Note: This story contains spoilers from “Winning Time” Season 2, Episode 5.
In Sunday’s episode of “Winning Time,” Paul Westhead (Jason Segel) is fired as head coach of the Lakers. The actor said the twist was one of his “most fun days” on set.
“I did that scene over and over again with John C. Reilly,” he told TheWrap in an interview before the SAG-AFTRA strike. “That was a day of using all the different skills because there’s comedy in it. It’s pathetic, it’s dramatic. It just required a little bit of everything. And I got to dance with John C. Riley in that scene which is special thing.”
While Westhead is an important figure in Lakers history, Segel said he was also “lesser known,” giving him “a lot of freedom to explore what we’re trying to say with the character.”
“I hope he would appreciate, as a Shakespearean scholar, the idea of playing this character more like an archetype, and creating a Shakespearean arc of somebody who achieved something they didn’t think they could ever achieve and then not be able to carry the ring of power after,” Segel added. “So a fall from grace.”
In addition to Segel, the series stars Quincy Isaiah, Adrien Brody, John C. Reilly, Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann, Hadley Robinson, Sean Patrick Small, DeVaughn Nixon, Solomon Hughes, Tamera Tomakili, Brett Cullen, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Spencer Garrett, Molly Gordon, Joey Brooks, Delante Desouza, Jimel Atkins, Austin Aaron, McCabe Slye, Thomas Mann, Gillian Jacobs, Michael Chiklis and Rob Morgan.
“Winning Time” is executive produced by Adam McKay and Kevin Messick for Hyperobject Industries, showrunner, writer, and co-creator Max Borenstein, writer and co-creator Jim Hecht, director Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Scott Stephens, Rodney Barnes and Jason Shuman.
“Winning Time” airs on HBO and streams on Max on Sunday evenings.
