In Rooster, Archie (Phil Dunster) is stuck between two women as he navigates his very public affair with grad student Sunny (Lauren Tsai), which has resulted in her getting pregnant, and his feeling very torn between a new and unknown life with Sunny and coming back to something comfortable but also problematic with his wife and colleague Katie (Charly Clive).
Awards Buzz spoke with Dunster and requested a defense of Archie as a good person:
“Archie is exceptional. He is extraordinarily talented. He is an incredible showman. He’s a fantastic orator, someone who I think, like him or loathe him, is quite irresistible when he’s given a plinth, given a platform to speak upon because he fucking cares about what it is he’s talking about. He loves what he talks about. He also loves hearing himself talk about it. He has huge amounts of charisma, whether, again, that’s charming or not, he is somebody who, I think he’s one of those people that you would you would never go, Archie Bates? I don’t remember that guy. You’d always remember him. Like him or loathe him, he’s an extraordinarily impactful person, and I think that there’s plenty to be said and I’m sure will be said and can be seen of him and his abhorrent behavior, but that’s what makes him really exciting to play, and I think hopefully interesting at least to watch. Bill and Matt and the brilliant writers have created a character who you are drawn in like a moth to a flame that in the way that Katie and Sunny both are, particularly Katie who knows better. Hopefully there’s a testament to the irresistible nature of Archie that even her, who’s super smart, can’t quite draw herself away. Did that work?”
Watch the video above to hear about working with his costars and how this character might get along with someone he played in another Bill Lawrence show, Jamie Tartt on Ted Lasso.
Season one of Rooster is streaming on HBO Max.
