Anthony Carrigan had appeared in several movies and TV shows (including Fox's Gotham) before landing what was initially supposed to be a fairly minor role in Barry, but his performance as lovable Czechian gangster NoHo Hank saw him emerge as the standout character in HBO's blackly funny drama series (he picked up an Emmy Award nomination tonight).
Earlier today, the trades announced that Carrigan has joined the ever-expanding cast of James Gunn's Superman: Legacy as Metamorpho, and the actor has now commented on playing a superhero in what will easily be his biggest project to date.
“It’ll certainly be a bit of a jump,” Carrigan told Variety. “I’m excited just to shake things up. Noho Hank is such a specific character, and I’m excited to play someone completely different and surprise people with just being unrecognizable.”
Carrigan revealed that he “dove in as much as I could in the limited time that I did have” during the audition process.
“I was able to find things that I just love about the character — he’s so low-key incredible, I’m surprised that more people haven’t heard of him,” he added. “I think he’s one of the coolest characters out there, so to get to bring him to light is something really special and it’s also really, really unique.”
In a separate interview with Deadline, Carrigan explained the parallels he sees with Metamorpho and the obstacles he's had to overcome in his own life.
“I certainly think that at least in the source material, Metamorpho, when he was transformed into his superhero state, I think he was very reluctant to have it because he felt like he was a freak and he felt like he was no longer who he was. I can certainly kind of relate to that, in terms of my alopecia. So, that’s definitely something that I’ll be channeling and am excited to bring to the character itself.”
The addition of so many other DC characters (Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and Mr. Terrific will also be involved) hasn't gone over too well with everyone, but Gunn has assured fans that Superman (David Corenswet) and Lois (Rachel Brosnahan) will remain the focus of the story.