Danielle Deadwyler on Playing the Goofball With Steve Carell
[This story contains spoilers from Rooster’s sixth episode, “Cop Hawk.”] Years ago, well before Danielle Deadwyler emerged as a dramatic powerhouse on the big screen with lauded roles in Till and The Piano Lesson, she described herself to me as a “goofball.” The descriptor should track for anyone who’s spent time with the Atlanta native personally, and — at least until recently — may seem hard to believe to outside observers. That’s because Deadwyler has proven her knack for summoning visceral, harrowingly realistic emotion in stories of painful resonance, work which has led to a bevy of critics’ awards, Indie Spirit and BAFTA nominations — and a good deal of outcry over Oscar snubs. And the way this industry works, when you get good at one thing, it can be hard to even get the chance to use the rest of your tools. Deadwyler is at last seeing that change for herself with Rooster, HBO’s amiable new half-hour toplined by Steve Carell. Deadwyler gives a wonderfully grounded comic performance as Dylan Shepard, a poet and …
