LOS ANGELES 鈥� Dylan McDermott calls it his 鈥渞einvention.鈥�
What the sa国际传媒icut native was looking to change was the steady stream of dramatic roles he鈥檚 been playing since he made his film debut more than three decades ago in Hamburger Hill. Since then, his credits have ranged from a super-serious lawyer in The Practice to a man flirting with madness in the first season of American Horror Story.
The path to his reinventing himself has taken him to the starring role in the Fox comedy LA to Vegas. His Captain Dave is a man who was born with no filter, an ego the size of a 747 and a philosophy on life that is one strong headwind from being loony.
Each week, Captain Dave flies travellers to and from Las Vegas, where they often come home with empty pockets and an earful of Dave鈥檚 words of wisdom (the term is used very loosely here).
McDermott going from the serious career he鈥檚 spent decades cultivating and being part of a raucous network comedy is like Tom Brady opting to leave the NFL to try his hand at the Ice Capades. Things might work out, but it鈥檚 all based on a big gamble. It was a gamble McDermott, 56, knew he had to take.
鈥淚 was at a time in my career where I needed I couldn鈥檛 do another drama. You know what I mean? I had played it out. So I knew I needed to reinvent myself, and this is it,鈥� McDermott says. 鈥淚 think that no one really thought of me for this role because no one ever thinks of me as funny.鈥�
To be fair, even the LA to Vegas executive producers were a little surprised McDermott was such a perfect fit for the show.
The actor they needed had to look like he was once the All-American boy who was not only the high school quarterback but also the prom king.
It wasn鈥檛 enough for the actor to look like that was his past. The key was finding someone who could make the viewer believe that although his prime was long past, he refused to let it go.
鈥淚 wanted there to be, like, a tragic element to him also. The first thought was bravado and cocky and kind of a bro. And then the more interesting element of the character was, 鈥楤ut what鈥檚 underneath that? Where鈥檚 the vulnerability, and where鈥檚 kind of the sadness behind that?鈥� 鈥� says series creator and executive producer Lon Zimmet. 鈥淎nd Dylan plays that perfectly. He can nail the jokes and the big bravado of it but also get to the humanity behind it of a guy who, at the end of the day, is sort of lonely and searching and aspiring to something more behind all of that.
鈥淎nd Dylan just nailed it.鈥�
There were never any doubts in McDermott鈥檚 mind he would be able to handle the role. When he was a young man, McDermott 鈥� who鈥檚 a big fan of absurdist comedy from Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett 鈥� did some stand-up in New York. It wasn鈥檛 until he was cast in the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis 2012 comedy The Campaign that a larger audience got to see McDermott鈥檚 funny side.
Doing The Campaign gave McDermott the confidence to move out of his dramatic comfort zone. And he鈥檚 glad he made the move because the work environment is so different than any dramatic project he had done.
鈥淚 notice with the crew. When we鈥檙e all laughing, the crew is laughing. Everybody鈥檚 having a better time. This is a great way to go to work, I have to say,鈥� McDermott says. 鈥淎fter doing so much dark stuff for so long. You get to laugh all day long. I mean, this is the best.鈥�
