Gary Cole Talks Mercy Street on PBS

Mercy Street is a new original series that debuted on PBS on January 17, following Downton Abbey. Set during the Civil War and based on real events, the show takes viewers beyond the battlefield and into the homes of nurses and doctors on both sides war.

Gary Cole stars as the patriarch of the Green family, a southern businessman who is struggling to keep his business afloat in an occupied city.

Tell me about your role in Mercy Street.

I play a character named James Green who is the former owner of the hotel which has been converted into a hospital for the Union Army. He is a confederate civilian who is working with the Union Army. He has a family and their home has also been taken over by the occupied forces.

What interested you about this role?

It’s a historical drama and a piece of the Civil War that does not get examined very much. This story has to do certainly with the war and the consequences of war, but it centers around a hospital and care for the wounded. It also talks and looks at what happens to a town that is occupied and the consequences the civilians have to live with.

So your roles on Veep, Mercy Street and The Good Wife are quite different. What draws you to a role?

Essentially there are two things that I look for anymore or maybe always. One is just the material—whether it strikes you with something you feel has an impact. Then, lastly, it certainly is about who you are going to be working with on every level—writers, directors, actors.

As an actor, do you find a big difference between doing voice over work versus acting in front of the camera? Do you approach it differently?

No, not necessarily. I don’t really approach anything differently. It is just a different delivery system. It is all character. It is all about making choices that serve the story you are doing.

What role do you get recognized most for?

I would say probably Office Space.

Do you have any advice for upcoming actors?

You know it’s weird. It was a very different time before I came in. It’s just a different scene now. Technology has changed a lot of things. So I don’t know that I have a lot of individual, specific things to say, but one thing I always say is: If somebody wants to go into the business they must really have a need to do it, as opposed to a desire for the result of what it might bring.

All these things are great: making good money, getting recognized, being accepted by peers, and all that. It is all nice and shiny, but it can’t be if it is the primary source or motivation. That can be troublesome if things don’t pan out. If somebody has a need to do something, it doesn’t matter what mileage they get out of it. If they really have a need to do it, it’s probably a good choice.

Do you prefer stage over television?

I don’t prefer one over the other. I have done both and enjoyed both and got fulfilled by both. If you have come from the stage, there is something to be said about being attached to that and I have managed to do that. For the last decade, I have stayed on stage probably every two and a half years. There is something to being able to sustain something for 90 minutes or a couple of hours, and just having that freedom, as opposed to getting to act for two or three minutes at a time and then sitting around for another hour and a half. But that is where I came from, so I think I have a need to do it. That is the environment I got started, so I think that is why.

Can  you talk about any other project you are working on or you will be working on?

Well, I’ll be in both the shows you mentioned. Veep comes back this year.

On Veep, do you guys just laugh until your stomach hurts?

It happens in some cases. I haven’t been one to get the giggles. I don’t think I am that cheerful. I don’t think it happens to me at all.

What is your favorite meal?

Pasta.

Do you have go-to song you sing in the shower?

Take It To the Limit.

What is your most favorite role you’ve played to date.

Lucas Buck in American Gothic.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Jennifer O’Neill.

Is there a movie you can watch over and over again?

The Last Detail.

What’s your favorite sport?

Baseball.

Me too! Dodgers…?

Cubs, sadly.

That is a great stadium, though.

It is a great stadium, but the team needs to catch up with the stadium.

Mercy Street airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).