What’s up with Abe? He’s experiencing a midlife crisis. That’s how I see it and how I frame it. I think all the big changes that happened with Midge—starting from the pilot, all the upheaval in her life—had a ripple effect. For Abe, it has to do with trying to recapture something from his youth that he feels he lost. Does his crisis make him more understanding of Midge’s choice to pursue comedy? I don’t think he’s approving of it yet, because it’s still show business and not something that he ever envisioned for a child of his. On the other hand, he’s starting to see that the whole culture is shifting. His mind is starting to open to the fact that Midge is becoming an independent thinker and an iconoclast in that period. In the last episode of season three of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, your character, Abe, ran out the door to an interview to be the theater critic for The Village Voice. Will getting the job help him recapture his youth? I think it really does. His career path had been academia; he was part of the faculty of Columbia and then he got the job at Bell Labs. This is a little bit more of a freelance kind of life that he’s entering. He gets a chance to reinvent his life, his wardrobe, the length of his hair and all of that. I think it’s liberating for him. And challenging too, because he’s a little bit of a fish out of water. There is a scene in episode one of the new season where he gets tomatoes thrown at him for something he wrote. It was funny because he was happy about it and he is normally so fastidious. Yes, I love that. You think that his ego is going to be bruised and then, all of a sudden, he turns it into a badge of honor. He’s going to be this subversive writer in New York City, and that is exciting for him. They need to get beat up a little bit. What do you love about the fact that Mrs. Maisel is set in the ’60s? I was an adolescent and in my early middle school years in the ’60s, but I also was the second youngest of 10 children, so I really watched my older siblings and how that decade impacted their lives and the things that were brought into our sphere—the music, the fashion, the films, the books. So I think I had a little bit of a window into what was happening and what was coming. In the middle ’60s, my older brother was in Vietnam, so we were definitely exposed to a lot of that and the changes. It’s great to be revisiting that whole period, especially playing a parent. I remember how both my parents had to make adjustments and roll with what was coming down the pike. You were so fabulous in Monk. What is your takeaway from that show? I think the most impactful part of it was that I was a producer on the show and so there were certain other tasks other than just acting in the episodes that I took on, or that they allowed me to take on, I should say. I was in the editing room a lot and I was involved in guest casting and in continual conversations with the writers and the network about the tone of the show and the trajectory, how we wanted to move it along. And so that was an enormous learning experience. Prior to that I’d done some television stuff and I’d done some film stuff, but I was always just an actor for hire. So there’s only so much input you can have in that role. This was a bit of a game changer for me and a real education. Not to mention that I was blessed with great actors to work with, writers to take care of me and a network who really, really nurtured the show, especially in the early years when you really need them to support and give it a toehold. Monk was a character who really tried to control everything. In life do you try to control things, since your job doesn’t let you? If you would ask my wife [actress BrookeAdams] that question, she would say yes, I am just a hopeless control freak. As a parent, that’s an exercise in futility; as an actor, certainly there’s only so much you can do. I try to keep a lid on it. It’s just part of who I am, I suppose. You revealed that you and Brooke had contracted COVID-19. Are you all good now? Yes, fortunately I didn’t have the long-hauler issues. Although Brooke did. She struggled with some stomach stuff for months after we were through it. But she’s great now. You revisited your Monk character to do a COVID PSA. Any chance of Monk being rebooted for a new series or a movie? There are conversations going on about the possibility of revisiting it in terms of a TV movie. It would be so interesting to see that character all these 12 or 13 years later, and also given the fact that COVID has taken over. Broadway’s open again. It’s been good to you; you’re a Tony winner. Any thoughts about getting back onstage? Sure, all the time. It’s just all about schedule; it’s about when I become available. Especially with Broadway, there’s a bit of a time commitment. You can’t just breeze in and out in a month or two. I’m always on the lookout for another play to do. It’s where you began. Definitely. It’s where I began and spent the first 10 years of my career. Because you and Stanley Tucci did Big Night together, do people ever confuse the two of you with each other? No, but often people say, “I loved you on Seinfeld.” I’m trying to think, Wait a minute, I don’t look like JasonAlexander, and MichaelRichards is probably a foot taller than I am. I think really who they’re referring to maybe is the guy who played the Soup Nazi [LarryThomas]. You and Stanley are friends. He just did a food show, Searching for Italy. Did he give you any cooking tips? I’m actually not a bad cook. I’m certainly not Stanley Tucci in the kitchen, but especially during COVID when everyone was eating at home and cooking at home, and I love to cook when I have the time. I don’t like to do it when I’m rushed and under stress and all that. When I can really do it in a leisurely way, I love it. I think I’ve gotten pretty good, actually. Are you looking for that next big role? What is there still that you want to achieve in your career? I feel like my career is just starting. I hope it continues because I love it. I hope my good fortune continues and that I continue to be cast and that ageism doesn’t enter into it. There are so many dragons to slay still, I feel. I think Maisel’s been a great opportunity, and the best part of it, I think, is for a long time I was recognized most for Monk. I was very proud of what we did with that show, of course. But it’s nice when one role kind of unravels the image of the role that came before. Part of the reason that I gravitated to this work, is that you never really know what’s around the next corner, or if anything’s around the corner. It’s terrifying on the one hand, but it’s exciting. There’s a lot of anything is possible or nothing is possible. So you like surprises? I don’t mind the unknown. If I did fear it at one time in my life earlier on, I’ve gotten over it and I’ve learned to embrace the unknown. Next, 45 Fascinating Facts About The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
