Manhunt
Summary
One of America ’s most iconic former Presidents is being play to life with a novel lens inManhunt . The Apple TV+ show marks the latest geographic expedition of Abraham Lincoln ’s biography , but more tragically , his expiry as the primary focus is on his Secretary of War , Edwin Stanton , as he investigates the sixteenth President ’s blackwash and conducts a country - wide search for the perpetrator responsible , John Wilkes Booth . The show also apply flashbacks to search Lincoln and Stanton ’s friendship and joint efforts to enact Reconstruction and found a good tone of life for freed slaves .
Hamish Linklater link up an extensive roster of histrion to work Lincoln to aliveness on covert , which ranges from more striking affair like Daniel Day - Lewis inthe Steven Spielberg - helmed biopicLincolnand Billy Campbell in the 2013 TV movieKilling Lincoln , to more tongue - in - cheek plan of attack like Benjamin Walker in the 2012 adaptation ofAbraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter . Linklater , well - known for his roles inLegionandMidnight Mass , among many other titles , brings his own unique approaching to the iconic figure while also staying true to his past .
Known for its accolade - winning original subject , the Apple TV+ catalog grows from calendar month to month . Here ’s everything new on Apple TV+ in October 2024 .
Ahead of the show ’s premiere , Screen Rantparticipated in a roundtable interview with Hamish Linklater to discussManhunt , the responsibility he feel in bringing Lincoln to spirit on screen , his worked up connection to the type and what he hop audiences take aside from the project .
Linklater Looked At Prior Lincoln Portrayals “More As A Fan Than As A Thief”
Screen Rant : Hamish , it ’s nifty to get to chat with you . I ’ve been a big admirer of your employment for many year , and Manhunt is a great addition to your filmography . The storey of Abe Lincoln is one that ’s been differentiate many times throughout the geezerhood , and by many different people , ranging from Benjamin Walker inAbraham Lincoln : Vampire HuntertoDaniel Day Lewis inLincoln . Did you look at all of these prior portraying so as to find a unequalled take for yourself ?
Hamish Linklater : I looked at a fate , but probably more as a lover than as a thief . If you require to steal from the best , you want to pop out with Daniel Day Lewis , probably , but I do n’t know , man . He ’s like Fort Knox . I do n’t know how you even get in there . The man comes from another planet , or a heavenly cloud , or something like that . So , I really appreciate all the — god , just unbelievable actors who have played the part . But he ’s such a capital man , he contains multitudes . So , what we were doing was really trying to focus on the guy wire who was a husband , and he was a don , and he was a friend . That was really the focus of this aspect of Lincoln , I recall that we were run for .
Karen Butler , UPI : One of the thing that discover me about the series was that it really talks about the difference between opprobrium and fame , because somebody did great deeds . How do you suppose that ’s relevant in 2024 ?
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Hamish Linklater : Gosh , what a great question . It seems like it can be a pretty thin to unseeable argumentation between notoriety and just being notorious . Yeah , I do n’t know . I love the Booth kinsfolk . I had take this biography of Edwin Booth — like a good theater grind would — it ’s out of print , it ’s called Prince of Players . That was how I found out about the Booth family . It was a foresighted time ago . But it ’s just such a wild matter that [ someone like ] the brother of Leonardo DiCaprio kill the President . I intend , the most famous thespian in the world at the sentence , his brother . They ’re just a fascinating family .
Jamie Stalcup , World Screen / TV Drama : How did you prepare for take on the role of someone who was such a pivotal part of chronicle ? I know you said you were concentre on bringing out the aspects of Lincoln as a father and as a husband , but did you consult any sources to retrieve out more about those features of his personality ?
Hamish Linklater : Yeah , I certainly read a lot of those big definitive books , but I think when I was on set , I ’d be read that George Saunders , Lincoln in the Bardo book , which is so heartbreaking . It ’s just unlikely . It ’s about him and his Word , and I guess he just carried that with him every 24-hour interval . God , he carried so much mortality inside him during that presidential term , so I imagine that was part of the job . And then the other prominent part of the job was done for me , which is these beautiful makeup artist . Vincent Van Dyke made my face , and these wonderful artist put it on for like three and a half hours every solar day , and put up with my jokes , and me hear to sing like Lincoln would , and mystify into him as well as I possibly could .
Mahunt is an AppleTV+ mini-series focusing on the hunt for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinates Abraham Lincoln. Anthony Boyle stars as John Wilkes Booth alongside Tobias Menzies, Lovie Simone, and Will Harrison in the series created by Monica Beletsky.
Linklater Gets “Terribly Emotional” Reflecting On Lincoln & Stanton’s Friendship
So , one of the aspects I love about Lincoln in the show is yours and Tobias ' characters ' friendship . It sense very authentic , even as we leap around dissimilar timelines . What was it like develop that rapport with him both during dry run in between shooting ?
Hamish Linklater : You live , Monica did such a beautiful job , I think , calibrate their family relationship and showing meter when Stanton had to be brand , while Lincoln was unsure , and moments when Lincoln was like , " This is what we ’re doing . " [ pass away up ] I get terribly emotional talking about this . And then Stanton would follow . But showing that friendship and how it developed — I entail , they began as rival lawyers , and then became the closest friends . It was necessary for actuate what would observe , which is the actual blood and trunk of the series , this sort of locomotive pursuit to catch the killer whale , and scupper who sent those three assassin out that Nox . And then to defend the Union , and get Reconstruction started . It is because , in turgid measure , of this brotherhood and this love between these two men .
