Matthew Lillard’s character in FX’s The Bridge, ‘Daniel Frye,’ wasn’t supposed to survive past episode six of season one. Thankfully for fans of the popular series, the writers decided to save Lillard’s character and to continue exploring the partnership between Daniel and Adriana Mendez (played by Emily Rios).
And while Lillard isn’t sure how long his character will ultimately stick around, he’s just happy to be part of a critically acclaimed program that’s provided him with the opportunity to portray a well-written, complicated – and flawed – character.
In season two, Daniel’s still trying to stay sober while pursuing the biggest story of his career. Participating in a conference call in support of The Bridge, Lillard talked about how he got into the character and what motivates Daniel.
Matthew Lillard The Bridge Interview
Could you talk about how you got involved in the project?
Matthew Lillard: “Like most of my jobs, I auditioned for it. There actually is a fun story behind it. I got a phone call one day from Annabeth Gish, who I’d done a movie with years ago, and she said, ‘You should go in and audition for this character on the show called The Bridge.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know what it is, what is it?’ She said, ‘It’s Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir and it’s this adaptation of the Swedish show.’
I immediately called my agent and said, ‘What’s the deal with this gig? Why isn’t it in my world?’ They said, ‘Well, they basically have no money and it’s only six episodes.’ The character dies after six episodes. I’m like, ‘Well, I’m not doing anything so some money is better than no money.’ [Laughing] An agent’s idea of no money and my idea of no money are usually quite different. I said, ‘Why don’t you send me the script? If it’s not something I want to do…just let me see it anyway.’
They sent it to me and I read it. It’s one of those scripts [where] the pilot was unbelievably well read. You kind of fly through it, and you get to the last scene in the pilot and you’re like, ‘Oh my, God, what an amazing scene.’ The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that I’d rather do something than not do something. I had never been on TV and I said—this is one of those things that actors sometimes struggle with because I was like, ‘All right. I’d love to do this even if it is no money. Why don’t you see if they’ll have me?’ expecting some kind of offer. They were like, ‘Yes, they like you. They want you to come in and audition for it.’
The thing was, like, ‘There’s no money, the guy dies in episode 6, and he’s barely in the pilot. I have to audition for it?’ Then it just feels like you’re fighting for something that somebody doesn’t really want you in. The more I dug into it, the more I realized they had tested a bunch of guys for it and none of the guys had gotten the job. Now I’m just rambling… The point was that I went in and auditioned for it and the audition went great. Then, Elwood called me into his office and said, ‘There’s no money and he dies in episode 6.’ I was like, ‘Yes, but look at this part and look at how amazing this scene is. I get to do this scene. I’d love to do it.’ So I did it.
On episode 6 I lived and in episode 10 I was supposed to die and they re-wrote it after I fell off the bridge, and I made it to season 2, which is the longest story I’ll tell this entire conference. [Laughing] I’m sorry it was so long.”
The Bridge is a very heavy dramatic project but you always seem to provide some kind of comic relief in your roles. Do you seek out those roles or do you try to inject a little bit of extra humor at times on the page that’s not already there?
Matthew Lillard: “I definitely bring an energy that’s different than other people on the show. I don’t really have a lot of jokes. It’s not like Elwood and our incredible writing staff, it’s not like they give me a lot of jokes. I certainly get to say more funny things on the show than anyone else. I think what I bring is energy and, yes, I generally find opportunities to be funny in really high stakes. Scream is a great example of that. When you’re running for your life and you’re at the end of your rope and the stakes are really high, to be able to make people laugh in that little sweet spot – I like doing that.
I think that it’s a combination. I think that the writers and Elwood have found a great way to use me in the show. I think that Emily and I do a lot of solving the case, but on top of it, we can add a little levity to a world that’s so ripe with drama. Yes, I think it’s a combination of both. I think that they lean into me for that, and I tend to find it on the day.”
Can you give us any teasers about what’s in store for Daniel in the upcoming episodes?
Matthew Lillard: “Yes. I think that leading into the first episode of the season, the idea of having a two beer rule or two beer limit is pretty rife with drama. He doesn’t really hold onto that rule very well. He struggles with his sobriety. One of the great things that I love about playing the character is that he’s this incredibly tortured soul, and he happens to be a reporter. He struggles with his sobriety, and as he’s on this journey and he may fall into that pit somewhere along the line.”
Daniel has his eye on the prize with this big story he’s pursuing. What is he willing to do to find the truth and solve the case? Does he ever go too far?
Matthew Lillard: “Daniel has no scruples. I feel like there’s no end to what he’ll do and where he’ll go. This season, I don’t think he really gets to that end. The great thing about playing this guy is that he doesn’t really care. At the end of the day it’s all about the story. He’s got a great line, I think, in episode 4 where he says, ‘All I care about is how to fix the story. I don’t care if the guy blew his brains out.’ That kind of drive to him, that kind of single-mindedness, that’s fun to play. This season he stays relatively within the bounds.”
How is it working with Emily Rios? You’re really good together onscreen.
Matthew Lillard: “Oh, thanks, man. She’s great. I think that we’re a little bit of the wonder twins. She and I are very simpatico in how we approach the work. On set, we have developed over the last few years great shorthand. Together, we work on scenes before we ever get to set. We’ll bring scripts to set. I think that together we have a rhythm in terms of how we work. I love her to pieces, and I think that she feels the same way about me. We’re great friends. Between having the same approach to the work, and caring deeply for her and loving the woman, it makes work a real joy.
