Euphoria’s Darrell Britt-Gibson Plays a ‘Ninja in a World of Cowboys’

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Euphoria was once a provocative teen drama, but in its third season, the lens has widened to depict an underworld of drug dealing, sex work, and violence where the stakes are existential and deadly. It is in this world that we are introduced to Bishop when Zendaya’s Rue meets him at the Silver Slipper, the strip club owned by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Alamo. As Alamo’s right-hand man, Darrell Britt-Gibson portrays Bishop with a lurking, enigmatic energy that personifies danger and can put the fear of God into anyone who dares challenge his boss.

This week, Bishop goes on a mission to get the last word on the “tit for tat” that started when Laurie (Martha Kelly) called Alamo “a fucking pig.” Alamo retaliates by unleashing an enormous pig into Laurie’s house (it ends up shot dead back at the Silver Slipper). Bishop is enlisted to poison Laurie’s beloved parrot, Paladin, a task he accomplishes with characteristic stealth, even though he, like Britt-Gibson, loves animals.

Bishop’s die-hard commitment to Alamo’s operation and brief moments of humor are a highlight of Euphoria’s venture into Tarantino-esque crime plots. In preparing to play Bishop, Britt-Gibson referenced Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. He also looked at cartoons as well as Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai to pin down Bishop’s inscrutable air. “I envisioned Bishop being a ninja in a world full of cowboys,” he explains. “How can you be present even if you aren’t speaking all of the time? And how does that motivate another character’s energy?”

What was it like for you coming into this highly anticipated season of Euphoria? Had you seen the show before?
I had not watched the show. Of course, I knew about it. It’s impossible to be a living, breathing human being and not know about Euphoria in some capacity. I had just finished doing a very long, intense press run for the film that I wrote, She Taught Love. It was so hard trying to get people to watch this film that meant everything. It’s a Black love story. It put me through the wringer physically, and I was like, You know what? I don’t really want to act; I need to sit and be still and ground myself, because of how it made me feel.

Then this audition came through. I remember trying to connect the dots, because I’m thinking, Euphoria … Aren’t they in high school? What am I going to be? A guidance counselor? But everybody was like, “You should just do it.” I do this tape. I don’t really hear anything about it. I honestly forgot about it. Then I got a call from them that they loved the tape. Sam Levinson wanted to do a Zoom with me. I remember I had a photo of me when I was 4 years old dressed up as a cowboy. I remember showing him, because thematically, they’re talking about cowboys. Another couple of months passed, and, “The role that you originally read for, you skewed too young for it. But Sam loves you so much. He wants to craft this character for you.” I think Bishop was originally there, but he wasn’t fully fleshed out the way that he is now.

So you originally auditioned for Alamo?
Yeah.

This season deals with a lot of American western mythology. How do you think Bishop fits within that mythology? 
I envisioned Bishop being a ninja in a world full of cowboys. I studied samurai for it, Buddhist monks. A big inspiration was Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, that stillness … How does a samurai move in the West? I watched Seven Samurai. I brought all these ideas to the table with Sam, and, you know, sometimes an actor brings ideas, and the director is like, “No, no, and no.” But every idea that I brought to Sam, he was like, “Yes, yes, and yes.”

Bishop is kind of a cipher. He’s enigmatic and mysterious, but little by little, he’s revealing himself to the audience.
I never wanted Bishop’s resting heart rate to be above 65, so that’s how I would be on set. I was always going to try to keep my heart rate at 65 and below, because that is how calm he has to be in any situation.

The first person Rue meets in Alamo’s world is Bishop. There’s a great exchange between Bishop and Kidd in the first episode, in which Bishop calls Kidd out on counting cards and says something about luck. That made me think, Okay, this is a guy we have to watch out for. 
I don’t think Bishop believes in luck. Bishop believes in fate. Bishop believes that what is supposed to happen is going to happen, and there’s no way around that. In that scene, Asante Blackk’s character Kidd says, “I got lucky,” and Bishop is like, “There is no luck.”

