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This aint Toys R Us, motherfuckers, he said, a menacing grin creeping over his face.
This is Toys RMe!
Years later, Reddick perfected this formula onCorporate.
There is no Hampton Deville without Christian Deville, he says, ratcheting up the tension.
I put the roof over your heads.
I put the clothes on your backs.
I feed you scraps of bread like ducks in a pond.
By the time he reaches the quacks, hes apoplectic and screaming.
But as he demonstrated during his time onCorporate,his considerable comedic gifts deserve equal recognition too.
It didnt really compute.
It made no sense to me.
I Googled it, and it was real.
It was a punch in the gut reading that text.
Who the fuck could pull this off?
To be completely honest, we thought there was no chance he would say yes.
When I first got this script, Ive got to be honest, I didnt get it at all.
I called my agent and I said, Im gonna pass.
And my agent said, Youre wrong.
So I read it again.
And I was like, Okay, Ill do it.
Then hed say, Thats a good agent.
I think he used to tell us that because he felt it was almost like a happy accident.
Once he got inside of it, he was really obsessed with it.
He really loved shootingCorporate.When we were ending, he was very upset.
Hed be like, Is there any way you guys can attempt to get a fourth season somewhere?
I think it was a big wonderful left turn for him.
The fact that he didnt get the material at first makes it extra-impressive how good he is.
Part of what his agent said to him was, You dont understand.
This is what its like!
He was shocked by it, because Lance was a really gentle guy.
I dont think he necessarily assumed the worst in people.
And he did a lot of research, too.
I still vividly remember the first scene he did.
I have an image of all of us sitting in the back of the boardroom and just clapping.
We never did that for anyone else ever.
He understood how to command a room like a CEO would on the first rehearsal.
It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life to watch it.
He was the most precise, most incredibly impressive performer, and he almost never needed notes.
Do you have a favorite line reading he did during his time on the show?Theres so many.
The show was attempting to have some jokes that were in the vein ofDr.
Strangelove these sort of absurd oxymoronic paradoxes said very cleanly and seriously.
There was one that was like, Good news: Theres going to be several wars!
He could also be silly and break from his very specific pedigree.
Theres an episode,Labor Day,where hes just stalking around with a sword and underwear.
That might be his best episode, I think, because it showcases every side of that character.
He could be loose; he could be intense.
I think its a master class of comedic acting.
His singing in that episode is so funny.Yeah, he was a major talent.
He originally wanted to be a musician.
He loved Sting and Billy Joel.
That was his original plan, and then he sort of took a pivot into acting.
But he was incredibly talented, musically.
But I know for a fact because he was so generous about saying it he loved it.
He was a silly guy!
He said he acted in comedies all the time at Yale.
But once he got cast in some serious shit, they never really thought about him for that.
So I think hed been waiting to do comedy for a really long time.
I think he felt freer than hed ever really felt.
He said as much, at least.
We laughed all the time.
He did that amazing actor thing where they dont blink.
He would say the craziest shit youd ever heard right to your face.
I would have to bite my lip or bite my cheek trying not to laugh.
He had a much longer career in comedy to go.
I talked to him a few weeks ago, and that just makes it worse.
We had a lot of talks sitting in the actors chairs, chatting about everything.
He was so curious, and he was an incredible listener.
He was very, very sensitive.
He was always like, Whoa, isthatwhats going on in the world?
And then, over the pandemic, we would sometimes talk for a really long time.
He was just so genuine, and so kind, and very giving.
He didnt take who he was too seriously.
He really opened up on social media and got sillier.
He would do thesequotes of the dayand wouldshow his dogs.
I just remember him having more and more fun and laughing more and being goofier and just …
He was so fucking awesome.
I dont want him to be remembered as an unbelievable loss.
But its definitely an unbelievable loss.
Im just glad that we got a decent amount of time to appreciate him.
Although, in a way, I feel like he was almost just starting.