On top of that, I think that we both are really proud to be on the show. You can’t always say that on every show you’re on or every piece of movie you do. I have been in god knows some horrible films, and when you’re doing those movies there’s a lot of that. You understand that you’re just trying to make your rent and feed your kids. This is a show that I think that we both appreciate every day we’re on set, and are having fun doing it. I think that that comes out in the work we’re doing, and I think it’s translating to the writers room and I think that they like writing for us. All in all, I can’t imagine a better situation to be in as an actor. That’s how goo-goo, gaa-gaa I am over her and what’s happening with us on the show.”
Did you channel any particular journalists that have interviewed you in the past or are there any Hunter S. Thompson aspects of the character that you’re using? How’d you put Daniel together?
Matthew Lillard: “I just dip into my own angry bitterness that I possess, and I created it from a wealth of anger that lives within me. [Laughing] You know, not really. It’s not built on anyone specifically, so to speak. There’s an aspect of the drug use and alcoholism and being an addict that there’s somebody that I’ve drawn on in my life in terms of how they acted, and I’m very clear as to who that person is when I get into that kind of a state. In terms of the journalist, no, I trust the words of Elwood and the writers.
We also have a New York Times writer on our staff. Early, in both seasons, last season and this season, I sat with him and I got a chance to…he covers all of South America for the New York Times. He and I sat down a couple times and talked about what it’s like to be on that drive, to be on the hunt of a story trying to figure out where the passion is, what is the motor that drives that person, because I didn’t really get it. Is it winning the Pulitzer Prize? Is it showing the world that you can write? What is that thing that motivates that guy?
Daniel’s been great to give me that insight as to what it means to him, and I’m just extrapolating what he’s said and what he’s given me has helped. I guess, let me revise my answer. Yes, I have. I’ve built around this guy who’s on our staff, his name is [Damien Cave]. He’s in South America so I’ve only seen him twice, but both times having a conversation with him, and digging into what motivates him has been fantastic. Does that help?
What’s your favorite aspect of Daniel and how does he compare to your own personality?
Matthew Lillard: “I think my favorite aspect of the personality is that I like the fact that he’s tragically flawed. I like the fact that a modern television and modern drama on cable even has characters that are really intricate and deep and have multiple layers. I love the fact that he is a character that is tragically flawed and is continually trying to rise up and do his best; that he hasn’t given up, and he’s not living in a hotel room in Juarez just getting drunk and high all day every day. He’s still on this pursuit of redemption and that’s what I love about the character is that he’s incredibly broken and still trying to get back. There’s a resiliency that I love.
I think that that is the part that I can relate to as a man, and as an actor in this industry, being resilient. Look, there are a lot of people in ‘90s films that just never came back. Having been a guy that didn’t work for a year and didn’t have a job and downsized his life and sold his house and his cars and just tried to figure out what the heck I was going to do if I never had a chance to come back, looking into that kind of abyss of being cooked in this industry and sticking with it and finding myself in the place I am now, which is a place I’m, again, proud of my work and proud of where I’m at and on a great show, I think that that resilience I understand in a really great way.”
You were talking about having a rhythm with Emily. What have you enjoyed about the Daniel/Adriana partnership this season and where is it heading in the remaining episodes?
Matthew Lillard: “Well, the thing I like about it is that the writers trust us, and they know that we’re going to be around. A lot of the problems were last season, so like they were beholden to what was happening in the Swedish show and they weren’t creating their own story. Last year, I don’t feel like they had a clear sense of what they were doing with us.
The thing I like about us this season is that the writers are using us in a really great way to help solve the case. Diane, Marco and Sonya are off doing their thing, and I think that one of the great things is Emily and I can help piece together the story, and they’re different trajectories. They’re working on their story; we’re working on our story. The great thing is that I think we’re more active this year in the main storyline.
Sometimes if you’re third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh on the call sheet you get relegated to one or two scenes, and I feel like towards the end of the season we start to get more work, and we start to answer that riddle a lot for the writers. The writers like writing for us, and that’s one of the great things I like, is that they like putting words in our mouth, so we get great words and we great opportunities to do good stuff.
Where we’re going, I think that we get connected to the case, and we start to help solve it. Not to give away spoilers, but we’re in the last episode and we’re part of answering part of a big riddle of the season. As it expands, we expand with it instead of getting left behind so that’s been pretty great.”
Do you ever get to sit down and speak to the writers about how you would like them to develop your character?
Matthew Lillard: “No, I do not do that. What I do do is, I go in and say, ‘Why are you doing this to my character?’ I think that was one of the things, and Elwood said this is the past, is that he is an open door. I believe in the idea of being an advocate for your character. It does not happen on every show, I know that for a fact, but his door is open and I’m one of the guys that uses it to walk in and say, ‘Why is this happening? Why are you doing this?’
I definitely don’t tell them what to do with my character, but I certainly help shape what’s happening to the character in the moment. I have strong opinions; they’re not always listened to. There’s some times that I go in and pitch something or ask to change something and it doesn’t happen, and there are a lot of times that they listen to what I’m saying. One of the things is that look, I walk and I talk and breathe and I walk in that skin of Daniel Frye in every episode. I know him better than anyone.
Our writers come in and they have to service 20 different voices, and all I do is service one. I have a clear sense of who he is, and the decisions I’ve made about being an addict and trying to rise from that and finding strength in that and being the smartest guy in the room. There are all these choices that I’ve made, so they write something that’s completely contrary to who he is I’ll go in and say, ‘How does this track with Episode 4 of Season 1? It doesn’t make sense.’ Together, we’ll try to find a good way to bridge that gap that sometimes happens between the writers and Daniel Frye.
The best way I would describe me is being an advocate for my character. I’m really lucky that we have a writer whom and a show runner who is gracious enough and humble enough to say, ‘Okay,’ and will at least listen.”
