Jack Huston couldn't reveal too much about Matt Weiner's Amazon anthology series, The Romanoffs, mostly because he didn't actually know very much about it. Despite appearing in the upcoming episode of the streaming giant's newest production, details about the plot were just as elusive to cast members as they were to the rest of waiting world.
So what did Huston know? Well, he knew he was requested specifically by Weiner for the part, and he knew he wasn't going to turn down the chance to work with the legendary director responsible for Mad Men. He also knew the premise of the anthology was loosely linked to the fictional Romanoff family, based on the real-life and brutally executed Romanov family of Russia's last royal dynasty.
"I was in Mexico and I remember they arranged this phone call. I left the beach with the kids, go up to the room, very formally take a call with Matt, thinking this is bizarre," Huston told Newsweek recently. "I was very excited to be asked to anything with him, let alone this."
Huston will appear in the third episode of the anthology, titled, "House of Special Purpose," alongside the likes of Christina Hendricks, Paul Reiser, Isabella Huppert and Mike Doyle. Unlike previous Prime Video originals, of which complete seasons are usually released in a single day, episodes of The Romanoffs will air in a continuum. Huston's spot airs Friday.
"Our episode is quite funny," Huston said. "My character is that kind of—I don't wanna say pretentious—but he's one of those actors that maybe sort of plays into the method. He truly is getting very caught up in the character. He's one of those people who takes [his role] too far and he uses it as an excuse for his behavior."
Huston's character will find himself in some sort of a battle royale on a film set he's working on when a movie star and director clash over their opposing views of reality, which—under the scope of the Romanov tragedy, differing claims of what exactly happened to them and the myth of a sole survivor, Russian Princess/escapee Anastasia—ties into the show's overall theme: Perception.
"A lot of this is about insecurities. Am I good enough? How do people see me? Even though the connective tissue to all the episodes is the Romanoffs and the name and what it means to be one, if you weren't one, taking [the name] away from someone, in this [episode] I think it's very much about identity even as an actor or actress and realizing who you are," Huston said. "It's about being able to be confident in ourselves. Not having to second guess yourself, taking away the insecurities."
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Michigan native, Janice Williams is a graduate of Oakland University where she studied journalism and communication. Upon relocating to New ... Read more
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