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DEADLINE:What was the most alluring aspect of this project?
Was it working for David E. Kelley?
Did he let you know that your character would eventually shine later on in the story?
Tom PelphreyHBO Max
TOM PELPHREY:He did let me know.
They sent me the first four episodes when I was in New Mexico doing Outer Range.
I planned to read one a night.
I sat down and read all four in a row.
I couldnt put the scripts down.
I was so fascinated by the story because Id never heard of it before.
But at the time, Don was barely in the first four scripts.
I was sort of confused.
I was like, guys, I dont understand why David would want me to do this.
He was like, do me a favor and just go look into this guy a little bit.
Youre gonna love him as much as I did.
I took him at his word.
And he was right.
Don really got his moment in the sun toward the end of the show.
And then having David Kelley write your courtroom banter?
I mean, is there anybody better at writing that kind of stuff than he is?
DEADLINE:So you read everything you could learn about Don Crowder?
PELPHREY:Yeah, I did.
I mean, they gave us the source material.
David was extremely faithful to a lot of what was in the source material.
I really fell in love with the guy.
It was the most fun Ive ever had playing a character.
And I think part of it was just the research I did into the man himself.
DEADLINE:How did you shoot this when you were busy onOuter RangeandOzark?
PELPHREY:It was in the middle of a crazy, little jigsaw puzzle.
DEADLINE:Did Don think highly of himself?
PELPHREY:I think Don had a very healthy amount of confidence, for sure.
He saw the way that the police were handling the investigation and he saw it as overstepping.
How did you quite literally find Dons voice, that accent?
PELPHREY:I just tried to listen to people with a Texas accent.
He said, You sound exactly like one of the guys I grew up with.
Jesse grew up in a small town not too far outside of Austin.
He also wears a little smile.
Why do you think that was important to the story?
He switched the storytelling perspective because we cant access Candy at that time.
Like, literally and metaphorically, shes checked out because shes taking Serax.
We see him get ready for court, and then he goes in to start questioning Candy.
Lizzies performance is so powerful.
Don forces her to look at the ax she used to kill Betty.
DEADLINE:Was Dons line of questioning and closing argument pulled directly from the court transcript
PELPHREY:Yes.
DEADLINE:So he did say this was an American tragedy.
Obviously theres a tragic element to it.
PELPHREY:Yes, it was brilliant.
Don was a personal injury lawyer.
He quickly identified with Candy and obviously all the media attention that she was drawing.
DEADLINE:Do you think justice was served?
I mean, that would imply that she planned what she did.
If they tried her on manslaughter, I think they wouldve gotten a conviction.
DEADLINE:After playing him, did you want to know why Don killed himself?
Did you think about that a lot?
PELPHREY:It had a weird impact.
It made me very sad to learn that.
I really loved learning about this man.
He was a really active member in a really positive way in the community.
DEADLINE:This limited series really makes you like Candy.
Was that your takeaway?
PELPHREY:It was kind of hard not to like her.
I think Elizabeths work is absolutely fucking incredible.
Like, I didnt see that erupting until it erupted, you know?
In moments of extreme duress, it can manifest itself.
I just think Lizzie did a masterful job of finding the depth of the character.
That went a long way to getting us on her side.
DEADLINE:Looking back on your career, what was the game-changing role for you?
PELPHREY:Ben onOzark.
There were more offers, there was more doors open.
Its one thing to do good work.
Its another thing to get the opportunity to do good work on a good show.
You take all those things seriously.
Love & Deathis streaming on Max.
