‘Manhunt’s Patton Oswalt Wants to Keep Doing it All But Especially Direct

The Big Picture

• In the Apple TV+ limited series ‘Manhunt,’ viewers will learn about the details and layers of the untold chaos behind Lincoln’s assassination.
• Human behavior in pivotal historical moments, like the Lincoln assassination, can be self-serving.
• ‘Manhunt’ offers a unique perspective on history, revealing modern parallels and cycles.

The Apple TV+ seven-part limited series Manhunt explores the aftermath of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Hamish Linklater) and the hunt to find John Wilkes Booth (Anthony Boyle). Told through the eyes of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies), a little-known figure in American history, the story unfolds as a personal and political tale of what can happen when people feel threatened by change. One of the things that’s so interesting about this series is that, even though you think you know the story of this famous presidential assassination, you’ll discover that there were so many layers that you hadn’t realized, from the conspiracy that set things in motion, to the cat-and-mouse game to capture Booth, to the Black American woman that played an important role in the trial that brought it all to light.

As Detective Lafayette Baker, an investigator and spy who served under the Lincoln and Johnson administrations during the 1860s, Patton Oswalt was able to take some liberties with the little-known historical figure. Without any existing recordings to study, the actor used what he read to create his voice and mannerisms and decide how he might interact with others in any given situation. During this interview with Collider, Oswalt talked about telling a compelling story even when you know how it will end, loving the tiny character elements within the giant historical moment of Lincoln’s assassination, that Baker seemed to be someone who was motivated by money, maintaining positivity when society constantly tries to test that, how easy it is to see the modern parallels in this story, and his desire to direct.

‘Manhunt’ Will Keep You On the Edge Of Your Seat, Even Though You Know How It Ends

Collider: I found it so interesting to be so compelled by a story where we already know the outcome. That really says something about the quality of the writing, the caliber of the acting, and the way it all comes together. What was the thing that most appealed to you and made you want to be a part of this?

PATTON OSWALT: That’s a really good way to put it, the way you just described it. It is a story where we know the outcome, but there’s really good writing in this. It’s like The Day of the Jackal or All the President’s Men. I know how it ends, but it’s so compelling that I’m on the edge of my seat. We all know how the story ends, but all we’ve ever known are the bare bones of it, or at least that’s what we’re taught. Lincoln is shot, a dude jumps on the stage and yells “Sic semper tyrannis,” and then he runs away, gets pursued, and gets killed. That’s what happened. You don’t realize the chaos that led up to it or the massiveness of the plot. Lincoln was just one small part of a huge operation. And then, the chaos and the absolute terror of the aftermath of, “We’re gonna lose this country and this union, at any second, if he makes it to the South.” It’s a ticking bomb movie. If he makes it to Richmond, he can restart the Civil War. That’s insane.

When you’re looking at a project like this, is it that bigger historical picture that you find interesting, or is it the tinier character elements of it?

OSWALT: I love the tiny character elements that are within this giant historical moment. This is a hinge moment in history, but you have people like my character that are also just as focused on the reward money and the fame and how this advances their career. You realize that in all the crucial moments in American history and world history, there were people thinking in terms of, how am I gonna look in the story about this? How am I gonna look in the movie? There’s always that element to it, and that’s endlessly fascinating. It’s human behavior.

How did you approach this guy? Did you want to figure out who you thought he really was? He seems like somebody who really could have gone either way with anything at any time, depending on how it might have benefited him.

OSWALT: Depending on who’s giving him money. But the reward was so high, no one was gonna match that, so we had this very skilled scumbag on our the side of the angels because the angels were putting up some good bucks. Yes, it could have gone another way, but Lafayette Baker’s involvement was secured because of the money involved. I thought it was a great touchpoint to have. That is such a human, recognizable impulse. We’re all guilty of doing something for personal gain, even though outwardly it looks like, “Oh, I’m doing this for the altruism of it all.” And appearing as if you’re doing it for the altruism of it all is also a form of personal gain. That’s the hat trick. Make everyone think you’re doing it for the good of mankind, and you’re also making a big payday. So many people are susceptible to that.

How much fun is it to have the uniform, the beard, the sets, and the environment all going on?

OSWALT: It’s not fun at all. Not for me. I’m sorry, but that was a big, heavy stick-on beard and thick clothing in August in Savannah, Georgia. That was not fun. Anyone who says they had fun in those costumes is lying to you. That was brutal. There was a lot of being outdoors.

A rich man in power threatening to kill someone because they know they can get away with it feels very familiar, no matter the time in history.

OSWALT: There are a lot of parallels that I will let the viewer discover. I can guarantee that they won’t be hard to spot. We have been here before, and it’s clear we’re gonna be here again.

‘Manhunt’s Patton Oswalt Sees Historical Cycles As Another Chance To Get Things Right

When you’re a part of telling a story like this, does it feel very unsettling to know that we just seem to keep reliving these cycles and it’s literally the same cycles?