Karen Butler , UPI : What was it like film the assassination scene ? Did you feel the weight of that ?
Hamish Linklater : Well , it was really fun , because I had never heard Our American Cousin before . It ’s creaky , and the swelled laugh line — " You sockdologizing older man - trap " , that brings the mansion down and spread over John Wilkes ' approach , and everyone ’s laughing — it ’s shot so beautifully by Carl , because you just see that it ’s just this beautiful escort night that they at last get to have together . He ’s eventually laughing for the first meter in five year , and then he ’s killed . It ’s just so cruel , but it is also so endearing that he did get those laughs . And then , I do have to say , Anthony Boyle is just an creature . He ’s just the paradigm of a true thespian , and he would overleap out of that balcony over and over . And they ’d be like , " Wait till we put the pads down . The stunt bozo ’s gon na do it . " And he would just spring . He ’s just fantastic .
Jamie Stalcup , World Screen / goggle box Drama : What are you hop that viewers take away from seeing your portrayal of Lincoln and from the series as a whole ?
Hamish Linklater : Well , what I hope they take from the serial is what a good sentinel it is , what a good boundary of your backside thriller it is , and what a disgraceful mo of history it is . It ’s a account we think we know , but we are — at least , I had no idea that this was in reality an endeavor to reverse the results of the Civil War , and it almost happened , mind - boggling . [ Chuckles ] And then in terms of the portraying , he ’s so special to me . He ’s so particular to all of us . Ideally , I only hope that citizenry will desire to lean in more to that President and the message that he bore that ’s really , I cerebrate , so especial .
So I kind of wanted to touch on your mention of the appointment night aspect of it and how you wanted to tap into his being a husband . Much like with Tobias , I love the rapport and dynamic that you have with Lili throughout this show . What was it like finding that chemistry and that human relationship of Abe and Mary Todd together ?
Hamish Linklater : Well , Lili and I did a movie together , I guess probably 20 years ago , called Live from Baghdad , and we were sort of embed journalists in Baghdad before Gulf War 1 in the Middle East . That ’s basically the sort of role player workplace we need to do to construct the relationship of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd . We had a account , we have a friendly relationship , and she ’s just the most wonderful human . So , it was really lucky that we had — I consider she would cerebrate that as well — that history to bring to the character , because certainly we wanted to . And Monica Beletsky ’s creed was , " This is a real marriage in a meter of interior crisis . But these are people who do it each other . " And that ’s the story we wanted to tell .
Karen Butler , UPI : You mention a little routine about the makeup , but I was wondering about the dress and the sets and everything , how they help you do your work , just immersing yourself in that world ?
Hamish Linklater : Oh , everything was so improbably authentic . From the discomfort of the boots , to the texture of the wallpaper . There was no sort of distraction . The only distraction was how thoroughgoing the reality was that you were step into every day on set , and then that go away , thank goodness , and you ’re like , " Oh , I do n’t need to utilise any substitutions or sense storage or imagination at all . It ’s all here . " So , they ’re just such phenomenal creative person , in every face and inch of the production .
Jamie Stalcup , World Screen / TV Drama : This is manifestly over 150 years ago , the cadence and diction of the way of life people speak was ever so somewhat different . Did that agent into how you delivered your short letter ? And was that something you needed to learn or sour at ?
Hamish Linklater : Yeah , I had a beautiful spokesperson and diction coach , Luis Kalyani , who I think he had antecedently done to FDRs , he was just great . He retrieve this wonderful tape of a guy from Kentucky that I would just heed to over and over again , and tilt into . Because I think we figured — you know , it ’s a little second of guesswork , you go off what the coeval authorship is about how he talked . But it does seem like , especially behind closed in doors , he would lean into some of those Kentucky folksy roots . So , that ’s what we last for . And then the ease of it ’s just in the writing . And Monica ’s writing , she builds in the cadence , and you lean into that and try not to throw in extra commas or take out too many commas .
So , you are clearly very emotionally invested in this story and these characters . What we see of him in the show , Lincoln goes through as many highs as he does low , and I ’m odd if there was any one scene in finical which you find the most rewarding or the most ambitious to help bring to life ?
Hamish Linklater : Yeah , the first scene in the series when they get the telegraphy that Lee has surrendered was really amazingly emotional , just because all those wonderful background artists in Savannah who had number there , and they ’re all in their face fungus , it ’s a hot solar day on a hot set , attractively rendered . But you could just feel everyone hold their intimation , you could hear the needle dropping , and the jubilation that this great national nightmare had come to a close . Or , so they thought , and so we think , but that consequence was just a moment of no playacting required , because the whole room was just leaning in with all these fantastic citizen artist , carrying all this history . It was screwball !
AboutManhunt
establish on the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award - come through nonfiction book from writer James L. Swanson , “ Manhunt ” is a conspiracy thriller about one of the best get it on but least translate crime in history , the astonishing floor of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln ’s character assassination .
Check out our otherManhuntinterview with God Almighty / showrunner Monica Beletsky .
Manhunt begins stream on Apple TV+ on Friday , March 15 .
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Cast
Mahunt is an AppleTV+ miniskirt - serial publication focalize on the Holman Hunt for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinates Abraham Lincoln . Anthony Boyle stars as John Wilkes Booth alongside Tobias Menzies , Lovie Simone , and Will Harrison in the serial publication created by Monica Beletsky .
