You might wonder how or why anyone might look to New York’s disaster of a mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner for inspiration. After all, he’s the only known congressman to ever send an image of his ding dog to women who were not his wife.
But when you’re an actor on ABC’s “Scandal” and you’re asked to play a congressman and stand before a crowd and admit your sins, astonishingly, Weiner kinda comes in handy.
How would he do it? What was he thinking? How would that look behaviorally?
These were the burning technique questions that actor Jordan Belfi asked himself as he prepared for the role of Rep. Nick Reed (?-Delaware)* on last week’s episode of “Scandal.” In the TV drama, he seeks Olivia Pope‘s (played, of course, by Kerry Washington) help to free his father who is on death row. As the plot goes, Belfi is really responsible for the murder, but his father took the rap and said he’d kill himself if Reed ever tried to confess.
So he did what he could: He put on a suit and became a member of Congress.
But now the whole thing is coming back to haunt him and he’s desperate to save his father.
Enter Olivia Pope.
Belfi is best known for his work on HBO’s “Entourage,” where he plays Ari Gold‘s nemesis Adam Davies. He’ll be around for the rollout of the Entourage movie this summer. “I’m excited,” he said.
He chatted with The Mirror by phone Wednesday.
Q: How do you feel about playing a congressman?
Belfi: “Um, I loved it. It was a joy. I enjoy politics. I read a lot of news. I watch my fair share of CNN and Sunday morning talk shows. I’ve always been super compelled about what takes place in that world. It’s rife with drama and it just makes for super super interesting characters. Allows me to try on that skin.”
Q: While we’re on this, what’s your media diet?
Belfi: “I mean, The New York Times, the Washington Post. I aggregate — The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, Drudge. I like Jake Tapper on CNN. I watch Andrea Mitchell’s show. It runs the gamut. I try to have as much variety as I can news wise. I kind of flip back and forth through the channels. I feel that by reading all the newspapers and the sites that I look through, you start to put together a picture of the events. I aggregate in my mind, if that makes sense.”
Q: What is your impression of members of Congress? What did you have in your head while filming the type of person he is? Did they tell you how to play him?
Belfi: “What was lovely was that as an actor they gave me the freedom to create that. It’s an interesting story. Basically the congressman’s father is on death row and he’s about to be executed. He confessed to it [the murder] and I’m the one responsible for the murder. The father says he’ll kill himself if I ever confess. I’m caught in this situation. I spent my whole life trying to better myself and help my father. Which was becoming a congressman. There’s a moral complexity. The stakes are so high. I think that in a lot of ways, the things that go on in D.C., the scandals that happen, the resignations, the stakes feel really high. I got a sense of their behavior, how they respond to situations.”
Q: Of all the D.C. scandals out there to choose from, which ones jumped into your mind when preparing for this role?
Belfi: “The most obvious one was Congressman Weiner. I mean, it’s relatively recent and a perfect storm of so many things, culminating in a resignation. [His scene in New York] resembled the scene in ‘Scandal’ where I resign. The whole setup was there — the podium, the press, background actors with lightbulbs flashing. While we were shooting, Mayor Garcetti stopped in and said hello. I remember him [Weiner] being heckled during his speech. That pressure. Its been talked about ad nauseum, but the specifics of his behavior, his temperament, the public face that he had to put on, accepting responsibility for something he was ashamed of. Different plots. But somebody accepting responsibility in a public way. How does that come out behaviorally?”
Q: What’s it like to work with Kerry Washington?
Belfi: “It was a joy. She carries that show and she does so beautifully. She’s just a really open, generous partner. I felt so welcomed by her. You’re dropped into an already established world. To find the rhythms is everything.”
Q: Which camp are you in? Do you want Olivia to be with Fitz or Jake?
Belfi: “[Laughing] I will defer to Shonda Rhimes and those fans. There are pros and cons to both.”
Q: Have you been to Washington and do you think it’s Hollywood for ugly people?
Belfi: “I have been to Washington and it’s just awash in history. It’s sensory overload. I think Hollywood and Washington are two sides of the same coin and reflect each other in so many ways. It’s why they seem so obsessed with each other. The networking and hustling and getting ahead. It’s all collaborative in Hollywood. The same goes for Washington — the hustle, the networking, putting people together and making things happen.”
Q: How about the ugly part? Is Washington Hollywood for ugly people? You can just give me the answer the congressman you played might give.
Belfi: “[Laughing] Let me be clear. They are not mutually exclusive. You can absolutely be beautiful and have a brain.”
* The fictitious congressman on “Scandal” has no known party affiliation.