OSWALT: My theory on historical cycles is that it’s another chance for us to get it right. That’s why there’s such a concerted effort not to teach kids history. They don’t want them to get it right in the future. One of the ways you keep the status quo is to make people think everything is happening for the very first time, and it’s unprecedented, and we have to overreact to it rather than going, “No, this is part of our nature, and if we choose to, we can stop this cycle.”

That’s a very positive way to look at it. Is it ever difficult to maintain that positivity?

OSWALT: All the time. It’s difficult every single day, but you have to. It’s not so much maintaining positivity, as it is maintaining the impulse to show up and try to fix things. That’s a hard thing to do, but you’ve gotta do it.

Patton Oswalt Was Able To Create His ‘Manhunt’ Character From Whole Cloth

When an actor plays a figure like Abraham Lincoln, I would imagine you want to do as much research and prep as possible because there is all the stuff that comes along with it. But with a character like Lafayette Baker, how much did you really want to dig into who he was or what he might have been like?

OSWALT: I was very lucky, in that there are no audio recordings of Lafayette Baker and no film of him, so I was allowed to create his voice and his mannerisms from whole cloth, based on what I read about him. So, based on his character and his actions and what’s in the historical record, I surmised, this is probably how he would interact with other people, this is how he’d get angry, and this is how he’d be happy. I hope I did that scoundrel justice. You have less of a window for criticism because people can’t go, “Well, that’s not how Lafayette Baker was.” I don’t think anyone’s ever played Lafayette Baker. I think I might be the first guy, so I got to set it.

There are a lot of layers to this story and the way that it’s told from the assassination to the manhunt to the courtroom drama of it all. What was it like to sit in the courtroom and be a part of those moments?

OSWALT: The courtroom stuff was amazing, especially because you have parallels where there were moments, without it being spoken, where it felt like, “If we convict this person, is it gonna cause riots and bloodshed? Is it better to let them go?” They have the power of terror and violence on their side, in a weird way. That, to me, was particularly amazing.

There’s even the parallel of convicting some people but not others because one of them is a rich, powerful guy, so he doesn’t have to face the same punishment.

OSWALT: That has been the way of the world since we crawled out of the ocean.

Acting is a profession where you can grow up watching and loving actors, and then you could become an actor and find yourself sharing scenes with those same actors that you used to watch. What is one of those moments that stands out for you? Who did you watch and were a fan of, and then later found yourself sharing a scene with?

OSWALT: Oh, boy. The scene got cut out, but I did a scene in the movie As Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson, and that was a big deal. That was like, “Oh, my God!” And I’ve gotten to do scenes with Alfred Molina, who I’ve always been a fan of. I think he’s an amazing actor. And I’ve gotten to meet people that I really love, like Paul Giamatti. And I got to work with Charlize Theron, who I always thought was an amazing actress. There are moments like that, but I can’t really pick a specific one out because I’m still such a fan of watching movies. I get just as thrilled watching people do amazing jobs in movies as I get from meeting them.

Patton Oswalt Wants To Set His Sights on Directing

You do stand-up, you do film and TV, you voice animated characters, you’re going to be hosting a game show, you do comics, podcasts and animal documentaries, and you’re an author. Is there an area that you feel like you haven’t gotten to try out or play in, or do you just want to do more of everything?

OSWALT: I wanna direct. That’s the next area. I also wanna keep doing more of what I’m doing.

What did you learn from the experience that you had directing yourself for a comedy special?

OSWALT: The thing that was really reassuring was that directing is a team effort, and it’s just as much about gathering the people around you who really know what they’re doing and can translate your visionary gobbledygook into reality, and who can execute whatever you conceive. That was really reassuring for me. It’s not all on my back.

Is there one director you worked with that really started that spark for you?

OSWALT: It wasn’t a director I worked with. It was movies that I watched growing up. And then, I got really into movies and started studying directors like Michael Powell and Martin Scorsese, and even newer directors like Chloé Zhao, and the Safdie brothers and the Coen brothers were big ones for me. They just really capture something on film, and you’re like, “Oh, God, I wanna do that.” I think Danny Boyle is not given enough credit. He’s well-loved, but I think he just consistently does extraordinary stuff and it always blows me away. [Quentin] Tarantino, too. Tarantino was so successful that some people almost wrote him off. It’s hard to maintain that level of excitement for your projects, over and over and over again. That’s because he’s completely committed to whatever his vision is, unapologetically.

You were also in the Ghostbusters sequel, Frozen Empire. What was the best part about that experience?

OSWALT: My favorite thing was just getting to hang out with Dan Aykroyd and hear him tell stories. The life that dude has lived is pretty extraordinary, and getting to hear him recount it was just fantastic.

How did you come to be hosting the game show, The 1% Club? Did you have a dream of hosting a game show?

OSWALT: They offered it to me and it sounded fun. You don’t realize how many game shows you watch growing up, and there is a grammar and rhythm to it and a music to it. I guess I subconsciously picked it up.

Manhunt is available to stream on Apple TV+. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Apple TV+