Anthony Boyle had no qualms about playing the role of Arthur Guinness in Netflix’s new period drama series House of Guinness.
The only concern the Irish actor really had was that his grandmother would be watching the scene.
But then he recalled, “She doesn’t have internet so she doesn’t know how to do Netflix. She just watches ‘Coronation Street’ and other British dramas.”
“She keeps saying to me, ‘Don’t do any internet-only shows. Can you do Coronation Street or East Enders?'” Boyle says. He has worked on many streaming projects including Masters of the Air, Manhunt, Tetris, and Say Nothing.
House of Guinness follows the brewing dynasty of Arthur, Edward (Louis Partridge), Anne (Emily Fearn) and Benjamin II (Fionn O’Shea) after the death of their father Benjamin Guinness in 1868. “I didn’t know much about the Guinness family,” Boyle says. “I knew as much as probably everyone in Ireland knew that they were a very wealthy family and very eccentric. But I didn’t know the extent of their wealth and everything they owned.”
It is widely believed that Arthur was homosexual. In the series, Arthur is portrayed as someone who doesn’t actually hide his sexual orientation, even though he agrees to a “lavender marriage” to advance his political career. “There are a lot of clues that point to Arthur being gay,” Boyle says. “If we don’t follow up on these clues, we’re erasing gay people from history. We didn’t mean to just say he was gay. There are a lot of things that hint at him being gay. That’s why we felt we should portray him that way.”
I caught up with Boyle over Zoom in Vancouver, Canada, while he was filming The Altruists, Netflix’s upcoming series about Sam Bankman-Freed (Boyle), his girlfriend Caroline Ellison (Julia Garner), and the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Let’s talk about Arthur’s mustache. Is it comfortable or uncomfortable?
I love it. I prefer having a stash. I feel like I look about 10 years old without it on. I love growing it and love the little flickers on the sides. I had a wonderful makeup artist named Connie Daniels who came to me in the morning and gave me a mustache wax called Gentleman Stiffener. She would knock on my trailer and say, “Are you ready for Gentleman Stiffener?” She gave me a small brush and I combed and got ready for the day with the Gentleman Stiffener.
How long did it take you to grow?
It took about two and a half months to grow, and then about six months to shoot. He looks great when he’s wearing period costume in the movie, but when he goes out for coffee wearing something like an Adidas jacket, he looks like an unemployed magician.
If you Google your name, all the results will be about scenes from your front. Did you expect it to get so much attention?
No, I didn’t. Because it was a very last minute thing. I called the director the night before and said I thought we should do the scene where he comes out of the bathtub (rather than the undressing scene). He said, “Yeah, let’s stop. Let’s do it.” But I wasn’t expecting that. I didn’t expect people to talk about it.
Did you have any second thoughts after the director agreed?
not much. I thought it was perfect for this character. Because he wanted to show that he feels like he owns the world, and that he’s not ashamed of himself and his sexuality at all, and that he doesn’t even see the servants as people, that they’re just there to serve him. He is completely dominant.
I binge-drinked the House of Guinness in just a few days. What do you overeat?
“Love is Blind.” I started watching it with my sister and I never get tired of it. Last night I watched the first episode of the new season with a friend. It’s very interesting. I just love it. I just like Americans. I love it when someone says “I love my family” two minutes into a first date. And the other said, “I love my family too.” And they’re both like, “We’re so similar.” I love you. “It’s wonderful. It warms my heart and tickles me in a good way.
Do you understand how cryptocurrencies work now that you’re playing Sam Bankman Freed? Certainly not.
You can act like you understand. I could act like I knew what I was talking about, but I almost didn’t know anything. My dad bought me “Cryptocurrency for Dummies” for Christmas, and it was very helpful. But what have I learned about cryptocurrencies? I’ve been shooting for about 5 months now so I understand, but it’s very complicated.
How much did you know about the story before going into it?
Just like most people. I had read some articles about Sam and was very interested in his meteoric rise, and I was also interested in FTX and the subsequent scandal, but I hadn’t looked into it as deeply as I do now.
Is it easier to draw someone like Sam Bankman-Freed when you have a lot of information about him or someone like Arthur Guinness who you feel like you could play with a little more?
I don’t know. I think I do my best work in historical dramas. He is very good at handling lanterns. I’m very good at riding horses. I’m currently working using my laptop and iPhone. I got lost. It’s like a joke. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re playing a character from Shakespeare or a Greek play, whether it was 2,000 years ago or whether you’re playing someone today. You are human and we have not changed. Even if we read Shakespeare or old plays from hundreds of years ago, we still feel the same emotions and experience the same things.
“House of Guinness” Season 1 is available on Netflix.
