Interview: Phil Dunster is Back to Talk ‘Rooster’ and New Acting Challenges

I always enjoy talking to Phil Dunster whenever the opportunity arises. He’s the type of actor who’s both very cerebral about his craft while also being incredibly easy to talk to. The previous two times (here and here), it was for Ted Lasso, the show he was one of the major breakout stars from. His portray of Jamie Tartt was among the reasons why the program became the hit that it was. This time, it’s for Rooster, his new collaboration with Bill Lawrence, which is also looking like a real success story. I recently spoke to Rooster co-star John C. McGinley (here) about the show, as well as his return to Scrubs, which is also one of Lawrence’s myriad hits. Today, Dunster is back and it’s his turn to talk Rooster.

Below, you can hear my chat with Dunster. While the Ted Lasso discussion often focused in on how his character evolved from childish and selfish into a humbled team player. With Rooster, he’s playing Archie, ostensibly the villain of the piece, though that’s a gross oversimplification. Instead, what he’s doing is finding ways to invest us in a character who seems like he could be beyond redemption. Dunster makes you believe that anyone can be redeemed, and even if Archie can’t, he makes the role one you can’t imagine anyone else playing. He’s still at the top of his game and it was a pleasure to talk to him about it. We ultimately didn’t post the video here since both of our pets (my dog, his cat) were roaming around and distracting us, but you can hear all about it. The first season of Rooster is streaming on HBO Max now and is well worth checking out.

Here now is my interview with Rooster co-star Phil Dunster. Enjoy:

Rooster is available to watch on HBO Max!