INTERVIEW: Paul Walter Hauser Breaks Down Working in the ’90s for ‘Black Bird’

When it comes to true crime stories, I tend to watch documentaries on serial killers because fictionalized stories either change too many of the details or focus the energy on the murderer and less on the victims. Apple TV+ miniseries Black Bird finds a wonderful balance between giving a victim their time and showing just how twisted Larry Hall was.

The thing is, Larry is not a good man and we see that throughout the show, but we also get to see why people didn’t expect the murders involved to be at his hand. We see a “humanity” of sorts in how Larry presents himself to the world, to the point where his own brother didn’t want to believe it, even though he knew the signs all pointed to Larry. We believe that everyone in his hometown would just see him as that strange man but not someone who could commit murder, because of how Paul Walter Hauser brings him to life.

But this is also not the first time we’ve seen Hauser in the ’90s. The first I knew of him was with his performance as Shawn Eckhardt in the film I, Tonya. And he has a way of bringing these men we’ve known throughout history to life in a way that makes us interested in their story despite what we know they’ve done. So, I asked Hauser about his connection to the ’90s and why these iconic roles he’s been playing seem to be centered there.

“Yeah, I, Tonya, Richard Jewell, and this are all 90s stories, for the most part. Predominantly 1990s,” he said. “It’s probably just the place and time we’re at. Probably the luck of the draw of the timeline but having grown up in the 90s and being what I would call a 90s baby or a 90s kid.” We then went on to try and figure out the difference between a 90s kid and a 90s baby (I’m a 90s baby and he’d be a 90s kid was the resolution). “I guess 90s baby means I was born in the 90s, I was born in the 80s. I’m an 80s baby but more of a 90s kid where that decade is what I experienced and what was true for me. Yeah, I hope to keep telling more 90s stories. Maybe Olivia Wilde will put me in her Kerri Strug movie.”

You can see our full interview here!

The first two episodes of Black Bird are streaming on Apple TV+ now!

(featured image: Apple TV+)