The actor opens up about playing POTUS and his surprising musical connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Secret Invasionis a show about power, intrigue, and secrets that go all the way to the top.
And in this Marvel Disney+ series, the top means U.S. President Ritson, played byDermot Mulroney.
Dermot Mulroney as President Kitson in ‘Secret Invasion’.MARVEL
Four episodes in, the show has woven a tangled web of secret plots and shape-shifting Skrulls.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was it like when you got the call about joiningSecret Invasion?
Did it feel like you had been elected president?
DERMOT MULRONEY:[Laughs] It’s exactly that.
I did feel an extra sense of thrill to be playing the president.
But there were so many other wonderful things about it.
I would be working with Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, this great cast…
I was just thrilled.
Is there a secret to giving a presidential performance?
Well, I’ll tell you this: I read somewhere that Theodore Roosevelt got a haircut every day.
So I did ask for a lot of haircuts.
Mostly it was just one of those continuity things.
But they obliged, and maybe that gave me an extra presidential feel.
The most recent episode has a big action scene, where the Skrulls attack the presidential motorcade.
You spend a lot of time hanging upside down in a car.
What do you remember most about filming that scene?
The whole thing’s unforgettable, just to know I’m walking into the middle of mayhem.
I think that sequence is going to be remembered.
Tell us a little bit about working with Don Cheadle.
I love some of the back-and-forth between the president and Rhodey.
Our director gave us a little room in there to have fun.
Man, did we have some laughs.
I’ve been a friend and a fan of Don’s for years and years and years.
Although I wish someone would tell me how many years I have left in my term.
I know in addition to acting, you’re also an accomplished cellist.
You’ve played on some really impressive film scores composed byMichael Giacchino including some Marvel projects.
I think the only Marvel score I did was one of the [Tom Holland]Spider-Manmovies with Giacchino.
I don’t know if there’s actually a real list of the scores that I played on.
Some of them are obscure, and some of them would be big movies that anyone would know.
Sometimes with Michael Giacchino scores, they’ll be performed again by symphony orchestras.
But mainly I like thinking that it’s a one-off.
This might be a hard question, but do you have a particular favorite score you’ve played on?
I did severalPlanet of the Apes[movies], and the percussion on that is unbelievable.
But I was in that same studio with more brass than you would ever have in any other format.
I’ll just never forget it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
