Anthony Michael Lopez and Jake Gyllenhaal (right) in Othello on Broadway. (Photo: Julieta Cervantes)
Shakespeare would certainly appreciate the irony in Anthony Michael Lopez’s role in Broadway’s Othello.
“For some reason, I just did not ever think of myself as a Roderigo,” Lopez says, laughing at the infamously manipulated character he now embodies in the tragic story.
Lopez is no stranger to Othello, having been in the ensemble of Sam Gold’s New York Theatre Workshop production in 2016 opposite Daniel Craig, David Oyelowo, and Rachel Brosnahan.
In the first Broadway mounting of the play in forty years (under the direction of Kenny Leon), Lopez currently shares the stage with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Anthony Michael Lopez talks in an NYI Q&A about his role in Broadway’s Othello. (Photo: Samuel Pickart)
Othello marks his third Broadway show (after Camelot and Our Town) in two years, and he can also be found stealing scenes in the Netflix comedy “Survival of the Thickest.”
He spoke with The New York Independent about revisiting Othello from a new perspective, the lessons he has learned from his high-profile co-stars, and the importance of representation as a disabled performer.
The New York Independent: What do you most enjoy about working on Shakespearean plays?
Anthony Michael Lopez: Shakespeare is really interested in the nuances of the human experience. He has such a deft way of articulating experiences that we aren’t even often aware of. He’s so sensitive to the way thoughts and emotions flow and their unpredictability. To be able to turn them into poetry that can also be acted and have scenes that are riveting and dramatic…it’s like the best of drama, poetry, and philosophy.
NYI: How did you come to play Roderigo in the current iteration of Othello on Broadway? You bring so much vulnerability to him.
I have this complicated experience with Roderigo. In February 2024, I was first asked to read the role at Shakespeare Theatre in DC with Simon Gongwin directing it. Andrew Burnap was reading Cassio. [Burnap plays Cassio in the current production as well.] A few months later, Kenny called me in for Roderigo for the Broadway production. I remember thinking that if I was going to do him justice, I would have to do it in a way I can sustain it and make it interesting for myself.
Roderigo doesn’t think he’s a bad guy; he thinks that everything he’s doing is righteous and justified. My job is to be in touch with his sense of righteousness and pain. Pain really drives us to do things that are harmful, unsocialized, and unwise. That’s something that I can relate to. I don’t condone the things he does, but it’s my job to understand why and relate to the experience of why he does what he does. It’s helpful for the audience, too, because they are able to relate to how they’re not perfect, they’ve messed up and made terrible decisions, and they’ve also hurt people. That’s human. Drama can help us accept those parts of ourselves.
NYI: Audiences can also relate to how he keeps returning to Iago, only to be continuously manipulated.
Lopez: That’s a huge part of it too! The reason Roderigo is doing all of this stuff is not just for the romantic love of Desdemona. It’s for the acceptance and brotherhood of Iago. That is so vital to him. Jake [Gyllenhaal] and I have such a good time together. We just play. We’re similar kinds of actors. With Jake, it’s very easy to sort of lose self-consciousness and everything else kind of falls away. We get lost in the imaginary circumstances and it’s different every night.
NYI: What has it been like to develop your individual personas as you sparred with Jake? Did you come up with them together? How much of the take on your characters came from Kenny?
Lopez: It was definitely collaborative. I have my strong feelings about who this guy is and what pushes him from one circumstance to the next. It’s almost like dominoes; one thing gets kicked off and it’s as if he has no choices. Jake is basically my only scene partner throughout the play.
The production is so focused on the military, and Roderigo is not in the military, so Kenny wanted to explore Roderigo’s lack of strategy. We were interested in how he’s different from the other men in the play-but similar, too. They’re all emotional and impulsive, but it looks different for each character. There’s one scene in the end where I confront Jake for stealing all of my money and not giving me any results. Jake was really helpful in steering the direction of that scene from an angry confrontation to this more vulnerable place.
NYI: How did working on Sam Gold’s 2016 production of Othello as a member of the ensemble prepare you for taking on Roderigo?
Lopez: It’s so funny because I had Matthew Maher’s incredible performance in my mind. I knew I wasn’t going to be better than him, so I could only try to focus on what turns me on creatively about the role. In that way it was really helpful because I could go, “Okay, so that’s kind of an inherited interpretation; what else can I find in here? Let me look a little bit more closely.”
