Summary

Aaron Tveit’s character Charlie is introduced in this week’s episode of Earth Abides.

Tveit delves into crafting his character, labeling Charlie as a manipulative and deceptive leader in the series.

He also speaks about how he wants to play more roles like this, playing against type.

Mark your calendars for December 22, when Aaron Tveit joins the cast of MGM+’s impressive adaptation of George R. Stewart’s forward-thinking 1949 post-apocalyptic novel Earth Abides in Episode 4. Fans of Tveit’s work on Broadway know him best for playing penniless loverboys like Christian in Moulin Rouge! The Musical or righteous revolutionaries like Enjolras in Les Misérables, and Charlie is a far cry from either of those roles. In Earth Abides, Charlie is a deceptively cruel character who threatens the safety and security of a community of survivors in the wake of the deadly pandemic that wiped out most of humanity.
Rather than setting the series in the 1940s, like the novel, the 6-episode series is set in present-day California. Geologist Ish (Alexander Ludwig) discovers what has happened to the world after a snake bite forces him out of the mountains where he has been secluded working on his graduate thesis. After discovering that his family and everyone he loved has died during the pandemic, Ish reckons with a new form of isolation in the premiere, before finally crossing paths with the love of his life, Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes) who has similarly survived the deadly disease. Earth Abides spans years in a matter of episodes, and by the time Episode 4 rolls around, the series has already explored seventeen years in the lives of Ish, Emma, and the other survivors that they have built a community with.
Ahead of the premiere, I spoke with Aaron Tveit about playing Charlie, and we dug into what it was like jumping into a series with so much pre-established history; what methods he deployed to create a character like Charlie; what animal his character would be, since so much of the series is rooted in very primal animal insticts; what it was like shooting one of the most memorable scenes in Episode 4, with Jean (Hilary McCormack); whether the series is staying true to Charlie’s arc in the novel; and if he wants to take on more roles like this one in the future. You can read the full transcript below or watch our fun conversation in the player above.
Aaron Tveit on Jumping Into an Established Story Like ‘Earth Abides’

“You get to just let your imagination run wild.”

Image via MGM+

COLLIDER: Something I think is really interesting with Earth Abides is the way that it is laid out. By the time Charlie is introduced in Episode 4, we’ve already spent 17 years with this core group of survivors, and then in comes Charlie to really disrupt all of that. We don’t really get a lot about his backstory except for what he’s willing to divulge. I’m curious, for you in shaping that character, are there a lot of details that you’ve filled in to help inform the things that he’s doing and why he’s reacting the way he does?
AARON TVEIT: Absolutely. It is interesting to jump into a story like this where the world has been so well crafted and built, and we’ve seen a group of people surviving the way that they’re surviving. Then, of course, we meet another group of people, and it’s very clear that they have survived in a very different way. So, for me, I think this is the fun part as an actor, is that you get to let your curiosity and imagination go, and you say, “Okay, we need to get here. How did this person get there?” You personally get to make those choices and decisions, and it’s really fun.
For me, I thought Charlie was probably a guy who, before the event happened in the show, wasn’t from the best area. He got by with his smarts and his charm, and probably was pulling petty crimes and stealing and manipulating people, and who knows what else, but nothing major. Then, of course, he’s thrust into this situation where he realizes that he has this skill set to take advantage of people. Then, of course, like you said, 17 years later, we’ve seen how that has grown and marinated and gotten worse and worse over that time. That’s kind of what I thought. Todd [Komarnicki], the writer and showrunner, is wonderfully collaborative, and that was his perspective, as well. We talked a lot about where this guy came from. That’s the fun part as an actor; you get to just let your imagination run wild.
It is, and I love talking with actors about the process of creating characters, and so much that extends beyond what we get on the page. I’m curious, what sort of methods went into your crafting of Charlie? Something I was thinking about in watching this is this is a show that would be ripe for working with animal work and assigning characters and the animals that they embody, because there’s so much of this primal human nature and also so much into the wilderness. So, what were you working with, with Charlie, in terms of how you built him up?
TVEIT: I love things like that. For me, he’s really like a snake in the grass, right? You can’t see him coming. What I hoped to do was, for when the audience meets Charlie, it’s at a moment where Ish is struggling and where the group of people is struggling with some water issues, some tactile things, and so, could Charlie be the answer to their problems? If there’s a way that I could have the audience kind of questioning, “Oh, well, maybe Charlie is the answer, maybe this way that he is. Sure, he’s maybe a little abrasive, but he gets it done, and he’s a great leader.” So, to bank the shot and hold out as long as possible for that shoe to drop, that’s where I was working towards.
And, like you said, the animal thing. That’s why you don’t see a snake in the grass, is because you’re distracted by all these other things. You’re distracted by his charm, distracted by him singing Oasis with the kids and the kids falling in love with him, and all these other aspects of his personality that you don’t see. You don’t see the bite coming.
Aaron Tveit Is Ready to Take on More Darker Roles

“I could play, like, Gary Oldman-esque villains for the rest of my life, I’d be so content.”

