Anthony Boyle wasn't too worried about going all out in his role as Arthur Guinness in Netflix's new period drama series.”House of Guinness“
The only thing that really bothered the Irish actor was his grandmother watching the scene.
But then he remembered: “She doesn't know how to work Netflix because she doesn't have internet. She just watches Coronation Street and other British soaps.
“She keeps telling me, 'Stop making shows that are only on the Internet. Could you get into 'Coronation Street' or 'EastEnders?'” says Boyle, whose numerous streaming projects include “Airbenders”, “The Hunt”, “Tetris” and “Say Nothing”.
The House of Guinness follows the brewing dynasty – Arthur, Edward (Louis Partridge), Anne (Emily Fearn) and Benjamin II (Fionn O'Shea) – after the death of their father Benjamin Guinness in 1868. “I didn’t know too much about the Guinness family,” Boyle says. “I knew as much as probably anyone in Ireland knows – they were a very rich family and they were very eccentric. But I didn't know the extent of their wealth and everything they owned.”
It is widely believed that Arthur was gay. The series portrays Arthur as a man who doesn't really hide his sexuality, even if he agrees to a “lavender marriage” to further his political career. “There is so much evidence that Arthur is gay,” Boyle says. “If we don't follow these clues, we'll write gays out of the story. We weren't going to just say he was gay. There are so many things that hinted at him being gay, so we felt we had to portray him as such.”
I met with Boyle via Zoom while he was in Vancouver, Canada, filming The Altruists, the upcoming Netflix series about Sam Bankman-Fried (Boyle), his girlfriend Caroline Ellison (Julia Garner) and the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
Let's talk about Arthur's mustache. Comfortable or uncomfortable?
I love it. I prefer to have a mustache. I feel like I look 10 years old when I don't have it. I love growing it and I love the little shimmering pieces on the side. I had a wonderful makeup artist named Connie Daniels who would come to me in the morning and give me a mustache wax called Gentleman Stiffener. She knocked on my trailer and said, “Ready for some gentlemanly toughness?” She would give me a small brush and I would comb my hair and then be ready to go with my gentleman's stiffener.
How long did it take you to grow up?
It took about two and a half months to grow it, and then I had about six months of filming to do. In the show it looks good when you're wearing a period costume, but when you're wearing, like, an Adidas jacket and going out for coffee, you just look like an out-of-work magician.
When you Google your name, all the results are about your frontal scene. Did you expect it to get so much attention?
No, I didn't because it happened at the last minute. I called the director the night before and said, “I think we should do a scene where I come out of the bath.” [instead of a dressing scene]. He said, “Hell yeah. Let's do it.” But I didn't expect this. I didn't expect people to talk about it.
When the director agreed to do it, did you have any doubts?
Not really. I thought it was good for the character because I wanted to show him that he owns the world and he is completely unashamed of himself and his sexuality, and that he doesn't even view the servants as people, that they are just there to serve him. He is completely dominant.
I devoured House of Guinness in just a couple of days. What are you drinking?
“Love is blind.” I started watching it with my sister and couldn't get enough of it. Last night I watched the first episode of the new season with a friend. This is so funny. I just love it. I just love Americans. I love that two minutes into the first date one person says, “I love my family.” And another says: “I love my family too.” And then they were both like, “We’re so similar.” I love you.” This is amazing. It warms my heart and just really tickles me.
Now that you're playing as Sam Bankman-Freed, do you understand how cryptocurrency works? I certainly don't.
I can act like I understand this. I can pretend to know what I'm talking about, but I knew very little. My dad bought me Cryptocurrency for Dummies for Christmas and it came in very handy. But what did I learn about cryptocurrency? I've been filming for about five months now, so I understand it now, but it's very difficult.
What did you know about this story before starting it?
Just like most people. I read a couple of articles about Sam and was very interested in his meteoric rise, I was interested in FTX and the scandal that followed, but I didn't dive into it as deeply as I do now.
Is it easier to portray someone like Sam Bankman-Freed when there's so much information about him, or when it's someone like Arthur Guinness who you can maybe play around with a little more?
I don't know. I think I do my best work in period pieces. I am very good with a flashlight. I am very good with horses. Now I work with a laptop and iPhone. I'm lost. I'm kind of kidding because it doesn't matter if you're playing a role in Shakespeare or a Greek play and it was 2000 years ago or you're playing someone now. You are human and we have not changed. You read Shakespeare or an old play written hundreds of years ago and we still experience the same emotions, we still experience the same things.
The first season of The House of Guinness is available on Netflix.
