In Rooster, Greg (Steve Carell) reluctantly accepts a job as a guest lecturer at the university where his daughter Katie (Charly Clive) teaches as a way to spend more time with her as she’s going through a rough patch. As she’s transitioning to a new role of her own, Dylan (Danielle Deadwyler) helps him acclimate to being on the faculty, while Dean Walter Mann (John C. McGinley) is more than happy to throw him to the wolves, certain he’ll find a way to succeed.
Awards Buzz spoke with McGinley about how it came to be that he reteamed with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence for another project:
“Bill Lawrence came over to my house after spending the summer two houses down in Los Angeles. He rented a house, and Zachy was staying at his house as well. I put them through three months of being in the hot house and the cold plunge, and Billy really took to those protocols. Cut to a couple of months later, it must have been October, Bill said, ‘Can I come out to your house and can we do a few sessions?’ And I said, ‘of course.’ And he came out and, at that time, in the middle of the session and after we exchanged pleasantries, he said ‘Could I steal your life?’ Of course, as you can imagine, I was on my heels. I was flattered, but I didn’t know what exactly where this was going. And where it was going was this Steve Carell half-hour show for HBO. So I only tell you that story because the connective tissue between Dr. Cox and Walt Mann is Bill Lawrence. In other words, this was such a backwards way of approaching a character, because Billy created this character named Walt Mann who was playing John C. McGinley. Most of us actors who trade on inadequacy and insecurity and fear, I had to share that with Bill, whereas Dr. Cox gets to hide behind all these artifices and there’s no small amount of safety in that. Walt Mann playing John C. McGinley is a very slippery slope and something I had to surrender to Bill. And I did. I get that they’re in the same vessel but it sure feels like two different journeys.”
Watch the video above to hear about McGinley’s experience working with the ensemble and what he’s been watching lately.
New episodes of Rooster premiere Sundays at 10pm on HBO through the season finale on May 10th.
