INTERVIEW: Dominic Cooper and Douglas Booth Talk ‘That Dirty Black Bag’ and the Dynamic Between Red Bill and Arthur
If you’re in the mood for a western with a bit of a modern twist to it, then That Dirty Black Bag is the new show for you! The series takes us on a journey with a bounty hunter named Red Bill and the sheriff Arthur McCoy, who is trying to stop him, and throughout their journey, we’re confronted with people trying to hurt them and take from them in a way that only this style of show can do.
That Dirty Black Bag is the kind of show that wraps you into the world of the western with a bit of a twist and fully keeps you on the edge of your seat. It stars Douglas Booth as Red Bill and Dominic Cooper as Arthur McCoy, and the two (who are very good friends in real life) aren’t exactly on the same team, and their dynamic is one that drives the show entirely.
Both Booth and Cooper talked highly of each other in our interviews and shared how much they got along and knew each other prior to making the show, but seeing how that informed their less-than-friendly bond with each other in the AMC+ show, it’s clear that they also really enjoyed the rival dynamic between Red Bill and Arthur.
“I knew Dominic was attached and he’s a good friend of mine and the idea of going off on this adventure with him was an exciting one,” Douglas Booth said when I asked what brought him into the project in the first place. When I pointed out that the two characters aren’t exactly best friends and how was that relationship to work out, Booth went on to say, “Well, we wind each other up so much that it was perfect. It was actually perfect in the weird ways it mirrored real life. His mother was my nursery school teacher, I’ve known him for a while and his girlfriend [actress Gemma Chan] is one of my best friends so yeah, I just thought it’d be fun. I thought the world they’d created was brilliant and it was something that I would want to watch.”
What’s clear about Douglas Booth and Dominic Cooper is that they liked having each other there on set to work with, because it allowed them to relax into the roles of Red Bill and Arthur and take risks they might not have if they didn’t know their co-star so well.
“We have kind of a funny relationship. Like he said to you, we have known each other for years and years but he’s always been wonderfully, how do you describe it…we have a very funny relationship, we laugh a lot together but it’s because of our humor, he often gets the upper-hand, he often dismisses, he’s very good he has a sharp tongue and I find him very funny but he always gets me,” Dominic Cooper said of the relationship between himself and Booth in real life. “And we spoke early on about how this would become, rather than it just being a sheriff chasing a bounty hunter, we liked how he sort of always got the upper-hand in the majority of the scenes and that was fun. And it was great to have a friend that you could take risks and try things out and possibly fail whereas if you’re meeting a new cast for the first time, you often go to where you feel safe.”
You can see our full interview here!
That Dirty Black Bag is airing on AMC+ now!
(image: AMC+)
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