HBO's new series Winning Time chronicles the rise of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers dynasty, led by team owner Dr. Jerry Buss and electric star point guard Magic Johnson. Those Lakers teams won five NBA championships and had an intense rivalry with the Boston Celtics. During that era, legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach worked in the front office, putting together his own star-studded roster to compete with the Lakers year in and year out. On Winning Time, the role of Auerbach is played by actor Michael Chiklis.
Screen Rant spoke with Chiklis about taking on Auerbach (Chiklis is from the Boston area), his advice for the MCU's rebooted Fantastic Four, and much more.
Screen Rant: I didn't even recognize you in this role. I thought Michael Chiklis was in this! What physical transformation did you go through for this part?
Michael Chiklis: Honestly, hair and makeup and wardrobe were huge and integral with this, and then the cherry on top was that stogie. I think he was just so specific. He had this very gaudy appearance and it was part of his character and something that we all, as Bostonians, love. I was born, raised, and educated in the Boston area and I went to Boston University from '81 to '85, right as this blew up. So I bore witness to this whole thing and, from a physical transformation standpoint, it was just a way of holding myself and wearing all of this stuff. Again, once I got into that wardrobe and lit up that stogie, I had slipped into the jacket.
You've done things that fans love Shield, Gotham, Fantastic Four where does Winning Time rank just in terms of responsibility and pressure to get it right? Especially since you are playing a real person.
Michael Chiklis: Well, high because like I said, I'm from Boston, and I want to be able to go home. So you got to get it right. I think I've had the opportunity to play some iconic people in my life. I've played John Belushi, and Curly Howard in The Three Stooges movie, and a number of different actual living people, The Commish. This is a living person. So I think that one of the things I've learned over the years is, if you do the research and you approach it from a place of respect and deference and reverence for those people and their stories, and as long as you're approaching it from that place, that you're pretty safe.
You were fantastic. And speaking of fantastic, there's a lot of talk of Fantastic Four popping up in the MCU soon. I'm curious what the biggest piece of advice you would give to the next actor to take on Ben Grimm?
Michael Chiklis: Go CGI if you can [laughs]. Wardrobe was something else, but it was still a pretty amazing experience. Just understand, the real tone and tenor of The Fantastic Four is as we did it. It's not meant to be dark and brooding. It's never going to be The Dark Knight. Don't try to make it that. Don't expect it to be that. The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing was from Brooklyn and he was a Dodgers fan. They were a sweet family and that's the way it's meant to be. It wasn't meant to be hardcore and dark and brooding. Try to make it that, you will fail.
This entire cast was fantastic. I kept diving into Wikipedia holes after each episode. I'm curious what you were most surprised to learn was absolutely true when you were diving into this series?
Michael Chiklis: Just the things about Jerry Buss. I didn't know that he was an outsider, that he was a guy who became wealthy outside of basketball and as an investor and in other areas, and that he really saw a hole or an opportunity to exploit the entertainment aspects of sport. He was brilliant in this way. I think that what he did with the Showtime Lakers has had a massive effect on all sports across all leagues, in terms of how they sell the sport as entertainment. He understood the Man in the Arena. He understood that ancient propensity and desire to watch a rivalry in clash, and he got that. If you think about that time, if you think about 1979, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and this guy's enjoying himself. You couldn't recreate that today. You couldn't. It's just a different time. And here you had Red Auerbach who represented the old school, the old guard. He was the orthodoxy of sport, East Coast discipline, work ethic. And here comes this flashy Hollywood guy with charisma and, "Hey there. Hi there. Ho there" with his leisure suits buttoned down to his navel. They were perfect opposing rivals, and it just made for great entertainment. That has had this lasting influence on all sports and sports rivalries.
Winning Time is now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes premiere on HBO and HBO Max Sundays through May 8.