‘Rooster’ Star Phil Dunster Says His Character’s Life Is a ‘Living Nightmare’ (Exclusive)

In the upcoming HBO series Rooster, the former Ted Lasso star, Phil Dunster, portrays Archie, a college professor who throws his own life into chaos when he cheats on his wife.

During a recent Men's Journal interview, Dunster reflected on the "living nightmare" that his character created for himself. He also opened up about working with the show's star-studded cast—Steve Carell, Charly Clive, Danielle Deadwyler, John C. McGinley, and Lauren Tsai—and the show's co-creators, Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses.

Why Phil Dunster Says His ‘Rooster’ Character Created a ‘Living Nightmare’ for Himself

Men’s Journal: What attracted you so much to portraying Archie from Rooster, this morally dubious character?

Phil Dunster: Well, it's just that—he's morally dubious. It's always more fun to find the reasons why someone is that way and find justifications for someone like that, who on the surface is a pretty reprehensible kind of chap. But it's always much more juicy, much more textured to play against the obvious first impression you get with someone like this.

Also, I just think someone like Archie has such fun scenes and works with people. There's a lot of tension with a lot of people. That's always a fun thing to do as an actor—to have tension with other characters.

Men’s Journal: When you think of the character, do you envision him as like a bad guy or do you have a different view of him?

Phil Dunster: I don't see him as a bad guy. It's my job to defend him to the hilt. Look, he has been extraordinary probably his whole life. And he—for better or for worse—expects to be lauded as someone brilliant, because he's always been lauded that way. You know, he's got tenure at this really incredible liberal arts college. He's got this brilliant fellowship. He's clearly incredibly talented. He knows that more than anyone else. But the fact of the matter is, it has served him really well. So why would he not continue to live life how he's always lived it? And why would he expect anything to change?

There are probably great reasons why not to, but that's just not who he is and how he's living. It's really fun to play that. And then the circumstances that Bill and Matt have created in this series mean that he's got to be confronted with the reality of his decisions.

Men’s Journal: I wanted to talk to you about that. I was fascinated to see the show portray a character who's just completely blown up his own life and is facing consequences at every turn. Was it thrilling to embody a character thrust into these crazy moments, and how do you feel about Archie’s situation?

Phil Dunster: It's a nightmare. His life is just a comedy of errors. He tries to retain this sense of pride and respectability throughout. He's kind of like when you watch a politician going through loads of scandal and you're like, “Man, you must not be sleeping at all at night because it seems like your life is a living nightmare.”

I think it was incredibly fun to do that. And you know, the thing that's amazing about a Bill Lawrence show—but also about this show in particular—is that there's a rotating cast. I get to perform with Charly Clive, Lauren Tsai, John C. McGinley, Steve Carell, Danielle Deadwyler. Such an incredible time. And the students are brilliant as well. So getting to have this cataclysmic falling apart of his life in so many scenes is just great fun.

Men’s Journal: You were just talking about the amazing group of people you got to perform with while filming Rooster. Was it intimidating to be able to work with such incredibly talented people, or was it thrilling, or both?

Phil Dunster: Yeah, yeah, it definitely is. I think even Steve said before that at the read-through, we were all quite nervous beforehand because it's a brilliant script, right? The first script is such a great episode that you want to do it justice. Also, these characters have so much fun meat on the bones that you want to do them justice.

That being said, right from the get-go, Bill and Matt were like, “We want you to have ownership over this. We want you to, by the end of the first week or couple of weeks, feel like these words are yours—that you're in charge of this just as much as the writers are.” And I think there was a delicious convergence of their idea of the character and our ideas coming together. The great thing is they start writing with your voice in mind, enough for it to feel like the Venn diagram of your ideas and their ideas overlaps nicely.

Men’s Journal: As a Bill Lawrence expert, what do you think people will find most surprising about this show?

Phil Dunster: I think something really great about this show is that it is challenging. It lets the audience do some of the work. The jokes they've written can be pretty tasty at times. It leans into the generational divide between the boomers on the faculty and the younger generation—how the tone of conversation differs, what's acceptable in discourse. That is really fun. It gets pretty spicy at times.

My character, Archie, is a professor in Russian studies. And when Bill was like, “He's a professor of Slavic languages,” that seems like a pretty spicy subject right now. Yet he said, “But we're going to keep it light.” And I think they managed to do it. It's incredible how they toe that line. That's where comedy is really at its best. I hope people see it as a bit of a return to form—finding that line where it feels maybe a bit spicy, figuring out what's okay, what's acceptable, and what's not.

Men’s Journal: Thank you so much for talking to me this afternoon. I loved you on the show, and I'm really hoping that I get to see a whole lot more of Rooster because I found it very entertaining.

Phil Dunster: Thanks, dude. Appreciate that. Thank you.