Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire has consistently been one of the best shows on television for the entire duration of its three seasons on cable’s HBO. The historical gangster drama returns this September for its fourth season. Actor Paul Sparks, who portrays the underhanded Mickey Doyle on Empire, talked to us about the genesis and journey of his character. How would you describe your character? When I first got the script…I feel like there was a description of him as a rat, or weasel. I always thought of those things to a certain extent and that affected the pitch of my voice. Overtime, it became clear the writers wanted to use him in a humorous way. He has a lot of annoying qualities. He reminds me a little of Bugs Bunny—I wanted to think of him as having a plan and ideals—despite him being annoying. How do you get yourself into character? Would you consider yourself a method actor? I like to think I’m not method, bu t that’s probably not totally true. I always think of Mickey as a happy guy. A guy who enjoys what he is doing and where he is. I feel like those characteristics are drawn out of me when I’m on set. I
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joke around when I’m on set, but I think that’s part of who Mickey is. Is it hard not to judge a character like Mickey? How does playing a character that does so many unpleasant things affect you and your performance? You have to figure out someway to like the character you are playing. I would say Mickey has made some reprehensible choices that morally I don’t agree with. He really only cares about taking care of himself and is trying to survive. [However], it’s not like he’s taking money from nuns; he’s dealing with people like himself. Boardwalk Empire is known to kill off a lot of important characters with little warning. Do you fear for Mickey’s life? I used to really worry about it. I don’t know if it’s a Stockholm syndrome—but after a while you learn to live with it. There is certainly a part of me that worries Mickey is going to end up dead. It would be such a bummer not to be on the show anymore, just because we have such a good time.
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