EXCLUSIVE | ‘Billions’ actor Kelly AuCoin teases Dollar Bill getting close to someone other than Bobby Axelrod
Dollar Bill, what does “the cheapest millionaire” in America have to say? ‘Billions’ is back with a bang, and that question is ringing in most of our heads as the tug-of-war for power and position begins.
Family man, Sunday school teacher, volunteer fireman, “cheap” and a former shoe salesman — that's how Dollar Bill is introduced to the show. A trader at Axe Capital, he has two kids with a mistress in Seattle but he still has the time to bribe farmers and manipulate the market. When blackmailed, he clicks on a button without a flinch on his face and says, “I just wrote the whole story to my wife and I sent it.” He blows up his family for Bobby Axelrod. That's how loyal he is.
One of the best scenes in the show perhaps is when he “pretends to have an argument” with Bobby and at the end of it, the two say to each other, “I love you like a brother,” “I fucking love you too man.” Kelly AuCoin, who plays the character of Bill Stearn in the Showtime series, brings the much-needed comic relief with his unpredictable moves. In an exclusive tell-all interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), the actor reveals how the ever-changing game could take a turn this time around.
Excerpts:
You play Dollar Bill on ‘Billions’, who is incredibly loyal to Bobby Axelrod. What is the one thing that connects you to the character to bring it alive on screen? Are you like the character at all in real life or are you totally different?
I like to think that I'm loyal to my friends and my family. Probably not to the extent that I would eradicate the poultry population of the United States in order to help them
financially. And, I probably wouldn't ram a car, destroy someone's car with my own, for many reasons. It would probably take a lot for me to smash someone else's car. But, I do like to think that I'm a loyal person.
But I will tell you I know less about finance and the stock market than probably anyone reading or listening to this right now. So we're very different in that way. What connects me to the character? The characters created by Brian [Koppelman] and David [Levien] and Adam Perlman and the rest of the wonderful writers over the years are so specifically drawn that every clue you really need to create these characters and to bring them to life is in the dialogue. Obviously, it takes an actor's imagination to flesh them out as well. But what is great about the writing is that there are so many lines, descriptions, and actions in the script that spur your imagination and make for fun shoot days.
And despite being so different the way you bring it alive on screen, it's just unbelievable.
Well, my wife tells me I better not bring any Dollar Bill home otherwise I'm out. So, I'm trying really hard not to. Because I really like being married to her.
Your character has been quite loyal to Bobby. Would your loyalties change this season? What can you reveal to us about your character's path this season?
Last season, you saw, Dollar Bill's super macho confidence getting shaken periodically. I think that provided an interesting new wrinkle and nuance to his character. And to whatever extent those types of things might spillover, it'll be interesting to see how he handles that.
I can't obviously give any spoilers. I think it would take a nuclear blast level event for his loyalty to Bobby Axelrod to be shaken. That's all I'm gonna say. I think Dollar Bill is often been described as amoral and I think that may be true, but I would say that what passes for morality for Bill would be loyalty to Bobby.
I think he has his own definition of loyalty.
I think that's probably true. I mean, ask his two wives, huh?
Apart from Bobby, which character is going to be incredibly close to your character this season?
Oh, I don't think if I can really talk about that. I mean, you know, Dollar Bill is a creature of Axe Capital. He spends most of his time or has traditionally spent most of his time at Axe. So I think that I think you're going to see him... (trails off). I don't know what else I can say without giving some hints because the surprises are part of the fun.
Last season's ending was widely discussed. As Season 5 begins, how will it shape up and what will make Dollar Bill different this time?
Beginning with the ‘Chickentown’ episode last season, you saw Bill screw up. And we hadn't seen that up until that point. Then you saw him lose out in a sort of competition with Bonnie Barella (Sarah Stiles). She outplayed him. So, there were two major episodes that sort of shook him a little bit. He's not used to not being the top dog or having his alpha super, super confidence shaken. So, I think, to whatever extent, we saw that happened in Season 4, it'll just be interesting to see if there's any spillover because he fancies himself as the alpha male. And yes, it's always interesting when you see douchebags like that getting their confidence shaken a little bit.
What is the one thing that will fascinate fans in Season 5?
As always, fans should look for the incredible dialogues and shifting rivalries. I think, wherever you think the show will go ahead, it's not quite in that direction. Every time I think I'm ahead of the show or that I can predict what the next episode is going to bring, I'm wrong. The story that the showrunners and the writers come up with is 10 times better than anything I could have predicted, which makes it fun year after year, season after season, and episode after episode.
How has it been working with the cast of ‘Billions’, especially Damian Lewis?
Working with Damian (Lewis), Paul (Giamatti) and Maggie (Siff) is a delight. But Damian was the one I worked with the most, of those three. Damien is a great leader on set and he's a great ensemble member at the same time, and that's a neat trick. It's not always the case that you can have someone who fits in so easily and can also set the tone at the same time. He does that seamlessly and is a joy to work with. If it's just the two of us, we know it's going to be something weird. You know, either we're going to have a fake fight where we're yelling, or, I'm going to take my pants off in the street, because I think he's accusing me of wearing a wire, or it's always something wonderfully weird that we get to do when we work together. So we have a good time.
As an actor, he can completely drive a scene by delivering one of the great monologues you'll ever see. Or by just listening ferociously to what your character is saying that it brings more out of you. Great acting is seizing the moment, but it is also listening. We were planning on having a watch party together. But of course, that's, oh, that's hard to do in this day and age, but maybe before the season's out, we can.
‘Billions’ premieres on Showtime at 9 pm ET on Sundays, and is available on the Showtime app at 12 am ET.