Dope Thief's Brian Tyree Henry & Wagner Moura Talk Becoming 'Brothers for Life'

Parade

While making Dope Thief, Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura developed a friendship that will last a lifetime. In the new Apple TV+ series, the actors play two men who pose as DEA agents to rob drug dealers while both characters battle addiction. The premise is enough to be compelling, but it's the connection between Henry and Moura that ties it all together.

Transcript

00:00I'm 48 and I've been doing this...

00:01Why do you feel the need to tell everybody the way?

00:03Because you said, you said I was 51.

00:08Didn't I f***ing said that I was 51 on the day of my birthday?

00:17It really is about the person, right?

00:20Like Wagner already in and of itself is one of the most amazing talents I've ever seen.

00:25But then when you get to meet the man,

00:27we knew in order to tell the truth of Ray and Manny, it involved a lot of care.

00:32It involved a lot of closeness and involved a lot of vulnerability.

00:36And I'm so grateful that Wagner is all those things as a person.

00:42And then when he added those layers to the character, it just elevated everything.

00:46It ends with us, you hear me?

00:48The only people that can stop this is me and you.

00:52Just me and you.

00:53We really wanted people to see that because like,

00:56if you have this story where you're following these two petty criminals that,

01:01you know, are kind of antiheroes,

01:03if the relationship isn't there and the care isn't there, it's going to be hard to follow.

01:08And because you're seeing these two men who have been in each other's lives in the most

01:11dire of circumstances and had so many restrictions placed upon them,

01:15and they're just trying to survive.

01:17I think that it would not have worked in any other way if it didn't have

01:21someone who has the spirit like Wagner.

01:23Wow, I don't know what to say.

01:25I mean, I'm 48 and I've been doing this.

01:28Why do you feel the need to tell everybody away?

01:30Because you said, because you said I was 51.

01:33I'm not!

01:34This is what I said that I was 51 on the day of my birthday.

01:39In my life, I've been doing this since I was 15, right?

01:43And then for me, from the bottom of my heart, what really matters nowadays is this.

01:50Is the encounters, the people that I meet.

01:52You know, of course, I want the things that I do to be super successful.

01:56I want these people to, I want people to see.

01:57But what really matters to me is the people that I meet and the relationships that I'll do.

02:02The things that I live, the places that I did, the things that I learned, you know.

02:08And meeting Brian was a very, very special thing.

02:12I think we sort of mirrored the relationship of Ray and Manny,

02:15because I was in a very vulnerable situation in many moments throughout the show.

02:22And I knew I had him there.

02:25And I still do.

02:26You always will, man.

02:27You know, and the other thing is like, the other thing that you try to do as an actor,

02:34you want to work with the best actors.

02:37You want to elevate your game.

02:38You want to be with the best.

02:40And Brian, he's one of the best American actors.

02:44Yeah, there's a phrase that goes around on set.

02:48It starts from the top.

02:49That's the phrase.

02:50And that has to do with a lot of things.

02:53Mostly, it has to do with morale and energy and care is what I notice.

02:57Like, because I'm on the ground, you know,

03:00I know what it's like to have the 5 a.m. pickup to sit in hair and makeup,

03:03what this prep looks like.

03:04OK, and then the costume happens.

03:06How long does it take for these rips to get this up?

03:08The setups look like this.

03:10OK, well, I care about that stuff.

03:12Because every individual, it takes an individual in that department

03:17to do this thing and make it happen.

03:19It's a collaboration.

03:20Like, no one person is bigger than this show.

03:22And I would say that all the time.

03:23It's like, no one person is bigger than this show.

03:24That includes me.

03:25Like, no one.

03:26We are all coming together.

03:27We are all leaving our families, leaving our homes.

03:29We are laying in the middle of the street when it's 30 degrees.

03:32We are doing all these things.

03:33And I cannot, I absolutely cannot do it without them.

03:36And all I really wanted was for everyone to understand that I knew that

03:41I felt that, and that they were seen, and that they were taken care of.

03:44Because, like, we're asking people to come and run around and follow us

03:48in the land of make-believe for however many hours a day.

03:51Every single person had a hand on a brick that built that foundation.

03:55And I just always wanted to always let them know that.

03:58It was grueling, but it was also the most satisfying thing

04:01I've ever done in my career, truly.

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