Task and Wednesday actor Jamie McShane on Mark Ruffalo: He doesn't see himself as a movie star
Actor Jamie McShane, who has been a part of shows like Wednesday and Task, talks to us about his work going global, co-star Mark Ruffalo and his love for India
Jamie McShane has been a part of the acting industry for 36 years and the actor credits “persistence and luck” for his longevity in the business. Recently seen in the thriller miniseries Task, he reflects on his time in the industry, saying, “Being able to make a living doing what my dream is, that's been the most amazing thing for me. To have dreamt of doing this as a little kid and to have the fruition of it now has been surreal. In my 36 years of acting, Task is the best gig I've ever had.”
The series is led by actor Mark Ruffalo, and Jamie McShane is all praise for his globally renowned co-star. “Mark Ruffalo is just a wonderful human and a great guy. He is an amazing talent, who is extremely kind and very fluid. He goes with the flow and brings ideas for all of us to do on the set together. I don't think he has any clue that he's a movie star (laughs). I mean he does know it but he doesn't understand the magnitude of it,” he says.
Watch the full interview with Jamie McShane here:
The 59-year-old has been part of globally acclaimed projects like Wednesday, and he is astounded by the reach of content today, which he credits to streaming. “Earlier, it used to be just TV and movies, but now it's all merged because of streaming. The writers get to tell their stories for a longer time than just trying to compress it into an hour-and-a-half or two hours. The content has gotten so much better with the streaming services as they don't have to follow certain rules that TV kind of monitors,” he says.
Addressing the global fandom Wednesday has acquired, he shares, “The reach that we have now, it's crazy. As an actor, you're happy to just work, period. The fact that it has global reach today is a pretty amazing bonus. And then when you have a show like Wednesday, that in itself is amazing and you get to be a part of it, it's like a team sport and you're one of the players. It's incredible. To work so hard and do what we do over a compressed time, and then get the whole world to see it, it's pretty amazing.”
Jamie also has a special fondness for India as he has been here before. “I did a film Busman's Holiday (2020), for which we went around the world and one of the stops was Mumbai. I filmed in the city for a couple of days, and Mumbai was intense. The people were very nice and I loved being there, but it was intense,” he insists.
So, would he like to come back? “The country is so big and there's so many spots to see. So, yes I would love to go back to Mumbai, But I'd rather go see the rest of India that I haven't seen first,” he ends.
