Theroux is G. Gordon Liddy lawyer, former FBI agent, and noted Hitler enthusiast.
ButAll the President’s Menthis is not.
Here, Harrelson and Theroux discuss playing the worst people for laughs.
Justin Theroux and Woody Harrelson in ‘White House Plumbers’.HBO
JUSTIN THEROUX:Well, the story is hilarious.
The actual facts of the case are hilarious.
So I think just that in and of itself is revealing.
The scene of the crime in ‘White House Plumbers’.Phil Caruso/HBO
And the facts around it, obviously, are so dumb that it’s ripe for comedy.
Yeah, that’s how it happened.
THEROUX:That’s what happened.
(l-r) Alexis Valdes, Kim Coates, Nelson Ascensio, Toby Huss, Justin Theroux, Yul Vazquez, Tony Plana, and Woody Harrelson in ‘White House Plumbers’.Phil Caruso/HBO
Just the fact that it took them four times to even get in the front door is hilarious.
THEROUX:Or maybe the first time, since it was a betrayal of national trust.
It was so unnecessary to begin with.
Justin Theroux, Woody Harrelson.Phil Caruso/HBO
THEROUX:Yes, exactly.
Did you guys do research on your characters?
Was there anything that surprised you about them, or impressed you, or intimidated you?
(l-r) Alexis Valdes, Yul Vazquez, Woody Harrelson, Kim Coates, Justin Theroux, Nelson Ascensio, and Toby Huss in ‘White House Plumbers’.Phil Caruso/HBO
THEROUX:Impressed is the wrong word.
It was just mind-blowing.
He was very he just had this strange code in the way he lived his life.
But he was going to do the entire bullet in there.
And that was shocking to me, among many other things.
HARRELSON:No, I was impressed with how reprehensible Howard Hunt was.
Historically, he’s a good example.
His trajectory is a lot like America’s trajectory.
This guy was there with so many horrible events in American history and culpable.
How do you get into character?
In fact, you really need to like the character you play.
THEROUX:Same thing.
You have to leave judgment of your character at the door just to be able to enjoy playing them.
And obviously, there’s huge ideological differences that I have with the man, G. Gordon Liddy.
And how do you think they would fit into today’s political landscape?
HARRELSON:Oh, they’d fit right into the modern landscape.
I mean, they are that toxic combination of zealotry, patriotism
HARRELSON:Nationalism.
THEROUX:Nationalism, and for Liddy, a little bit of fascism.
And I don’t think he ever saw himself as having done something wrong.
He was doing something in the service of his country, which is a terrifying thought.
That was unique, I think, at that time.
Roger Stone is really just a 2.0 version of Liddy.
He has, I’m sure, studied him and followed his playbook.
They don’t really talk about it negatively at all.
2.9 million people died in Vietnam, mostly civilians, not much mention of that.
THEROUX:But bugging those phones.
HARRELSON:Bugging the phones.
That’s what got him.
