You've done just about every genre at this point in your career. Is there anything you haven't done that you are desperate to do next?
I want to do some theater. It's been a very long time, and having spent so long with Alex [Jennings] — I'm going to see him in a play next week — I really want to do that, and I'd like to do more dramatic work. You tend to pick a lane and then you tend to stay in it because people cast you in accordance with the lane you're in. If you can jump out of that lane, it gives you the opportunity to do different things. If people see this and think, "He's not just about a**ing around," it would be fun to do some more stuff like that. I find it challenging, and it makes me very happy.
Are there any dream collaborators that you'd love to work with that you haven't yet?
Yeah — a lot of my movie heroes, Paul Thomas Anderson or Quentin Tarantino or the Coen brothers. People like that who I've always looked up to, I would be delighted to get to collaborate with those guys. People are always coming through as well, like the Daniels [Kwan and Scheinert] and Ari Aster and people in the genre space, who are making intelligent, thoughtful cinema. Thankfully, those people keep appearing. Hopefully they will, as long as I'm working.
You've directed some shorts and you've done a lot of writing. Are we going to see more directing in your future, maybe a feature length?
100%. That's something that I'm pursuing as well and having talks, developing certain ideas, and that's definitely something I'd love to do. I love the idea of actually being with something from its inception to its completion. As an actor, you jump in midway through the process, if you're only an actor and you haven't been part of the writing process. Even when I worked with Edgar [Wright], we write the movie, shoot the movie, and then it's with the editor, and Edgar and I have less involvement there, even though I'm still giving notes and stuff. But to be there from beginning to end is something I'm really excited about.
"The Undeclared War" premieres on Peacock on Thursday, August 18, with all six episodes dropping at once.
This interview was edited for clarity.
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