‘Homecoming’ actor Shea Whigham opens up about landing a pivotal role in Amazon Prime’s hottest new series
Actor Shea Whigham couldn’t be more proud of the work he did on his latest project, Amazon Prime’s ‘Homecoming’. The new series follows a caseworker named Heidi (played by Julia Roberts) who works at a facility called Homecoming, which helps soldiers transition back to civilian life. Years later after she has started a new life, the department of defense comes knocking, questioning her as to why she left Homecoming and what really happened behind closed doors. Whigham plays the instrumental role of Thomas Carrasco, a bureaucrat from the Department of Defense who is investigating both Heidi and the Homecoming facility.
Meaww got to speak with Wingham, who spoke on his newest role and how it differs from the other roles he typically gets cast in, like the villainous Eli Thompson in ‘Boardwalk Empire’. However after getting the call from ‘Mr. Robot’ creator Sam Esmail about his new project ‘Homecoming’, he knew it was something that he had to do. “I’m not sure if people would necessarily see me in this character, especially if they have watched the seasons of ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and my season of ‘True Detective’. But Sam had a lot of faith in me to bring Carrasco to life. When I got the call from Sam I said yes immediately. Sam reminds me of an early Stanley Kubrick or an early Brian De Palma. He is just working on a different level and that was exciting.”
Carrasco is a character that starts off with the best intentions, merely doing his job. However, as the season progresses, he gets in over his head and in many ways, becomes the second central voice of the series besides Heidi’s. Whigham expanded on this, speaking on how he and Esmail worked to make sure his character was portrayed correctly. "Carrasco is a normal guy working at the Department of Defense office of the Inspector General, he gives a thumbs up or a thumbs down to complaints. With this one, he starts to follow the breadcrumbs and it starts off simple enough. He is not a sleuth, he is not a private investigator so he gets in over his head pretty quickly. But he is a guy who wants to do the right thing and those are things you can play. You have to be very careful because Carrasco can become a caricature very quickly. There was a razor-thin line that Sam and I were walking on with him. Just making sure that he was a living, breathing human being trying to do the right thing.”
One of the many fascinating aspects of ‘Homecoming’ is that it appeals to many demographics and also touches on a variety of hot topics. Having already been picked up for a second season, ‘Homecoming’ is sure to grab the hearts and minds of a lot of different people. Whigham spoke further on this, elaborating on the different aspects of the series that will attract different audiences.
“I think a lot of people will like it, it really has the potential to be huge. It starts off with a great story, a great director and also has one of the biggest movie stars in the world who has decided to come to TV because she wants to. There is also a thriller aspect to it and great acting, but the most interesting thing is that it is a drama told in 30 minutes. You will pop these things off and want to get to the next one. The potential is endless for this show but you have to make a great product to get into the zeitgeist of viewer watching.”
After watching ‘Homecoming’ it’s clear that Whigham is right, ‘Homecoming’ is the zeitgeist of viewer watching. All episodes of ‘Homecoming’ season one will be released on Amazon Prime on November 2nd.
