[Laughs] Yeah, I didn’t breathe. This one woman, maybe in her mid-50s, turned around in the grocery store and just whispered, “You are so creepy.” [Laughs] Everyone in line heard her. “Not very many takes. We don’t talk about it at all, that’s what I prefer. Starring: Vera Farmiga,Peter Sarsgaard,Isabelle Fuhrman. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Genres. Or does she leave it to you to create that part of the character? The feelings of jealousy and envy.”, Sarsgaard doesn’t only choose dark characters, though. JOIN NOW. These are all feelings that we all know. Boyish-looking Peter Sarsgaard was born on March 7, 1971, at Scott Air Force Base, in Bellville, Illinois, to Judy Lea (Reinhardt) and John Dale Sarsgaard, an engineer who worked for the Air Force and later Monsanto and IBM. Sarsgaard also appeared in the American TV series The Killing (2013) as a man on death row perhaps wrongfully convicted for the brutal murder of his wife—a performance which he says included "some of the best acting I have ever done in my life." When I went to work with her, it was exactly like I wanted it to be. In The Killing, there’s a sense of timing that’s in your head. It’s what I call The Unabomber’s perspective of me against the world. The Killing‘s two-hour season finale airs Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET. “I have to tell you – coming up in a few episodes is some of the best acting I have ever done in my life,” Peter Sarsgaard told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. The Killing: Does Season 3 show signs of life? And I really, really, really could not be more against the death penalty. It takes work to see something that’s so difficult. If you get tense and try to force it, it won’t work, and you might miss some possibility you never thought of. I kept thinking about like, “What would I do?” I could not imagine eating. “We never had a frivolous scene. It takes a lot to unearth him. Every RuPaul's Drag Race season 13 runway look, ranked, Spread the love with EW's Valentine's Day gift guide, The Masked Dancer revealed: Every unmasked celebrity on season 1, The Killing season premiere recap: 'Blood in the Water', The Killing season finale recap: 'The Killing' season 3 finale recap, The Killing recap: 'Six Minutes' recap (season 3, episode 10), The Killing recap: Reckoning (season 3, episode 9), The Killing recap: 'Try' recap (season 3, episode 8), The Killing recap: 'Hope Kills' recap (season 3, episode 7), The Killing recap: 'Eminent Domain' recap (season 3, episode 6), The Killing recap: 'Scared and Running' recap (season 3, episode 5), The Killing recap: 'Head Shots' recap (season 3, episode 4), The Killing recap: 'Seventeen' recap (season 3, episode 3), The Killing season premiere recap: Season 3 premiere recap. People live flawed lives. That’s what this episode was — a massive excavation of the guy’s mind. I don’t think I could eat. “She’s not very interested in satisfying expectations. AMC, Cate Blanchett, Peter Sarsgaard, television, The Killing, Woody Allen. More details. AMC's revived The Killing has found its villain. In fact, he compares it to shooting an entire independent film each week. ‘The Killing’ recap: It’s a shame about Ray Ray Seward (Peter Sarsgaard) examines rings held by Det. A pragmatist? Want more Rolling Stone? “He doesn’t stay the same – he really changes,” Sarsgaard agrees. Peter Sarsgaard as Ray Seward on The Killing. TV Mysteries. Seward is just one of the many bad guys, for lack of a better term, you’ve played in your career. Sign up for our newsletter. “There are many sides to the guy. That’s pretty much all I need to say about him. Peter Sarsgaard isn't shy about being a fan of The Killing. I felt like she was watching what I was doing and adding things… it was like a little bit of a dialogue was happening between the two of us, but it was between my acting and her writing. Or in Lovelace, it’s a guy who is so needy that he needs to hold her by the throat. Sometimes he’s a pragmatist, and sometimes he’s a romantic. What were some of those surprises you mentioned? He is a graduate of St. Louis' Washington University, where he majored in history and literature. Instead, he is darkly thorny, shifty and more than willing to get his hands bloody, and if he is innocent of killing his wife, he is surely guilty of something else. I mean, that’s a very specific thing that he feels like he deserves to die for. It was all small and juicy.”, In This Article: Not Salisbury steak, I’m guessing. Does that impact how people react to you day to day? When it came up, I told her I loved it. He’s somebody who doesn’t know how to just kind of meet [another person] and have an equal conversation. It’s very clear whether it works or not. I just hope that it gets people talking about an issue that I think is very important. It’s a little bit like if you could imagine yourself being in a country like