“Would we have run around trying to find someone else to play the part had he said no?
I don’t think so,” Lorre tells EW.
Maniscalco puts those chops to work as veteran sports bookie Danny.
Sebastian Maniscalco on ‘Bookie’.Adam Rose/Max
He’s in business with his best friend, Omar J. Dorsey’s Ray, a former NFL player.
But their livelihood is threatened by the potential legalization of sports gambling in California.
Not to mention, they have several clients who need to pay up.
Omar J. Dorsey and Sebastian Maniscalco on ‘Bookie’.John Johnson/Max
But he knew someone who did.
“[Bakay] has an extraordinary, rich history in the sports gambling world,” Lorre explains.
“The over and under, the spread, the favorites, the dogs, the parlays.
He has a wealth of knowledge about that part of our world.
There is no paper trail.”
So they had the idea and great insight into it.
Fortunately, “he blessed the script,” Lorre says.
But, “had he said no, it would’ve been the end of it…
I really saw Sebastian in the lead role.
Every once in a while you just have a feeling and you got to trust it.
I just believe that this was Sebastian’s part.
Would we have run around trying to find someone else to play the part had he said no?
I don’t think so.
I think we would’ve put in the drawer and went, ‘Okay, that was fun.'”
“And when Omar read with Sebastian, it was like watching an old married couple.
They finished each other’s sentences, there was a comfort with the way they interacted.
We were blessed that Omar walked [through] the door.
He was perfect, a perfect marriage with Sebastian.
It is the key relationship in the series.
So there’s these really pivotal relationships that I think drive this whole series.”
But through it all, it’s all about the money and the very real addiction to gambling.
“There are devastating consequences to the addiction, whether it’s alcohol, drugs, or gambling.
I thought the more challenging approach is to try and uncover some of the darker consequences.
Even when they win.
How do you pay the phone bill with that cash?
What do you do with mountains of cash in an electronic world?
So even in success, they have enormous problems that come with handling a ton of dirty money.”
The first two episodes ofBookieare streaming now on Max.
