{"id":623388,"date":"2026-10-07T14:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/623388\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:52:12","slug":"nobodys-having-the-year-keith-david-is-having","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/623388\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobody\u2019s having the year Keith David is having"},"content":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t have a career like Keith David\u2019s\u2014400-plus roles on stage and screen, three Emmys, and a Tony nomination\u2014without hitting some hot streaks. Consider his 2009, which was bookended by his turns as Coraline<\/a>\u2019s feline guide to The Other World and The Princess And The Frog<\/a>\u2019s sinister Dr. Facilier. But the 70-year-old actor is currently on a heater for the ages: This past summer, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. His first season headlining the Rick And Morty spin-off President Curtis<\/a> just wrapped on Adult Swim, and his portrayal of haughty attorney Steve Nichols was one of the highlights of Netflix\u2019s canceled-too-soon Strip Law<\/a>. He\u2019ll soon be seen alongside Jake Johnson, Jane Levy, and Langston Kerman on Sunset P.I.<\/a>, the new NBC comedy created by Brooklyn Nine-Nine alums Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici. And, as he added in a phone interview with The A.V. Club, he also released his first solo album in February\u2014a standards collection titled Between Takes.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all without mentioning the role that brings him back to FX Wednesday, October 14: Marty Brunner, the Tulsa private eye with writerly ambitions that David plays on The Lowdown<\/a>. Now the managing editor of the show\u2019s fictional Heartland Press, Marty finds himself not only roped into the investigative work of self-proclaimed \u201ctruthstorian\u201d Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke), but overseeing the budget for those wild goose chases\u2014which, in the second season of the Sterlin Harjo-created series, revolve around a public defender played by Betty Gilpin and her client who\u2019s gone missing in an Oklahoma prison. Ahead of the season premiere, David spoke to The A.V. Club about the new season, playing the differences between himself and Marty and President Curtis, and why he thinks every actor is like a detective.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

The A.V. Club: When you reflect on your career does 2026 feel bigger than other years?<\/p>\n

Keith David: Yes. Certainly it\u2019s not every day you receive a star [on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame]. I\u2019m still reeling from that experience. It was such a great honor. I had bore witness to friends receiving it, and truthfully, I hadn\u2019t really given any thought to it ever happening to me until it happened.<\/p>\n

It still moves me right now, that I was able to be present for it. That I had my father there with me, that my wife and daughters and my son, my whole family, was there\u2014my first cousin, who is like a brother to me.<\/p>\n

If that was the only thing that happened to me this year, that would be enough. But I got season two of The Lowdown, and we\u2019re shooting the first season of another series, the sitcom that I\u2019m doing [Sunset P.I.]. And my first album came out. So it\u2019s been a wonderful, wonderful year.<\/p>\n

AVC: When did you first have a sense of how central Marty would be to The Lowdown?<\/p>\n

KD: When I talked to Sterlin about it initially, he said, \u201cHe\u2019s introduced in the first season, but he\u2019ll be very active in the second.\u201d And I said, \u201cOkay,\u201d and I was ready to go.<\/p>\n

I love how Marty\u2019s integral to the story, because he\u2019s just one of the few guys who really is on Lee\u2019s side. He understands what Lee is trying to do\u2014whether or not he agrees with the way he does it. But they\u2019re great allies and I like that.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

An exclusive first look at The Lowdown season 2, featuring Betty Gilpin as Ginger and Ethan Hawke as Lee (Photo: Shane Brown\/FX)<\/p>\n

AVC: Your relationship with Ethan Hawke goes back several years and a few projects now. How would you say that relationship has evolved over time?<\/p>\n

KD: It\u2019s a beautiful thing. I have other friends in the business whom I deeply,<\/p>\n

deeply respect\u2014a few who I\u2019ve known my whole professional career\u2014and watching them grow, I cannot tell you the place where it touches my soul. It fills me with hope, because I hope that I look like that to somebody\u2014that over the years, my work has deepened, my work has expanded. Because that\u2019s what I think of when I think of Ethan. He\u2019s just such a wonderful actor. And he\u2019s gotten some wonderful opportunities, and he has certainly squeezed every ounce of juice out of them.<\/p>\n

AVC: Who would you say is the person\u2014in your life, in your career\u2014who watched your work deepen and expand like that?<\/p>\n

