Video: Ben Rappaport Talks West End Debut, GROSSE POINTE GARDEN SOCIETY and More

Oh, hey

I called you earlier to see what time you were going to get here. Yeah, yeah. I've just been swamped organizing this auction stuff

Three sessions with a certified life coach. Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's all it takes to get your life in order, huh

We might need a few more. You look beautiful. You're not so bad yourself under all the dirt

Oh. Still can't figure out the bow tie thing. License to kill

Mm-hmm. Uh, Melissa. Have you been thinking what I've been thinking? Well, it depends on what you've been thinking

Well, what have you been thinking? I think you should go first

Okay, um, mine's about a kiss. I just, I don't know, it kind of felt like something more

Maybe, uh... It was just nostalgia. Okay, this is the part where you tell me that I'm crazy

I can't. Well, then put me out of my misery. How? Just tell me how you feel

Hey, hey, bud. Mind if I steal my wife back? Yeah, she's all yours

Let's find our table. Ooh. You can barely tell it's a rental

Shall we? Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge. You know my guest from such shows as SVU, Younger, Mr. Robot, and The Good Wife

And his latest show is NBC's Grosse Pointe Garden Society, now streaming on Peacock

And he's about to make his West End debut in Goodnight Oscar with his pal Sean Hayes

Please welcome my friend, Ben Rappaport. Hello. That was a great intro. Thank you

Well, first of all, how are you, my friend? And where are you? I'm doing great. I'm at home here in New York, gearing up to go over across the pond to London

I leave in like three weeks. So, you know, getting ready, getting packed

Well, this is great. We'll get into that. But I have to tell you that Grosse Pointe Garden Society is one of my favorite new TV shows. I binge watched the whole entire thing. I actually watched the whole series. And now I'm binge watching all over again

Oh, great. Great. Yeah, I think it's a great show to binge because so much is packed into each episode. So I'm so excited about the fact that it can be fully binged now, all 13 episodes, because it is just like, it's as it's meant to be, that roller coaster ride. You can go, make yourself a margarita, pour yourself a glass of wine and go on the ride, you know

See, I loved watching it week by week, but you always left us with a cliffhanger, a big twist

But now I'm watching the whole thing again. I'm like, oh, good. I'll take two days and watch, you know, all 13 episodes

Yes, it's great. Yeah, I really highly recommend it. Even if you've seen it already, binge it this way

It's a whole new experience. Well, you know, the interesting thing about the show is every time you watch it, you view it through someone else's eyes

and you pick up other clues or something else in the story. I've become this huge mystery person

from years of watching like Murder, She Wrote. But I'm like, when I started to watch your show

I was like, I'm going to try to figure out who's done what to whom

So the great thing is that it's streaming now. You can binge watch it on Peacock

which is an incredible app for anybody to get. Like I said, you can do it in a day

You can do it in two days or whatever you want. But what I want to ask you about is

talk about the wonderful role that you play and what you love about it

Yeah. So I play Brett on the show and Brett is a recent divorced father of two who is just trying to kind of keep everything together

He at the beginning of the show, you see him walking in on his wife, cheating on him with her boss at the law firm

So that's kind of the setup. And Brett, you know, over the last couple of years, is just trying to piece his life together

So he ends up he's the manager at Mack Avenue Garden Center, which is sort of the store that supplies the Garden Society with all their stuff

and he joins the Garden Society just as a means of like you know he lonely he wants to make some friends you know And so he ends up making friends with Bertie Alice and Catherine

And so, you know, he's a really nice guy. He's a great dad

He also is harboring an intense crush on his best friend, Alice, who's played by Ana Sophia Rob

And, you know, the two of them are kind of the other kid, the kids from the other side of the tracks

You know, Gross Point is this very, like, bucolic, beautiful, you know, perfect

Everyone's trying to keep up with the Joneses kind of society. And so, you know, with Brett and Alice, they both have these dreams

His dream being that he wants to start a car restoration business. And Alice wants to be a writer in New York

So there are these two, like, you know, artistic, creative souls kind of bound together here in Gross Point

See, I love it because I'm team, both of your team. I think you two should be together in this show, but it's like, it's, you know, you're

like the outsiders and it's like, you're the, you know, you both have these incredible hearts

and finding your way through all of this stuff and you look out for each other. So how do you describe the show

It's a mystery. It's a comedy drama. Like, how do you describe, tell us the story

Yeah. So Grosse Pointe Garden Society is a high octane, fun, sexy, frothy, like murder mystery, but

there's a lot of comedic elements in it. It really has its own personality

A lot of people have likened it to shows like Desperate Housewives, How to Get Away with Murder, Pretty Little Liars

Jenna Banz and Bill Krebs, who are incredible writers and creators. They also created the show Good Girls on NBC

So if you like that show, you're definitely going to like this show. So it's just like a fun roller coaster, chock full

Every episode is just chock full of so much drama, mystery, and just juicy, juicy, juicy

But something happens in the garden. What happens? Someone's buried in the garden

