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Character Breakdown: THE GREAT GATSBY Cast Unpacks Their Roles
May 16, 2024
Performances are now underway for Paper Mill Playhouse's world-premiere production of The Great Gatsby, based on the iconic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this video, watch as the cast breaks down their iconic characters!
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0:00
The party's going on
0:04
The party's going on. Oh, we've been on it. Iconic role, Jay Gatsby
0:12
Did you know the book well? Had you seen the original movie? Like, what's your, yeah
0:16
Yeah, I mean, I had read the book when I was in high school, probably
0:20
I'm guessing it was high school. I don't know. It was a long time ago, huh
0:23
She's getting close to 40. But I remember really enjoying it, but I don't think I really registered it when I was a kid
0:32
So I went back and I reread the book and sort of rediscovered the masterpiece that is that book
0:38
And it's just really, I mean, it's just one of, I read it like two times in a row
0:42
I was like, this, I don't even know. You don't see anything like this, you know
0:46
And so I became more familiar with it. And then I probably saw parts of the DiCaprio movie
0:54
and I don't think I ever saw the other one. So I try to stay away from that stuff when I can
0:59
You know, it's one thing to read a book, but it's another to see somebody else's interpretation
1:03
of a character, and it can go either way. You know, it can inspire you
1:08
but it can also sort of hamstring you to like, oh, you know, they did that one thing
1:13
and I have to live up to that, or I have to sort of create that, or I have to not do that
1:17
I have to do something totally, it's like just create what's coming naturally
1:21
Because that's the best thing, I would think, working on a brand new musical, when you have the team there with you
1:26
an incredible director, but you get to make your own Jay Gatsby. Yeah, and my Gatsby, I think, is a little bit different
1:32
Then we explore a little bit more of his inner life that we don't see a lot in the book
1:37
or I'm assuming really in the movies, because we kind of take the storytelling narrative part
1:43
away from the character of Nick, and sort of get to show everybody's stories individually
1:48
And my Gatsby, I think, I've chosen to sort of delve more into his neuroses
1:55
This is a guy who will go at, stop at no end to achieve this goal
2:01
of getting this woman who was above his station, so he's literally somehow become
2:06
the richest man in America, ostensibly. He goes way too far. But at the same time, it's because his passion
2:15
is so overwhelmingly sort of carrying him through life. And someone that has that much has got to be
2:23
has got to have a little bit of neuroses. And so we've definitely played with that a lot
2:27
and it's been really fun to find what feels to be a more authentic version of Gatsby
2:35
even though he is kind of playing his own character. So treading that fine line
2:43
I read the book in high school. That's a lie. I spark noted in high school
2:46
because I just couldn't get the work done. Sorry, Miss Erringhaus. But I read the book a few times
2:52
honestly about seven times in all. I've seen the movies a million times
2:58
all before I knew I got the role. So auditioning for it, I remember the night before
3:03
Reeve had bought me this vintage 1920s lace robe, so I wore it over my thing
3:08
and I remember being like, this feels right. I really, really, really want this
3:15
And when I was in my audition, I was like, oh boy, if I don't get this, it's gonna be heartbreaking
3:21
So yeah, so I'm so just thankful. I'm so grateful that this is happening
3:25
Yeah, I play Nick Carraway, who we all know from the novel. So the guy who kind of arrives fresh from the scene
3:30
wide-eyed and ready for adventure. And so I'm excited for the audience
3:35
to see Nick's journey from beginning to end. As we know, the great Gatsby
3:38
goes through a lot of ups and downs. So we're really gonna take the audience on a ride that they are not ready for
3:44
I am playing Jordan Baker. She's a professional golfer in the show
3:48
She's an independent woman. She doesn't wanna get married. She loves to wear pants, which I also do
3:54
And she's here for a good time, not for a long time. She's like ready to party and do whatever she wants
3:59
whenever she wants. And that's what I love about her. She doesn't ask anyone for permission
4:04
She just does what she wants. I'm playing George B. Wilson. You can all, I sigh immediately when I talk about it
4:12
What a nuanced and complicated man to tackle. And I feel this sort of kinship with him
4:21
in a very sad sort of way. But it also, I just like, I wanna do his story justice
4:28
I think it's a very important story to tell of the striving, working class American dream
4:37
I play Myrtle Wilson. And I love that she's a bit of comic relief
4:43
because it's a very heavy show. I love her optimism, even if it borders
4:48
into delusional a little. My first goal in trying to adapt this book
4:55
was to think about the female characters who drove me kind of crazy when I read it in high school
5:01
and in college and in college again. And so I was really excited to dive into Daisy and Jordan
5:07
who I identified with and felt like I understood in a way that maybe, sorry Fitzgerald, maybe you didn't
5:13
And so I was really excited about, right, my first exciting moment was I wanna put a scene
5:19
with Jordan and Daisy on stage and I want them to golf
5:23
And so I have that, that exists, that happens. And it's one of my, it's like my pride and joy
5:29
that that happens on stage. And I think it's a little, I think it's pretty exciting
5:33
And then the next thing that was, that we started working on this during the pandemic
5:39
And so we had this new understanding of the Roaring Twenties and the fact that that came out of the Spanish flu
5:47
you're suddenly looking at it from a completely different angle. And we realized that as much as we thought
5:52
that this was completely relevant to the moment that we're in, in terms of technology
5:56
in terms of the way the economy is working, we suddenly realized that there's this other
6:02
like unleashing that was happening. And so we wanted to lean into that too
6:07
and really think about our own moment of like returning to people
6:10
and what it feels like when you've lost time and you're trying to get it back
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