Image via MGM+

There’s a great scene in Episode 4 that I really love, and it really stuck out because I think it’s the first moment you realize that he’s introducing danger into this group. It’s the scene with Jean where he offers her the cigarette. It’s a really great moment, as well, because there’s so much that isn’t necessarily said in dialogue. There’s that great moment where there’s just silence between them, and there’s a lot shared in the expressions on their faces. I’m curious, what was creating that scene like? The blocking is so good in that. Can you kind of walk through that scene in particular because it really stands out to me in Episode 4?
TVEIT: We had a wonderful time shooting that scene. It wasn’t easy, though, because a lot of times when you’re on set, they’re basically telling you, “Faster, better, funnier,” right? They’re like, “Move along. Say the words faster. Let’s get on with it.” And actually, that was a scene where Todd and the director were telling us to take our time and really listen and really breathe together. When you’re not accustomed to doing that all the time, sometimes you feel like you can’t do that. It took a little bit of getting used to, but I think when we found a real flow, there was something really intoxicating about smoking together and sharing that moment and kind of luring her character back to this other side because Charlie somehow saw that there was a tiny little crack that he could get in. It was so fun to do. And then to see her shut it down. That was one of the more fun scenes I’ve done in a long time because of that, and it was challenging.
It was a great scene to watch. It really stood out in that episode because it’s so rare today to have those moments where characters are allowed to breathe and just exist on screen, so it really stood out in that moment.
TVEIT: I’m very happy to hear that. Thank you. That’s great.
I love that you mentioned the Oasis moment, where you get to do a little bit of singing as Charlie. I love seeing you make that break from the musical theater world again and come back to this really gritty and dark world of acting. How has it been coming back to this? I think the last thing you did was Schmigadoon! and then obviously on Broadway. Are you looking for more of these roles that are playing against the type that you’ve been in for so long?
TVEIT: Yeah. I was very, very keen to work on this project. It’s interesting, I don’t really say, “Now I’m going to do this,” or, “Now I’m going to do that.” I do take it a bit more on a project-to-project basis as it comes. But yeah, I’ve had a stretch where I’ve been on and off in Moulin Rouge for the past five years, and I was amazingly able to do Sweeney Todd this year and work in Schmigadoon!, which is a musical series. But before Moulin Rouge, I hadn’t been on stage in New York in almost nine years; I was working on the other side. It’s been nice to dip my toe back in, but especially with a character like this — not the same as Sweeney, but something that’s a little bit darker and a little bit more wrought, I really love doing. I’ve jokingly said, but it’s true, if I could play, like, Gary Oldman-esque villains for the rest of my life, I’d be so content. So, I really have fun doing this. It’s a nice mix-in from musical comedy, I’ll say that. It’s a nice change of pace.
Where Things Are Headed for Charlie in ‘Earth Abides’ Episode 5

“It stays true to the deplorability.”

It is. It’s nice to be able to do both things because I think both evoke such strong reactions from the audience. In talking about Charlie, I haven’t got to see the last two episodes, but I did read this book many, many years ago, so I’m curious what you can tease — because I know Charlie is a rather unscrupulous character — about where things are headed with his interest in Evie, and if it stays fairly true to where the book goes with that storyline.
TVEIT: The way the outcome comes together varies a little bit, and they do it in their own way, but yes, it stays true to the deplorability that’s coming that you see in the book. There’s a big turn that happens. I think Charlie thinks he’s just going to win as he always does, but maybe this time, he’s met his match with this group of people that really can stand up to that kind of behavior.
Had you read the book before this project came along, or did you get to visit it for the first time in preparation?
TVEIT: I’d not read it before, no. I had heard about it. I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction, but I’d never read this book. So, when I saw the title, I was like, “Oh, I know what that is!” Then, yeah, before I started shooting, I read the book, and it was just really great to have that background. Anytime there’s source material, I try to take as much of it in as I can and then kind of let it go and look at what’s on the page.
It’s a great book, and it’s fascinating that it was written in the late 1940s. I mean, you can’t believe how appropriate it still is. That was a time after World War II, and after the A-bomb was dropped, everyone was scared that atomic weapons were going to destroy the world, and instead, this writer wrote this thing that the silent killer was going to destroy the world. I just think it’s fascinating.
Earth Abides Episodes 4 and 5 air this Sunday, December 22, at 9 PM ET on MGM+

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Earth Abides

Release Date

December 1, 2024

Cast

Alexander Ludwig
, Jessica Frances Dukes
, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll
, Elyse Levesque
, Luisa d’Oliveira
, Hilary McCormack
, Birkett Turton
, Jenna Berman
, Adelyn Bruce
, Aleksandra Cross
, Lennox Leacock
, Victoria Morgan
, Howie Lai
, Andres Joseph
, Aaron Tveit
, Amarah Taylor
, River Codack
, Denzel Onaba

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

1

Creator(s)

Todd Komarnicki

Writers

Todd Komarnicki
, Karen Janszen
, Tony Spiridakis
, Evan Hart
, Kyle Stephen

Streaming Service(s)

MGM+

Directors

Bronwen Hughes
, Rachel Leiterman
, Stephen Campanelli

Showrunner

Todd Komarnicki

Expand

Stream on MGM+