Paul Walter Hauser isn’t afraid to explore his dark side, even if it’s at the detriment of his vocal chords.
The star lost 40 pounds and took on a creepy voice to play accused serial killer Larry DeWayne Hall opposite Taron Egerton, in the Apple TV+ true crime series Black Bird—none of which was required, by the way.
“It’s not like Larry Hall is as famous as somebody doing like a Rolling Stones biopic and playing Mick Jagger,” he told E! News. “You could probably get away with not nailing Larry’s voice, but for me, it’s part of what helps me understand the character.”
So while the high-pitched voice “sucked” and was, at times, painful to imitate, Paul said he felt that it was important to the role. “It’s a bit of a clue and a tool to playing someone who can be really tough to play at times,” he explained, adding that it was a part of Larry’s “deceptive” behavior. “It felt very much like he was putting it on sometimes to gain sympathy or to seem innocent or to seem dim witted.”