What are the most important things to know
about Big Jim Rennie, for those who aren't
familiar with the book?
Big Jim, he's a great character. He loves his town, but I think he's probably, at some level, psychopathic. He likes to be in charge. Stephen King told me I was Dick Cheney. [Big Jim's] reading Winston Churchill's biography in the story ... And everybody else is freaked out by the dome and Big Jim seems to be like, "Wow, my time has come.” He's fun because ... he's the only one that interacts with every other character. They have their own things, the groupings and people that interact, but Big Jim interacts with all of them and he interacts differently with all of them because he has a different personality ...
He's lizard-like in his strategy; he's amoral. I don’t know if he's immoral, but he's amoral. He's a "The ends justify the means, keep the trains running," kind of guy. And it really comes out with his poor son, who has his own issues, and you can see why. He has a dad like me. We have this hug in the first episode and we talked about how it's maybe the first time he's ever hugged his son. It's a real awkward kind of thing and poor Junior's always waiting for his dad to say “I love you,” and his dad always says, "Toughen up, pussy.” He's that kind of guy. But it seems like he's the most evil or mean when he is with his son, because everybody else he's kind of charming with.
Big Jim are stuck together, but it's clear that their unhealthy dynamic is probably the root of many of Junior's issues and questionable deicisions. What can you reveal about their relationship at this stage?
First of all, I love him as an actor. He's a really good young kid. And it's so good because what he brings to it is kind of innocent, but it's also super creepy that way.
Read full interview at HuffPost
Big Jim, he's a great character. He loves his town, but I think he's probably, at some level, psychopathic. He likes to be in charge. Stephen King told me I was Dick Cheney. [Big Jim's] reading Winston Churchill's biography in the story ... And everybody else is freaked out by the dome and Big Jim seems to be like, "Wow, my time has come.” He's fun because ... he's the only one that interacts with every other character. They have their own things, the groupings and people that interact, but Big Jim interacts with all of them and he interacts differently with all of them because he has a different personality ...
He's lizard-like in his strategy; he's amoral. I don’t know if he's immoral, but he's amoral. He's a "The ends justify the means, keep the trains running," kind of guy. And it really comes out with his poor son, who has his own issues, and you can see why. He has a dad like me. We have this hug in the first episode and we talked about how it's maybe the first time he's ever hugged his son. It's a real awkward kind of thing and poor Junior's always waiting for his dad to say “I love you,” and his dad always says, "Toughen up, pussy.” He's that kind of guy. But it seems like he's the most evil or mean when he is with his son, because everybody else he's kind of charming with.
Big Jim are stuck together, but it's clear that their unhealthy dynamic is probably the root of many of Junior's issues and questionable deicisions. What can you reveal about their relationship at this stage?
First of all, I love him as an actor. He's a really good young kid. And it's so good because what he brings to it is kind of innocent, but it's also super creepy that way.
Read full interview at HuffPost
