Sam Rockwell appeared on the April 17 broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about playing Teach in the current Broadway revival of American Buffalo, opposite Laurence Fishburne and Darren Criss.
Directed by Neil Pepe, the production opened April 14 at Circle in the Square Theatre for a limited 16-week engagement. It follows three small-time hustlers in search of the American Dream. Originally slated to debut during the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, the show found its premiere delayed.
"We were shut down at the very beginning of [the] lockdown-pandemic. It was very tough. It was kind of heartbreaking. Of course, we thought it would be over in two weeks, a month, and so, Fishburne and I continued to run lines over FaceTime and Zoom, and occasionally Neil, the director, and Darren [Criss] would join." explained Rockwell. "Sometimes, even three times a week, we'd run lines."
The Golden Globe winner goes on to tell Fallon about his feeling towards famous people in the audience and a story about an audience member falling asleep in the front row. About the latter, he said, "I got pretty loud though. I tried to wake him up." Watch the complete interview above.
The production stars Fishburne as Donny and Criss as Bobby. It features set design by Scott Pask, costume design by Dede Ayite, and lighting design by Tyler Micoleau.