North Korea and being in jail. © Copyright 2021 Rolling Stone, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. Between fits of rage, callous evasions, playful flirtations, even glimmers of uncontrollable joy, Sarsgaard delved so deeply into Seward’s emotional state that he literally blacked out at one point during filming. To play those roles, Sarsgaard taps into universal feelings instead of specific criminal acts. Peter Sarsgaard, who’s delivered a string of consistently stunning performances this season as Seward, rode a razor’s edge during his character’s final episode. You need injustice and anger. What you’re doing is not noble.” Where do you think that guilt stems from? “Working with Woody was very intuitive and easy,” Sarsgaard said. When I first started doing The Killing, I definitely had reactions. It was a way of connecting through this bureaucratic space of death. I really imagined all parts of this. My character does all kinds of things in which he’s not thinking about it. The new season also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Elias Koteas and Amy Seimetz. “It makes everything out there look murky,” he says. Though you weren’t in it, Holder sort of dresses down Linden for running away from things, and you could see that very defense mechanism as a throughline for all of them. Now that Seward’s life and arc are complete, how do you ultimately feel about him? He doesn’t trust other people to represent him. A failure? Do you talk at all beforehand? I think it’s because his flaws are so massive. ‘Coming up is some of the best acting I’ve done in my life,’ says the actor, Peter Sarsgaard as Ray Seward on 'The Killing'. The father of two also has a part in Blue Jasmine, the forthcoming film by Woody Allen. It was very moving to watch that kid in Into the Abyss – he’s not scared for himself.” Ray Seward isn’t the only dark character Sarsgaard has been playing lately. You can find a sense of humor some of the time, a way of flirting. I had such a great time working with both of them on The Killing that when this project came along before I even read it, I knew I was going to do it. Did you talk with Veena about what was going on inside his mind? If you follow pop culture and root for interesting things to happen, The Killing's comeback has been a fascinating shock. In a bold move that shocked The Killing‘s fans, showrunner Veena Sud wrote the execution of strangely sympathetic death row inmate Ray Seward into last night’s penultimate episode, “Six Minutes.” Taking place three years after Detective Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) was instrumental in convicting Seward, the Seattle police officer now believed she had the wrong man. Between fascinating conversations, they both hurtled through a taut 12 hours, trying to secure a stay of execution for Seward — even as unexpected evidence caused Linden to doubt her instincts seemingly by the minute. “The character I play, well, he’s a politician. Elias Koteas ... News & Interviews for The Killing. It’s mostly just about relaxing. But that’s exactly what made his exchanges with Linden so fascinating — in no small part thanks to your performance, too. I think in my mind, the whole season I kept thinking, “One of these days, I’m going to have a scene with my son.” I really thought that would happen. “I am really anti-death penalty. To prepare for the role, he only watched one movie: “Into the Abyss is the only one. He doesn’t do that.”, While working with Allen was a dream come true for Sarsgaard, so was working with director Kelly Reichardt on the forthcoming film Night Moves. Was he powerful? Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. IF LOOKS COULD KILL: Peter Sarsgaard’s role as malevolent murderer Ray Seward in “The Killing” should be remembered at Emmy nomination time next year, says Linda Stasi. It was interesting, I felt like [as Seward,] I wanted to touch every part of my psyche to say goodbye to it, including my sexuality. I don’t see anything else.” I think it gave me that quality of really being totally like a guy who thinks he needs to do everything for himself. Peter Sarsgaard, who’s delivered a string of consistently stunning performances this season as Seward, rode a razor’s edge during his character’s final episode. Peter Sarsgaard, Actor: Shattered Glass. Seward’s riveting complexity is due in large part to the skill of Sarsgaard, a film actor who stepped back on to the small screen for the first time in 15 years to play the role. In the moments before Seward connects with his son Adrian, I read where you said you actually blacked out filming the scene walking down the hall to Seward’s execution. Did you consider what you’d have for your last meal? I don’t know anything I’m not in. Peter Sarsgaard (born March 7, 1971) is an American actor who played Ray Seward in the Killing season 3. 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