Acclaimed actor Spencer Garrett chatted about starring in “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” on HBO Max.
Garrett is in the new HBO series about the Lakers, which premiered on March 6. Spencer plays Chick Hearn, the legendary Lakers announcer. “It has been amazing,” he exclaimed.
“It’s an incredible experience, we finished back in October, and it’s great to see how people have been responding to the show. I guess they love it enough and HBO loves it enough since we have been picked up for another season, and that’s very exciting. It is really gratifying and I can’t wait to get back to work,” he elaborated.
“Chick was an icon,” he admitted. “Over the years, I played several real-life characters but none really as beloved as Chick was. He had such a remarkable carer for 41 years and 3,338 consecutive games. He had an amazing work ethic and an incredible fan following, he was one of the Lakers in a lot of ways, he was the heart and soul of that team. It is fabulous to play somebody that everyone admired.”
Garrett shared that he did a lot of research to play Chick. “We shot the pilot 2.5 years ago… in the fall of 2019,” he said. “As soon as I found out that I got the job, I started doing a deep dive on Chick. I went on YouTube and I watched hundreds of hours of videos on him and old Lakers games. That part was fun, especially getting into his mannerisms and voice since he had a very specific style of speaking.”
“Chick invented an entire language of basketball so that if you weren’t able to watch it on television, he painted a picture with his words, and that is really quite a gift,” he added.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Garrett noted that he was a huge fan of basketball and the Lakers. “I would go to Laker games at The Forum and it was like going to a rock concert,” he said. “Every game at The Forum was an event.”
Working with Adrien Brody
Garrett had great words about working with his co-star, Oscar winner Adrien Brody, who plays Pat Riley. “Adrien is an amazing actor, I have been a fan of his for a long time,” he said. “To be able to share a set with him and the cast, in 1979 period clothing, was really neat. Pat Riley started out as Chick’s assistant and eventually become the iconic Pat Riley that we know.”
“Adrian is an amazing actor and a brilliant scene partner and somebody I wanted to work with for a long time. It was a treat to be able to work with him,” he added.
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, Garrett said, “I have been doing this for 35 years so the digital age doesn’t mean much to me. From a consumption standpoint, it is great because people have access to these shows almost immediately.”
“People are hungry for this show and they are complaining that they need to wait a week for the next episode, which is a good sign. I like the idea of being able to tease them out week by week because it makes people hungry for more. I love binging shows,” he added.
Regarding the title of the current chapter of his life, Garrett revealed, “Getting ready to do the play ‘Windfall’ in New York.” It will take place at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, New York, from May 31 to June 19, 2022. The play was directed by Jason Alexander of “Seinfeld.”
Success
Garrett has had a 35-year career as a character actor, where he starred in some of the biggest movies in Hollywood. His mother was a former SAG president. “I have been doing this for 35 years and I still love it. Every time I drive to a new set I still feel the same thrill that I did in my first acting job,” he said.
On his definition of the word success, Garrett said, “Success means health, family, and loving your work, and waking up every day grateful to be alive and to do what you love each day.”
Garrett concluded about “Winning Time,” “It is not a documentary. Adam McKay is a masterful storyteller and this show is looked at through the prism of him looking at 1979 and through the prism of race, class, and culture that we all lived through during that time, and he puts his own comedic spin on the ball.”
To learn more about Spencer Garrett, check out his IMDb page and follow him on Instagram.