I guess if you really believe that, then there is actually nothing to fear. 
Exactly. He operates from a space of zero fear, you know? That’s what’s so beautiful about this character.

Bishop is this wise, fearless character, and Alamo and G are a bit more extroverted. What was it like working with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Marshawn Lynch on that dynamic?
I love those dudes. Those are my brothers. It was a total joy to work with them every day. I remember our first day — it was me, Marshawn, and Adewale — we’re sitting in one of the trailers, and we’re doing a scene. Everybody had already come so prepared with what they wanted their character to be, and in that moment, you’re like, This just works. Sometimes people can write Black people as a monolith. But these are vastly different characters and vastly different individuals. That’s what makes it zip and hum the way it does.

This week, there’s a big confrontation between Bishop and Laurie’s crew. It’s a racialized conflict; Laurie and her guys are explicitly presented as racist characters. I’m wondering how that racial context informed the way you approached that scene. 
There is not a room Bishop will walk into that he would fear. So he walks into this room full of these racist, neo-Nazi, hillbilly guys, and it doesn’t faze him. In that room, Bishop is saying to himself, “I am outnumbered, but everybody should be way more afraid of me than I should ever be afraid of them.”

In that scene, Bishop has two goals. He needs to poison the bird, and he needs to show up Laurie’s crew. I thought it was a great character moment and a more active moment from Bishop than we’ve seen so far. He scares the shit out of Laurie. Afterward, everybody is like, What was that?  
They are aware of Alamo. They have done business with him. They know who he is, and then the bogeyman shows up. It makes Alamo more of a threat that Bishop exists. They know how to get under Alamo’s skin, then Bishop walks in, and they’re like, We didn’t plan for this. He doesn’t flinch in the face of perceived danger. There’s a little bit of ballet in his movements, so fluid. There’s no wasted movement with Bishop.

I was curious to know what it was like coming into that. Bishop is part of this sect of new characters that are really vital to the story. What was the dynamic like on set, working with the established ensemble cast that had been doing this for a few years already?
I have worked with some of the greatest actors in the world — Daniel Kaluuya, Sam Rockwell, Frances McDormand — and I consider these people family. I never go to a set feeling anxious about being there. I tell any actor who will listen: When you get to a set, remember that you’re supposed to be there. Coming to this set was no different; it just so happened that everybody was so lovely. Working with Zendaya, that’s family. I never felt like I was new. I was never given the opportunity to feel like I was new, because I was embraced with such love from the second I stepped on set.

That comes off in the dynamic between Rue, Alamo, Bishop, and G. It feels really lived-in. 
It’s this “iron sharpens iron” mentality. Everybody is bringing their hard hats and their best work, and you don’t want to be the person who doesn’t bring their best work, because you’re going to be dancing with some of the best, so you better be ready to do it.

Bishop is an animal lover, and it’s kind of an unexpected point of connection between him and Laurie. 
That’s the thing. He can’t lie. He’s a soldier for Alamo, and he’s being asked to do something, so he’s going to do that thing, even if it goes against who he really is, which is someone who genuinely loves animals.

We have to talk about the pig scene. My favorite line is when Bishop looks at it, all bloodied and dead on the floor, and goes, “It is a beautiful pig.” What was that day like on set? 
I think they were twins — there were really big pigs running through the club. I genuinely love animals. So I would just walk over and talk to the handlers. Anytime I’m on a set or anywhere with an animal, it becomes the most important thing for me. I just want to live with animals, so being on set with them, I’m like, “Oh, it’s the best day of the year.”

They were huge, too. 
They’re gigantic, but they’re beautiful. Have you ever seen Babe? One of the greatest movies ever made. If it’s ever on, I have to stop what I’m doing and be like, Well, I’m here for the next hour and 40 minutes. The cool thing about it is that because those pigs are on set, they’re actors now. They were probably going to be sent to slaughter, but because they’re actors now, that’s not going to happen. They get to live their beautiful, natural lives. I could talk to you about animals forever. I literally wanted to be a zookeeper when I was a kid, so it goes deep.

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