Do you think there’s something about the Canadian sense of humour and the British sense of humour that just kind of syncs up?
Yeah, growing up I remember being exposed to Monty Python in early high school. Some people in the States were aware of them, but I think it was much more popular in Canada. You know, we are a Commonwealth [nation]. So, yes . . . I think Canadians will like this show.
Does the fact that the series is set in Miami and features an international cast bouncing off one another, culturally and comedically, create a flavour you wouldn’t get if it were just set in the U.K.?
That’s what makes this season different from prior seasons of this show. It’s been awhile since the last season; this is pretty much a standalone season in the sense that you don’t have to have seen any of the other ones to appreciate it. But the element that it adds is an international cast speaking the words of [creator] John Morton — which are very specific. It’s a very specific style of writing. You have this soccer tournament that shall not be named — if you’ve seen the show, it’s bleeped out every time we mention it . . .
It starts with an “F.” That’s all I was able to make out . . .
Maybe. It may end with an “A” . . . But yeah, I think there is a broad appeal. I don’t know if there’s any other show out there that’s specifically set in the world of the . . . soccer tournament that’s about to happen. So, you have that. You have the fact that it’s an international cast. You have the fact that it’s John Morton, which means that it’s come out of the brain of a genius. And you have Hugh Bonneville [as the leading man], who is a national treasure over there — and I think kind of over here, too. He has a very lovable brand — just who he is. So, it has a lot going for it.
Beneath all the absurdity, what’s the aspect of the human experience being explored and satirized in Twenty Twenty Six?
On a broader scale, I don’t know. That’s a large question. On a smaller scale, the characters each feel like a real person has been boiled down to their essence — the thing that makes them kind of ridiculous — and that thing becomes who they are, all the time. It’s almost like clowning.
My character is an a**hole New York lawyer guy. And whatever those words mean — “a**hole New York lawyer” — that’s the pedal I get to hit every time I get to talk. There’s different variations, but they all feel heightened in the sense that it’s not naturalistic, this style. It’s more of a heightened naturalism. But it really does just make fun of people — and nobody is immune to it. From top to bottom, it feels like a writer is making fun of that “type” of person, and it feels accurate. You’re like, “Oh my God, I know that guy” or “I know that woman.” And then you put them all together, they’re bouncing around like pinballs, and hilarity ensues.
Do you think you could play an a**hole Connecticut lawyer, or is a**hole New York lawyer more your speed?
Well, I live in New York, so there’s something specific. That’s the thing that makes it so good. [John Morton] gets very specific. Even when I read the breakdown . . . the character description was so long and so well-written that I was like, “I know exactly who this guy is.” And it made it really easy and really fun to play, because I didn’t have to make much up as far as who this guy was.
One of the key elements of the show is David Tennant narrating all of Ian and the team’s antics — as if he’s a proper BBC documentarian narrating a lion stalking the Serengeti . . .
I thought it was a little like [British children’s show] Peppa Pig. It’s absolutely what you just said — but I feel like it’s mixed with Peppa Pig in the sense that it’s narrating a lot of things that don’t need to be narrated. Like, “He’s walking into a conference room” . . . as he’s walking in.
David Tennant is so funny, and the narration is arguably the funniest and most well-written part of the show. It’s definitely what makes it what it is, and different from other shows . . . He’s making fun of everything — and everybody. And again, all of it just goes back to John. The whole thing is, John making fun of everything. What I realized when I started watching W1A — because they sent it with the audition — at first I was like, “What is this?” And then I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is genius.” If you can get on the wavelength of John Morton, you realize that basically every single line is funny. And it’s not mean . . . it’s almost mean, maybe. It’s accurate.
Like, when he’s making fun of Americans, I think it’s hilarious. Some Americans might be offended, but there is something kind of, I don’t know, lighthearted . . .
As petty and dysfunctional as this oversight team is, are they able to stumble across a process that actually sort of functions? Is the show making a commentary on that at all?
I like the arguments — everybody seems to think they know what’s right, and it seems like no one knows what’s right . . .
I’ve never worked in a conference room type environment. But I feel like it was the same with W1A. Out of conflict comes better solutions sometimes. So, even though it’s conflict, it’s productive. And by the end of the season, I think the main cast starts to gel more, and you can tell that they’ve hit a stride . . .
Looking at your career in general, do you feel like you carry your Canadian-ness with you? We are so similar to the U.S., we can walk among them undetected . . . are people ever surprised when they find out you’re from north of the border?
I think the cat’s out of the bag at this point. I’m proud to be Canadian . . . It’s funny, I was just thinking back to when I first started acting, how I had to kind of modify my Canadian accent and drop certain things. You know how we say, “Grade Five, Grade Six, Grade Seven?” When I was in high school, I got a part in a Disney movie [My Date With the President’s Daughter] and I said, “Yeah, you know what it’s like to be in Grade 10?” They were like, “Cut!” And the script supervisor came over and they’re like, “It’s 10th Grade.” I’m like, “No, no, it’s Grade 10.” I didn’t even understand what she was talking about.
But I realized at that point that to work in the American film industry, I had to be aware that it is kind of like learning a new accent. Even though it’s perhaps less obvious than a British accent, it still is an accent — and I had to learn how to hide it. It’s kind of gone now, I think. I have trouble even imitating a Canadian accent . . . other than the word “about.”
Twenty Twenty Six, airing on BBC First
MEMORABLE ROLES:
The pride of Brampton, Ontario, Paulo Costanzo has been a fixture of the North American film and TV landscape for over two decades. On the big screen, he had breakout supporting turns in early 2000s comedies Road Trip, Josie and the Pussycats and 40 Days and 40 Nights. On the small one, in 2004 he landed a series regular role in NBC’s short-lived Friends spinoff Joey, playing Matt LeBlanc’s hopelessly geeky nephew. In 2009, he joined medical dramedy Royal Pains — spending eight seasons as Evan, enterprising brother/business partner to the Hamptons’ resident “concierge doctor” Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein). Other notable TV credits include cult-hit outer-space epic The Expanse, HBO crime thriller The Night Of, political drama Designated Survivor and, most recently, Prime Video’s timely sci-fi romp Upload.
CURRENT GIG:
Master satirist John Morton pens another mockumentary about the small human foibles and squabbles behind large-scale operations. After skewering the London Olympics in Twenty Twelve and the boardrooms of the BBC in W1A, Twenty Twenty Six picks back up with hapless bureaucrat Ian Fletcher (Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville) as he skips across the pond to Miami, joining the oversight team tasked to organize the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A key member of that eclectic, dysfunctional group is hot-headed VP of business and legal affairs Nick Castellano, played by Canadian Paulo Costanzo. Less than a week out from kick-off at the real-world World Cup, a marathon of all six episodes will run this Saturday morning on BBC First.