nucky, said Michael. “In Season 2, Arnold becomes an unsuspecting, possible ally to Nucky in a way he wasn’t in the first season. They both resolve that they can do business together, so that’s how we start off.” 

As for what lies ahead in Season 2 for the impressive roster of female characters who, however, wasn’t really developed in Season 1, he said, “From what I remember of how Terrence was approaching Season 2, his interests were on how family affects the characters of the show. You will see (the female characters’) story arch taking very bold changes, which I think you will enjoy.”

Asked why gangster-themed works appeal to viewers, he opined: “In some ways, gangsters don’t obey rules (laughs) of the societies they are in. They go about getting whatever they want and pay the consequences most often. So, we get to see people breaking rules, whereas we don’t get to do the things that they do, knowing that when we do what they do, we’ll get in trouble. But they take that risk, and perhaps, it is that risk-taking and fulfilling of their dreams regardless of the consequences that intrigue us.” 

Boardwalk Empire had already received eight Emmys and two Golden Globes recognizing, among others, the show’s directing and ensemble acting.

Michael, who’s starring in two Hollywood films this year including the mega-budgeted Men In Black III, believes that “it’s an exciting time to be working in television.”

“I believe that there’s great writing everywhere. I guess it’s a transition time between TV and film, wherein the excitement of independent filmmaking is fused with the serial nature of television,” he shared. “I believe we happen to be in a wonderful age of TV right now, particularly on HBO, wherein they allow artists seemingly uncensored venue in which to express stories they want to express. When you give artists that sense of freedom, they will take it and run with it.”

Now in his early 40s, Michael started his acting career in theater. He seriously studied the craft, having been educated in top acting schools, from Juilliard, National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, University of London to UCLA. After many years of doing plays both on and off Broadway, the film community finally beckoned. But it was the critically-acclaimed 2009 dark comedy A Serious Man which was written, produced and directed by the Coen Brothers that thrust his remarkable talent, long confined to the stage, into the spotlight.

He got cast as Arnold in Boardwalk Empire after working with Scorsese in a commercial. He said of the filmmaking luminary: “It is one of the great honors of my life to work with him. He’s a very generous man, a generous spirit. He very rarely has harsh words for any of us, who has had the chance to work with him. His enthusiasm for whatever he works on is infectious and it is his great spirit to learn and impart his own experiences that make working with him a delight. I hope I’ll be more fortunate to have more opportunities to work with him. He’s been very good to me; I would love the chance to get to know him more.”  

(The 12-episode second season of Boardwalk Empire begins airing in Asia tonight at 10 p.m. on HBO and 9 p.m. on HBO HD with two new episodes airing weekly.)