I also knew the structure of the play from having done the last one. I definitely had an advantage from having had exposure to it in 2016. I remember thinking about who they would cast me as if I were to do it in a few more years. It never even crossed my mind that I could be playing Roderigo. When Simon Gongwin asked me to play Roderigo for the reading, I was like, “That’s crazy!” But when I went in for the audition, I felt him really strongly. I knew exactly what was really interesting to me about this role.
NYI: How did Sam and Kenny’s styles differ in the way they took on each production? What did you learn from each of them?
Lopez: They both shared this interest in making material as accessible as possible to audiences who might not be Shakespeare fans. Both productions were led by celebrities so we were going to get a lot of people coming who had never been exposed to Shakespeare, but loved these incredible actors. They were both interested in how they could dramatize Othello in a way that feels potent, active, accessible, and understandable for everybody.
The spaces for the productions were vastly different. It transforms how you have to approach the material. At NYTW we were basically in the round and the audience was kind of on top of us. There were some scenes where I was just sitting next to an audience member for thirty minutes in the risers! In this production at the Barrymore, it’s a proscenium show. The style is very different. The intimacy between two characters on a stage like that needs to be shared more. You have to keep an awareness in sharing what you’re experiencing.
NYI: How and when did you first know that you wanted to be a performer?
Lopez: I was doing Sebastian from “The Little Mermaid” for my family at six years old. I even did the Jamaican accent! I went to a Catholic grammar school and in kindergarten we did a production of Noah’s Ark; I played God. Performing was literally the only thing that I had a sustained interest in. There was also such a strong community and I’m a word nerd. The fact that literature is essentially an important part of it is endlessly fascinating to me.
NYI: Many of your previous roles have in some way incorporated your disability. [Lopez was born with a congenital disability affecting his right leg; he wears a prosthesis.] Your roles in Broadway’s Camelot, Our Town, and Othello do not reveal this. How is that meaningful for you?
Lopez: It’s really important for me. Around the time that I started the first production of Othello, I had been doing a lot of commercials and print work, going out specifically for roles that show my disability. They were looking for a man in his 30s with a prosthetic leg. I had mixed feelings about it because representation matters to me so much, but as an artist I have so much more to offer. I don’t only want opportunities when they want somebody with a prosthetic leg. I am so grateful for [my recent roles].
Kenny didn’t want to shy away from my prosthesis; in rehearsal, we found we didn’t need to put a focus on it. [Director] Bartlett Sher felt the same way with Camelot. We discussed maybe incorporating it into the character, but ultimately it wasn’t in a meaningful way that contributed to the story. My focus is always on how it enhances the story. I want representation to be meaningful, powerful, and impactful. When I was younger, I thought I would only be able to play guys with a prosthetic leg because I thought my body was too different from what I see on TV and in commercial theater. Now, here I am, my third Broadway show in two years, and my disability wasn’t a part of the description for any of the characters!
NYI: Aside from working with the aforementioned celebrities on Broadway, you have shared the stage with Jim Parsons, Katie Holmes, and other household names. Can you share any lessons you’ve learned from working with them?
Lopez: I learned something different from all of them. They have all been passionate about acting and storytelling. Jim and I talked about how one of the elements of real stardom is a total acceptance and celebration of what makes someone unique. I’ve noticed that all of the celebrities I’ve worked with slowly embrace their uniqueness and have a passion for the work and craft. I was dressing roommates with Richard Thomas in Our Town. He’s so Zen and has a perspective that lets him have fun no matter what. It was a gift to be dressing roommates with him.
NYI: You steal scenes as Bruce in ‘Survival of the Thickest.’ What is he up to in the new season?
Lopez: Bruce has a love interest, Trent, who is played by Anke Washington. Bruce is more dedicated than ever to Natasha [his diva boss, Garcelle Beauvais]. I’m in episodes one and five. It was so much fun shooting that. There’s a lot of improvisation. I say really dirty words in season two. It makes sense for the character, but it was definitely improvised. They told me there was no way in hell that the ad lib would make it into the final cut, and I was watching the show and went, “Oh! It’s in there!” That was cool.
NYI: Where would you like to see yourself in five years?
Lopez: I definitely want to do more TV and film. I also really want to be on stage once or twice each year. I don’t think I can go a year without being on stage. I want to be doing exciting theater. Theater keeps you strong. It’s a muscle, and you have to work it out all the time. I would also love to direct more. In 2022, I directed a production of Spelling Bee. I want to just be in it in as many ways as I can. Kenny said he wants to act, and I told him I would direct him on Broadway one day. You never know!