KD: Well, my buddy Ruben Santiago-Hudson. I mean, I\u2019ve known him 40 years. He is one of the people who I\u2019ve done the most plays with. And I love him for life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s about to direct [August Wilson\u2019s] Seven Guitars at Lincoln Center. And we did Seven Guitars 30 years ago on Broadway, for which he won the Tony. And to watch his growth\u2014he\u2019s become a very prolific director. And rightly so. He is so sharp, his eye and his sensitivity, his sensibility\u2014with everything he does, but especially doing August\u2019s work, he is unparalleled. He just brings such depth and scope to the work that if I weren\u2019t myself, I would wish I were him.<\/p>\n

AVC: In other interviews about The Lowdown<\/a>, you\u2019ve mentioned that you\u2019ve always wanted to play a TV detective. After two seasons of playing Marty\u2014one in which he\u2019s still in PI mode in his new job\u2014has the role lived up to your hopes and expectations?<\/p>\n

KD: Oh, absolutely. In the TV detectives that I\u2019ve always loved and admired\u2014Matlock, Columbo, Rockford\u2014they get involved in a whole bunch of stuff in the midst of covering cases. And so does Marty. What I love about him is you also get a glimpse into his personal life and what he\u2019s interested in. And how, at this point in his life, having made a lot of personal sacrifices, what becomes important to him\u2014and his relationships are important to him. I love that development and being able to explore that and bring some of that to the table. Because it\u2019s not all directly spoken to.<\/p>\n

AVC: When those aspects aren\u2019t directly spoken to, how are you conjuring them in your performance or getting them across onscreen?<\/p>\n

KD: \u00a0Well, you can\u2019t play what\u2019s not there. However, within the scope of what you do have to play, if there\u2019s a moment to be eked out that\u2019s reflective and that can resonate in other realms other than the present situation you find yourself in, I\u2019m going to look for it. I\u2019m going to find that.<\/p>\n

AVC: Season two sees Marty really mixing it up with all the colorful personalities in The Lowdown\u2019s orbit\u2014he might be haggling over pay rates with Lee in one scene, and then going on an undercover mission with the characters played by Michael Hitchcock and Tommy Lee Jones the next. Is there anyone in the cast you haven\u2019t acted opposite yet that you\u2019re dying to get a scene with?<\/p>\n

KD: No, I\u2019ve gotten a chance to mix and mingle with everybody so far. If there\u2019s more to be had and if Sterlin writes more in there, I would love to be there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s another thing: I feel extremely blessed. It used to sound clich\u00e9 to me when every cast you get into, we\u2019d say [Affects sing-song voice.] \u201cOh, I love this person. We just love each other.\u201d But you know something? It\u2019s a cliche for a reason. Because when you\u2019re working in a nurturing, loving environment, there is no substitute for that. And I have been so blessed in my career and in my working life that I have gotten to work with so many wonderful people and great casts\u2014that is the gift that keeps on giving. It just brings me to my reality to say that the God of my understanding is good every day of the week and all the time.<\/p>\n

AVC: There\u2019s such a depth of talent and range of experiences and backgrounds within the cast\u2014what kinds of conversations are you having during the downtime on set?<\/p>\n

KD: What everybody else is talking about. Sometimes we talk about the state of the union. Sometimes we stay out of that and we talk about music. We talk a lot about what\u2019s going on in the scene: What is this scene about? Can we make it better?\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s another reason why I just adore working with Sterlin because it\u2019s one thing on the page when it comes out of the writers\u2019 room. And then when we get on set and we start to breathe life into it. Well, then sometimes something doesn\u2019t ring as true as it did in the office. So he\u2019s right there with us, willing and able to change it on the spot. And it\u2019s like, \u201cWow!\u201d It doesn\u2019t get better than that, man.<\/p>\n

AVC: Is that type of flexibility something you seek out in projects?<\/p>\n

KD: As much as possible. Adaptability is one of the things that keeps us alive. It keeps us young and keeps us from being dinosaurs. It\u2019s a really wonderful thing when you, when you\u2019re working with people who are confident enough to change. Different isn\u2019t always better\u2014but it can be.<\/p>\n

AVC: What did you pull from in order to play Marty zonked out on veterinary drugs after he\u2019s been shot in the first-season finale?<\/p>\n

KD: You don\u2019t want to know. [Laughs.] Just say I survived the \u201970s. If you live long enough, stuff happens, and you remember. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n

AVC: Do you have a general approach to playing intoxication? I\u2019ve always heard the best way to play drunk is to try to appear sober.<\/p>\n

