The Equalizer’s Adam Goldberg Unpacks Harry And The Impact Of Dazed And Confused – Exclusive Interview

What does starring on a TV show like “The Equalizer” allow you to do as an actor that films don’t?

It depends on the show — and I definitely feel like I’ve been on every conceivable type of television show you could be on, whether it’s a four-camera show or something on the other end of the spectrum, like “Fargo.” They each bring with them different challenges and opportunities.

With this show, it’s very specific what I do on it, so I’m using this very specific part of my brain, which is probably good to keep me neuro-flexible as I age. I keep thinking that it’s an exercise to offset any potential early-onset dementia because there’s so much information in each episode, and on the periphery of it, and I’m always having to disseminate it.

The way that you shoot, you’re finishing one episode and then you begin shooting another, and there’s totally different people, totally different stories, totally different nomenclature, totally different technology. I feel like it keeps me intellectually nimble, which is good. In that regard, it’s a whole other kind of work. This episode that’s coming up was something I’m much more accustomed to, which is operating from an emotional foundation. It’s much less technical because it’s about whatever my particular struggles are.

Why was Harry, in particular, so compelling to you?

This was a show that I was initially offered on March 10, 2020 [right before the pandemic]. They were like, “[Filming] starts on Friday, and you have to fly in on Thursday.” I was like, “I’m not getting on an airplane to New York. That’s insane.” Sure enough, two days later, we were in lockdown. Then it resurfaced much later in the year, which was during a very eerie period for everybody. Certainly, in terms of work, it seemed particularly uncertain. So I’ll never be able to separate my decision to do this show from the pandemic itself.

To be even more candid, because that’s the way I am, I rarely choose the opportunities that I have. The opportunities I’ve had as an actor have more or less come to me. There have been independent films and films I’ve made myself that I’ve either created or helped [to develop] in the more embryonic stages. Other than that, I feel like unless you’re the top 0.5% of the acting population, your career chooses you. [Actors during] interviews often act as though they’ve curated their careers, but it doesn’t really work that way.

Well, you’ve had a long-running career that has come to you.

It’s true. There are very few parts that are on my resume that I’ve had to work very hard to get. Either the audition process was incredibly simple, or there was no audition and it was just offered. Then there’s a whole other parallel sliding-doors career I’ve had, which are things I haven’t done where I’ve worked really hard to try and get those roles or get these projects developed. That’s the irony, I guess. On the one hand, I consider myself extremely lucky and grateful because it has been 30-plus years of working fairly consistently. But I always feel like it’s because someone needs an Adam Goldberg-type, so every once in a while, they choose me.