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Did you go to any prisons or talk to any inmates to get a better idea of
your character?
”No, I'm not one of those guys who actually has to shoot heroin to
play a heroin addict on TV. Of course, I'd probably do a lot more
research if I were playing a gigolo. But we actually shot the movie in
the Joliet State Penitentiary in Joliet, Illinois. It was right outside
my hometown of Chicago. There [were] a lot of bad dudes who have come
through there. Richard Speck, John Gacy… There was some bad, bad dudes
that have come through there. Dahmer was there for a minute before they
transferred him to Wisconsin, where he met his deserved demise. I'm
sorry, are there any Jeffrey Dahmer relatives?
But no, I mean, there was no need to talk to any inmates, because, you know, when you're actually in prison, it's not that funny. I didn't have any reason to talk to anybody about their experience. (Laughing) Can you imagine? You go to like a guy who's committed a quadruple homicide and he's in there for life, and say, ‘Hey man, so what's the funniest thing about prison for you? What do you enjoy more than anything? Is it the gang rape?’ So no, there was not an extensive amount of research, no.”
So many TV fans know you from your dramatic performances on Boston
Public and The Nine. With this movie, did you relish the opportunity to
show you could do a "don't drop the soap" joke as well as the next guy?
”Well, yeah. I mean, I try to make my choices be driven by material,
and I love the opportunity that I've been afforded to do both comedies
and drama. And with Prison it was such a dark, subversive comedy, which
is right up my alley. I don't want to do any mild-type comedies. I like
to do specific kind of work. Just like in doing The Nine, I'm playing a
character that's completely different to any way that you've been used
to seeing me. And to the credit of the creators, Hank and K.J.
Steinberg, most times, when you go to producers and tell them that you
want to have a different look, you want to put on a wig and a mustache
and some glasses, they're like, ‘No.’ So they were right on board from
the beginning with me creatively. That's what I loved about doing
this picture, Let's Go To Prison.
It was dark, subversive, and different than any way that you've been used to seeing me. And I think that's the challenge for any actor, to just try to avoid doing the same thing over and over, and to become predictable, where people think that they know you and they know what you do. This is a business where people will only let you do what they think you can do. I'd like to let them think that I can do a lot of different things.”