What happened? Yeah, right off the bat, you learn that there is a grave being dug in the garden

And you see the four of us are basically like, how did we end up here

Who is that in the grave? why are they in evening gala clothes like what is going on so the whole series jumps back and

forth in time so you'll see some flash forwards on that fateful night but then you also a lot of

it is in present day and it's a lot of fun in our show you can see it through the camera will end up

on a on an everyday object like like a hand towel or a license plate and you'll see like six months

later or present day and and that's and it's always fun to kind of pick out when that happens

it's it kind of has its own uh unique personality you know you know it's so clever it's so beautifully

written and I was going to ask you each time you got a script there are so many twists and turns so

like when you received a new script for each week like what went through your mind oh man I mean we

were getting scripts as we were shooting you know um and uh every week I mean the main overarching

thing was we did not know who the dead body was until we got that script for that episode

So the cast, the crew, we spent the entire production just every day, you know, placing

bets on who we thought it was. And with each new script, it would take us to all these different avenues

And when we finally got that script, Melissa Fumero, who plays Bertie, she's the one who

got it right. I can't say who, obviously, but she's definitely the one who got it right among all of us

So it's like you were all in on the mystery each week. You didn't know what it was going to be until you got your script

Like, oh, here we go. Now we're going this way. Yeah, just like you guys are on the roller coaster, we're internally on the roller coaster, too

And I think that's super fun. That was like the best part of it was like, oh, boy

And, you know, we were just dying for the next, no pun intended, dying for the next script because it's just, you know, there was just so much, you know

just so much to sink your teeth into. You know, it's the perfect show now

but you can binge watch it on Peacock. It's the perfect show for the summer

I mean, just to have a wonderful time and to follow these incredible characters

all four of you and everybody else, rooting for and the people that put all of you down

or whatever else in this, you know, frothy place of, you know, ghost porn or whatever

But, you know, we all root for all four of you. It's like, it's really wonderful. Yeah, yeah

I mean, they're definitely like all four of us, you know, our characters have these very sort of messy, sordid, you know

scandalous lives, but you definitely root for all of them. You know, you, you want, you want each of them to, to come out

Okay At the end So you know there definitely that I think that what keeps people on the hook you know Okay now you all garden so beautifully on this show The gardens are absolutely beautiful And I was wondering do you have a green thumb

You know, you'd think I would, but I certainly don't. And I, you know, when I was in L.A. a couple of years ago working on something, I lived out there

We had a nice balcony. I was like, oh, we better we better get some plants. So I had I had basil

I had tomatoes. I had succulents. Succulents are supposed to be the easiest to keep alive

Nope. Definitely didn't keep that alive. And the basil ended up tasting like licorice

So that was a complete mess. So hopefully, fingers crossed, if we make season two, I will actually spend some time actually learning from my character

who is like an expert in gardening, and started gardening my own

Because look, I think it's a great thing. I just, I don't really, my talents are in other things

I think. You know, and working with this cast, it must be just so much fun to have this beautiful

you all work so well together. It must be so much fun to create this week after week

It really is. You know, you can't, chemistry is something that you just can't fake

You know, you either have it or you don't. And, you know, when we first showed up on set

that first day in Atlanta, we were all, we flew in for the pilot. The four of us sat down to dinner

We all took a collective, just like deep breath and sigh of relief. And we are very close in real life

You know, we just hit it off right off the bat. And we really enjoyed, you know, volleying together with the dialogue

And we just had the best, especially those garden scenes. We just had the best time, you know, just the best time

Did you do a chemistry read before you all got cast? Or you just arrived at Atlanta and like, here's the four of you

Let's do a table read. yeah well we i did a chemistry read with anna sofia rob who plays alice because she also is

based in new york city so she had just gotten the role and i had auditioned and they're like okay

we want to screen test you with anna sofia and uh in that day funny enough uh smart list sean

hayes's podcast they were recording in um radio city so they had shut down the block and i was

supposed to go into 30 Rock to do my screen test. It was a torrential downpour. And I meet Ana

Sofia on the corner of the street. And I'm trying to put my umbrella down. Nice to meet you. It's

jammed. I slam it down and I cut my thumb open and there's still a scar right there from it

And she's like digging through her purse. She's like, I don't think I have a bandaid. I don't

you know. And then the assistant from the casting office comes down and they don't have a bandaid

So I'm walking up, you know, holding this wound. And it was kind of the perfect thing to happen because it really just broke the ice, you know

And it was as if we'd known each other forever. So, you know, it really, again, no pun intended, we just ripped the Band-Aid right off, you know

So that was a lot of fun. And I'm glad that it happened that way because it's, you know, these days it's all on Zoom