KD: Well, most of the time, unless you\u2019re trying to get drunk just to be drunk, you\u2019re trying to enjoy yourself. You just happen to overload. So there\u2019s always something to fight against\u2014you don\u2019t want nobody else to know the degree of intoxication that you are. I find that\u2019s true in life, and that\u2019s how I approach the moment. Suddenly you\u2019re losing control of certain senses or your balance or something, but you\u2019re trying to maintain it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s always fun to play. Used to be a theme in old movies: [Sings.] \u201cHow dry I am, how dry I am, nobody knows how dry I am.\u201d That\u2019s what you lean into\u2014nobody knows but you. You don\u2019t want to be too over the top with it, either in life or in the playing of it. Fortunately, I have great people around me, like Sterlin, who will keep it balanced. They\u2019ll say, \u201cOkay, pull it back a little bit, it\u2019s too much,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s it. There you go, you got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

AVC: You were once asked about the \u201cattitude\u201d that unites your characters and performances<\/a>, and part of your answer was \u201cI try to find the differences, not the similarities, but it\u2019s still being filtered through me. So there are going to be some inherent similarities, but those are not the things I\u2019m looking for.\u201d What are the differences between you and Marty?<\/p>\n

KD: Marty is a deeper diver than me. When he gets involved with something, he really gets involved. His training as a PI and as a writer helps him to dive deeply into things and ask the right questions.<\/p>\n

Every actor, I believe, is a detective of sorts. And you want to explore and check out different time periods, you want to be observant of different personalities and personality types. And the way men and women behave in different periods of time\u2014a man\u2019s work ethic in the \u201950s is very different than what it is today, and different from ones from in the \u201970s. So what are those differences? I look for those. But Marty, as opposed to me, because he\u2019s a writer, I think he knows some of those resources a little bit better than I do. But I continue to learn.<\/p>\n

AVC: And what are the differences between yourself and President Curtis?<\/p>\n

KD: [Laughs.] I have a far better filter than Curtis. At least, at least I think I do. The thing that I love about him is he is an integrous man\u2014he has a deep integrity, but he doesn\u2019t have any filter. And he has a respect for the people and for the office that we don\u2019t see as much today. I like and respect that about him.<\/p>\n

AVC: What was it like to dig deeper into that character, and how does playing him across a full season of President Curtis differ from the guest appearances on Rick And Morty?<\/p>\n

KD: Well, you get to find out all the things about him. I not only get to discover things about him, but, the writers and the producers, they get to write into some of his strengths and his vulnerabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s, again, a gift, because you don\u2019t always get that when you\u2019re playing a character for a long time. When you\u2019ve been in a relationship with anybody, you don\u2019t find out everything about that person in a day. After 25 years, my wife still asks me, \u201cOh, when did you meet that person? How do you know them? You\u2019ve never talked about that person before.\u201d And I go, \u201cWell, it didn\u2019t come up.\u201d So the longer you get to play a character, things unfold.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

AVC: One of those things we learn about President Curtis is that he\u2019s quite the shower singer. How did that part of the show come about?<\/p>\n

KD: I don\u2019t know, probably because I\u2019m always singing in between takes. With those, it was something that I think we played with and then they decided to lean into it.<\/p>\n

AVC: You also have Sunset PI coming up on NBC at the beginning of next year. There\u2019s not a ton of information about that one out there yet\u2014what do you feel is the most important thing to know about that show before it premieres?<\/p>\n

KD: You\u2019re going to have a lot of fun. It\u2019s very funny, and it\u2019s a workplace sitcom about a couple of private eyes. And I play the owner of their agency. One is like my son. And one is my son.<\/p>\n

AVC: And now you\u2019ve gotten to live that dream of being a TV detective twice over.<\/p>\n

KD: Every day of my life I\u2019m living my dream. All my life I wanted to be an actor. And on my worst day, I\u2019m still an actor. The creator has gifted me with being able to live my dream. Sometimes dreams have rainy days, but I\u2019m living it. I have learned to be as thankful for what I label \u201cnot so good days\u201d as my good days. I haven\u2019t had a bad day in years. I have a bad moment, but I don\u2019t let that color the rest of my day.<\/p>\n

Erik Adams is The A.V. Club\u2019s senior TV editor.<\/p>\n

To make sure you\u2019re seeing more of our stories about The Lowdown and other TV shows worth watching, add The A.V. Club as a preferred source on Google<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You don\u2019t have a career like Keith David\u2019s\u2014400-plus roles on stage and screen, three Emmys, and a Tony…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-623388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}