Actor PJ Sosko transforms into journalist Hunter S. Thompson in the first season of the new MAX original political dramedy series, The Girls On The Bus.
The show hits the road of a political campaign alongside four female journalists all covering the presidential candidates for different outlets and contrasting perspectives. The women discover a friendship as they try to create a name for themselves along the rowdy road to the White House. The central story centers around Sadie McCarthy (Melissa Benoist), an idealist who dreams of a bygone era that includes regular visits from her ghostly conscience, Hunter S. Thompson.
We spoke to PJ to find out more about his role on the show.
Hunter S Thompson is a huge figure in the recent history of American culture. How did you prepare for this role?
PJ: Well, obviously, he’s got such an expansive body of work, you dive into all his literary leanings first and foremost to see how his mind works, what rhythms he establishes in his writing. You also allow yourself to go down the rabbit holes on the interwebs with Hunter as the topic, which allows you to chase down videos, so you can start to work on his vocal patterns and physicality — but it’s tricky. Johnny Depp is so associated with him through his performance in ‘Fear & Loathing’ and his connection to him as a man and artist. You start to discover that a lot of pieces about him have Johnny doing the voiceover for the doc, or several clips from his performance in the film, or him hanging out with Hunter. You have to be careful that you’re not doing his version of Hunter. You need to find your own path into Hunter and what truths you connect to.
So, I really focused on finding lesser-known stuff. Luckily, with this piece, I could focus on a specific part of his life, which is when he was working on Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail, which is the book that Sadie connects with…so that was the launching pad for my version of Hunter. A real lynchpin into his energy, physicality, and vocal pattern for me, was this great interview he did with David Letterman for his show, but the whole production was in a random hotel room. If you’ve never seen it — Google it…it’s awesome.
What was the biggest challenge about playing such an iconic figure?
PJ: He’s so beloved by so many people, such an inspiration for writers and a huge contributor to the cultural zeitgeist with big shoes to fill, but you can’t take any of that on. Throughout my career, there’s been parts that I’ve gotten where the character is so intrinsically unique that there’s only one guy out there that can play them. Weirdly, those are kind of the parts that I have gotten to play over the years, and this is another one. I had no previous connection to Hunter S Thompson before getting this. But now that I’ve worked on him, he fits quite nicely under my skin in really cool ways, which lets me use many unique parts of myself and my energy to bring life to him.
What did you most enjoy about working on The Girls on The Bus?
PJ: This is the first time that I’ve been able to develop a character over the course of a season. I’ve had the good fortune to have a character that I thought would just be a one-shot deal get written back into series before, so that they become recurring. But this is the first time I was going into something knowing that I would have a good six to seven months to keep working on this guy. I am definitely an artist who enjoys putting the work in. Many directors over my career have said “You can stop now…you’re enough.” So, this role kind of allowed me to be obsessive about doing my best work and tinkering with all the different aspects of him.
He’s also, delightfully, the magical realism of the show. I love bringing that kind of twinkle in the eye to that kind of part. Where you don’t necessarily have the rules that all the other characters are playing under. Working on this kind of project also gave me the time to jump away from production and shoot other projects in small windows of availability throughout the series. There’s nothing like having all your gears humming creatively and in the midst of working on one thing, being able to switch gears and take all that specificity and creativity and bring it to another project and another role. And because you’ve done the work on the first guy, you’re able to step back into the shoes of the character you left just as succinctly. It’s pretty dope.
Thompson isn’t the first historical figure you’ve played, including Hemingway and Eugene W. Smith. If you could play any other historical figure, who would it be and why?
PJ: Good question. All these guys are struggling with what is truly Art. And what a great question to ponder! I never know what’s gonna come my way, so it’s hard to pull a name out of a hat. But a while ago, a fellow collaborator of mine thought I’d have a really good take on Johnny Carson. That’s always lingered in the back of my head that that his tale that hasn’t been told yet. The behind the scenes of how he got to where he ended up. We all know about the late night wars, but how he got there might be an interesting screenplay or series, and worthwhile to wrap my head around someday.
You have a role in Fancy Dance, which also stars Lily Gladstone. What can you tell us about that experience?
PJ: I’m just a small part in that story, but it was a great set and I feel like it was kinda meant to be. I weirdly had two cracks at ‘Killers,” but because of scheduling on another project I couldn’t make it work, which is obviously a huge bummer. Seriously, when in your career would you ever envision saying ‘no’ to Martin Scorsese — twice?!?! Careers work in weird ways. But what was really cool about the experience was that there was no sense of “Oh, I’m working with Lily Gladstone, who just worked with Martin Scorsese and is clearly going to be nominated for an Academy Award.” We were all just doing our jobs with no airs, being as authentic as we could be on this set to tell this uniquely important story, connecting with each other as actors and storytellers, nothing required like listing your resume to feel part of the team. But lots of stakes in the scene, a gun on set, and a really heightened important part of the story that’s going to push things in a certain direction. And I think we all handled it all with the care and precision needed. I haven’t seen the results yet, but I can’t wait to catch it on Apple when it premieres in June.
You’ve got a fascinating CV, including voice and motion capture work for some of the biggest games of recent years. What were your standout experiences working on games like GTA and Red Dead Redemption?
PJ: Well, it’s really cool to have a long-standing relationship with one of the best makers of video games in the industry. I’m always surprised when I get on the shot and people are kind of blown away at the fact that I’m the voice of characters in video games that I’m so far removed from having done. I was very honored to be invited to do not just a voice, but the mo-cap from my character in Red Dead Redemption 2. That was a truly unique experience where I realized, once again, how important the power of imagination is…because it’s fun to run around and play cops and robbers with a leotard and a bunch of balls all over you in a cowboy hat and cowboy shoes. But the time will come where you will have a death scene and you have to act past the fact that you’re doing a scene with a bunch of guys in leotards, and you have to go for broke when it comes time to pull that switch you better be able to pull it.
What’s next for you?
PJ: There’s this dope post-apocalyptic feature called Cured, that I am the lead in with an old buddy of mine, Steven Ogg. I also helped produce the project and it’s been gestating for a long time in post-production and is nearing completion. It’s been a true labor of love. I’ve also got my first self-directed short, Stuck in Muskogee, and a bunch of other projects I’m starring in about to hit the festival circuit. I’m really excited to get them all out there in front of audiences around the country. I just got done with four other projects back-to-back, working with some great folks like Jackie Earle Haley, Theo Epstein, Neal McDonough, Mykelti Williamson, and Mo Najjar. So, I’m kind of refilling the tank and focusing on the husbanding and daddying part of my life, until the world conspires to throw the next cool thing my way.
For more about PJ SOSKO visit: pjsosko.com