So it's nice to be in a room with somebody and, you know, like as actor to actor, it's just, you know, nothing better

no see I did the same thing with an umbrella I tried to shut it down and it just I I ripped

through my hand too at some point and I was like and it came a brand new umbrella just happened the

first day I tried to put it down so I knew you would hurt yourself and I was like wow can you

imagine going in for like this incredible thing you know at Rockefeller Center and it's a big deal

and here's your chemistry read and you're like oh my god I just got my I know and it's like you

think I think you think at this point I'd invest in like a nice umbrella but I don't because I just

have these random swag like i it's an old rusty umbrella from glass house tavern that like one of

the you know one of the one of the things is like you know the fabric is off of it so it's all janky

anyway so i think what that taught me is like i need to invest in a nice you know uh adult umbrella

i do the same thing i buy these cheap umbrellas so i always leave them at the theater i i clap at

the end of a show and i walk out to the street and it's random like oh my gosh i gotta go back

and get my umbrella or I've left it somewhere. Exactly. So, you know, I want to ask you

you're about to go to the West End to do Goodnight Oscar, which we all fell in love with on Broadway last season

I mean, just incredible piece of work. I mean, how excited are you

I, it's hard to believe that it's real. You know, it's a real pinch me moment for me

I, you know, coming up through training at Juilliard and training in the classics and all that kind of stuff

I've always had my eye on performing in London and it's so rare for us here in the US to have an opportunity to do that

A West End debut for us is a rare thing So I feel really fortunate And also just to able to to reinvest in a role that I started playing in 2022 And this is the third iteration you know Goodman

Velasco on Broadway, and now the Barbican in London, it'll be really exciting to

to kind of put the suit back on and see, you know, we've all lived a couple of two years of

life between Broadway and West End is to see what new stuff we can mine, what new nuances we can find

But, you know, doing this with Sean is is an absolute dream. Sean, over the past few years, has become a very close friend and collaborator and mentor even

And and I just I'm excited to sort of, you know, it took us years to develop that that sort of what we have, especially in that talk show

So I just can't wait to dive back in with him now. Because, of course, you play Jack Parr and he plays Oscar Levant

I mean, how he did that eight times a week at the Belasco was mind-blowing

but probably one of the finest performances I have seen in all the years

that I've been going to the theater since I was 10 years old going to Broadway. Yeah, it's very impressive, yeah

So it's got to be so great for you, West End debut for you and for him

and to bring this show over there. What a beautiful theater you're playing in too

Oh, yeah, yeah. And I think it's interesting because the Barbican, I've never been there. But I mean, from all the pictures and what I've heard is, you know, it's a very vast space, I guess, almost like the winter garden in terms of width and all of that. And, you know, the Belasco is such a different playing space. So it'd be interesting to see how we kind of calibrate it for a new house. You know, that'll be a lot of fun

So we have to give a big shout out to your wife too, Megan Cain, who of course is one of the co-stars

of the hit musical Smash. I mean, I was sitting with you and her parents

That's right. We all went to the show and it was just so wonderful to watch her up there, but then to sort of turn

and watch you and her parents just watch her make magic on Broadway

I mean, is she going to get a chance to come over to the West End? Yeah, she is

She's going to be able to come over for opening night and that's also her birthday week

So we'll be able to have that week in London opening, her birthday. And it's funny enough, this is our first time

in all of our years together going overseas together. We've been to the islands

We've been Canada, Mexico, all over the US, but we've never been to Europe together

So this will be a really exciting time for us. No, it's great though, because you were doing TV

She was doing Broadway or, you know, you were both on Broadway at the same time, weren't you

Yeah, back during Good Night Oscar, we were one block away from each other she was doing and juliette i was at the blasco she was

at steven sondheim and we had and the the little the parking garage that connects those two blocks

we used to go through we called it the tunnel of love because that's what we would do on you know

dinner breaks and as we'd walk to work um that was i mean that was six months on broadway at the same

time on the same block is uh pretty rare very special yeah very special i mean just just to

have a career in this business today anywhere on tv or film or on broadway and i mean just what's

happened for the both of you but i'm just so happy for you because this this tv series is so beautiful

the one you're doing and you know we're all left with these cliffhangers at the end of season one

so i'm you know i'm one of the legions of fans that cannot wait you know for season two but that

can be binge watched right now at peacock what are you the proudest of of this tv show ben you know

I'm proudest of the camaraderie we all had on set. I mean, truly, it was one of the most, you know

it didn't feel like work because you're going every day to a place where

you know, you love the thing that you do. So we created beautiful art together, but we just

we really fostered an environment of love, support, and trust. And I really believe that that bleeds through on screen in all departments

and so I think I'm most proud of that and that has a lot to do with Jenna and Bill, our creators

they are really special artists and leaders and created an environment of real collaboration

and that's really special Well, like I said, once again, Grosse Pointe Garden Society

you can binge watch all 13 episodes of Season 1 on Peacock

it's such an incredible show to watch and Ben it's always a pleasure to see you my friend. Thank you Richie I really appreciate it

it's great to see you too. And I hope I get to see you before you head on over there but I think I'll

be heading back to Smash again to see your wife again in that. Oh for sure and I hope you can come

to London and check us out over there at some point. Okay you just said it. Next stop London

Great. Everybody have a wonderful time we'll see you all at the theater. Take care