NW Democrat-Gazette

DYLAN MCDERMOTT

The Practice and American Horror Story star, 59, is back for season two of Law & Order: Organized Crime (Sept. 23 on NBC), reprising his role as master crime boss Richard Wheatley. Jailed by Detective Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Wheatley will find out if charges will be dropped or if he’ll face 25 years in prison.

Your character has always thought he’s the smartest man in the room. How is he doing now that Stabler has taken him down? A lot of these gangsters know they’ve got to go to jail; they know that they’re going to do time here and there along the way. So I don’t think he’s surprised. I think he looks at it as temporary, and he will be getting out and be back to business again.

What made Richard Wheatley such a delicious character to play? I grew up with these unsavory gangster [types] as a kid. My mother’s boyfriend was a bank robber, my uncles had dabbled in this and that. I grew up in the Village, Little Italy, and had been around when Joey Gallo got killed, and Paul Castellano [was shot dead] at Sparks Steak House. I waited on these guys as a bartender, waiter and a busboy, so I knew the lay of the land.

How often do people confuse you with actor Dermot Mulroney? We actually have become friends over time. He’s such a wonderful guy. He came on LA to Vegas, and he had the best time ever. We talked about the 30 years of confusion with our careers. And we ultimately decided if we were just one person and had that combined career, we would be so successful.

Coming up for you in November is King Richard, the story of Venus and Serena Williams, in which you play a fictional sports agent. I fell in love with the story. I didn’t know the complexity of how Venus and Serena grew up, their father and the passion this man had. These two young women who shook the world of tennis and the man who believed that they could be the greatest tennis players ever—it’s such a phenomenal story.

Personality

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2021-09-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

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